Strengthening child-centred child protection systems
A blog by Agata D’Addato, Eurochild Head of Programmes, and Mieke Schuurman, Eurochild Director for Child Rights and Capacity Building.
We had the honour to take part in the 5th World Congress on Justice With Children, held in Madrid from 2 to 4 June 2025. As Eurochild, we hosted a panel discussion on strengthening child protection systems with civil society organisations and children, during which we presented the Daphne-CHILD programme and our new released position paper on violence against children in Europe. The roundtable discussion also featured Marie-Cécile Rouillon, European Commission’s Coordinator for the Rights of the Child, Gonzalo Santamaria, Executive Director, ITE Network, and Elena Jurado Garcia, Project Officer, Asociación Acercando Realidades.
Ensuring strong child protection systems, where every child is protected from all forms of violence, is at the core of Eurochild’s mission. While we play a key role in influencing EU and national legislative and policy frameworks, we also provide practical support to civil society organisations working directly to address violence against children. In particular, Daphne-CHILD is a three-year sub-granting and capacity-building programme implemented by Eurochild and Terre des hommes, which supports 48 grassroots civil society organisations to tackle violence against children. We estimate that our funded projects will engage over 23,000 children, 1,800 professionals, and 3,200 families across the 9 participating countries.
By providing grants, building their capacities and develop networks, and ensuring children’s voices are meaningfully involved in the activities we support, we want to demonstrate that a more integrated approach to child protection is possible. These 48 funded initiatives promise to break new ground in the way we conceptualise and implement child protection strategies across Europe. This is a great opportunity for shedding light on civil society-led efforts, innovations and practice aiming to create more child-centred child protection systems.
When it came to presenting Eurochild position paper on violence against children, we stressed how it outlines key aspects of violence against children, including definitions, its impact on children, the settings in which it occurs, and the groups of children most affected. It also highlights relevant Council of Europe and EU frameworks. The paper includes country-level insights provided by Eurochild members and partners and concludes with recommendations based on their contributions and experiences on the ground. Marie-Cécile Rouillon, European Commission’s Coordinator for the Rights of the Child, stressed the importance of integrated child protection systems, which requires effective inter-sectoral collaboration and coordination between key actors in health care, education, social protection, online support and the justice sector.
Violence – across its many forms – is still an everyday experience for too many children growing up in Europe and beyond today. But children are not just victims – they can and should have an active role in addressing violence. This is not a privilege, this is a necessity and it is a children’s right. As Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, Eurochild’s Former President, said “children’s vision, aspirations and ideas must be put at the centre. Children should not only be consulted, they should be shaping legislations, policies and procedures”.
It was great to be able to take this time to attend and contribute to the Congress. Much has been said, shared, discussed, and learnt over these last 3 days. There have been some progress and we need to celebrate achievements. However, we cannot shy away from the fact that justice gaps are increasing nowadays and that we have not been able to respond adequately.