Breaking the silence on racial discrimination in childhood
Eurochild’s contribution to the 2026-2030 EU anti-racism strategy.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) highlights that racism thrives “where there is ignorance, unfounded fears of racial, ethnic, religious, cultural, linguistic or other forms of difference, the exploitation of prejudices, or the teaching or dissemination of distorted values.”Racism, whether conscious or unconscious, manifests in both subtle and overt forms, perpetuating systemic inequities that disproportionately affect racialised communities. For children across Europe, these injustices translate into persistent violations of their rights.
Conversations around racial and ethnic discrimination are too often absent from discussions on children’s rights. This silence points to a systemic failure to recognise the lived experiences of children with a migrant background and ethnic minority origin and the structural racism embedded in our societies.
At Eurochild, we call for the next anti-racism strategy to explicitly address how racial and ethnic discrimination, xenophobia, and discrimination based on migration or residence status, religious affiliation or linguistic background, as well as intersectional discrimination, affect children. The strategy must include a specific focus on how racial discrimination impacts children’s rights, supported by concrete indicators to monitor progress and accountability. A glossary of working definitions is provided at the end of this contribution.
