Brussels

On 11-16 July

Eurochild Announcement

Child Ambassadors will warn the EU about the danger of ignoring child poverty.
Children and Young people will meet next week in Brussels to discuss child poverty and to present solutions to the European institutions.

On 11-16 July, 33 young people from 9 European countries will gather  in Brussels to discuss and present how children in their countries  experience poverty and social exclusion.  Together they will develop  some common messages on what can and should be done by decision-makers  to ensure that every child has equal chances in life and is not  marginalized by social or economic disadvantage.
These messages will be presented to representatives of different EU  institutions: members of the European Parliament, the European  Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee, the  Fundamental Rights Agency. The kids will also have the chance to work  on the best ways to present and communicate their messages through  film, animation or graphic design.
On Thursday 15th July, the kids will meet with Philippe Courard,  Secretary of State for Social Integration and the Fight Against  Poverty in Belgium, which currently carries the Presidency of the  European Union. The Belgian Presidency has committed to put the fight  against child poverty at the heart of their Presidency agenda. The  children should provide some good ideas on how this fight can be won.
The event is part of the 2010 European Year against poverty and social  exclusion. It is organized by Eurochild, an European umbrella network  of organizations promoting the rights and welfare of children.  Eurochild is leading a campaign 'End Child Poverty' which aims to  gather signatures and messages, particularly from children and young  people themselves, to be presented at the end of the year to EU  leaders, to demand that leaders 'do everything possible to end child  poverty now'.  In the words of Lavinia, a 25 year old from Spain,  "Stop poverty now. Tomorrow can be too late!".
The children's delegations come from: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia,  Cyprus, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Portugal and the UK.  All of the  children have been working on the issue of poverty and social  exclusion in their home countries and come from organizations working  with disadvantaged children and/or those that promote children's  participation.  The results of the event will be presented at the  Belgian Presidency conference on child poverty and well-being, which  takes place in Marche-en-Famenne 2-3rd September 2010.

This event is supported by the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity - Progress (2007-2013) of the European Commission, and the Roi Baudouin Foundation, Belgium.

Eurochild is a network of organisations and individuals working in and  across Europe to promote children's rights and improve the quality of  life of children and young people. Eurochild's work is underpinned by  the principles enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the  Rights of the Child.

More information:
Jana Hainsworth, Secretary General
Björn Becker, Information and Communication Officer

Eurochild:
Avenue des Arts 1-2, B-1210 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)2 211 05 53 - Fax: +32 (0)2 511 72 98
bjoern.becker@eurochild.org
www.eurochild.org