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Children from the UK, Ireland and France addressing the PACE debate on children's participation in democracy, January 2022

Children’s views should be heard whenever decisions affecting their lives are made

24/01/2022 | Session

Governments and parliaments should ensure that children’s views are taken into account “whenever decisions affecting their lives are made and put into practice”, the Parliamentary Assembly stated. Adopting a resolution and recommendation based on a report by Baroness Doreen E. Massey (United...

Inaction on climate change: a violation of children's rights

24/01/2022 | Session

According to the PACE, “the lack of effective action to tackle climate change constitutes a violation of children’s rights as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child”, in particular regarding the right to life, development, health and medical care, education, a good standard of...

Migrants migration refugees

PACE urges improvements to the proposed new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum

24/01/2022 | Session

PACE has welcomed the EU’s commitment to integrating European human rights fully into all its policies on migration and asylum, but has said its proposed new Pact on Migration and Asylum is “very complex” and raises concerns that proposed accelerated asylum procedures may reduce their quality and...

#EnvironmentRightNow
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Autumn Session focused on the right to a healthy environment

30/09/2021 | Session

A high-level panel and interactive debate on “The environment and human rights: the right to a safe, healthy and sustainable environment”, as well as a full day of debates on this topic, formed the centrepiece of the 2021 Autumn Session, which took place in Strasbourg from 27 to 30 September 2021...

PACE Session
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Current affairs debate on 'The Western Balkans between democratic challenges and European aspirations: what...

30/09/2021 | Session

The Parliamentary Assembly, during its “hybrid” autumn session, held a current affairs debate on 'The Western Balkans between democratic challenges and European aspirations: what role for the Council of Europe?'. George Papandreou (Greece, SOC) opened the debate and five other members took the...

Tony Lloyd (United Kingdom, SOC)
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The situation in Afghanistan requires a ‘coherent, co-ordinated and concerted’ response by Europe

30/09/2021 | Session

Tackling the immediate and future momentous challenges posed by the situation in Afghanistan requires a “coherent, co-ordinated and concerted” response by the international community and Council of Europe member States should “spare no effort” to achieve this objective, the Assembly said today...

Nikola Dimitrov, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs of North Macedonia
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North Macedonia's accession to the EU: ‘It is high time to move forward’, says Nikola Dimitrov

30/09/2021 | Session

Addressing the Assembly today, the Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs of North Macedonia remained silent in the hemicycle for sixteen seconds. “This is to illustrate the 16 years my country has been a candidate country to the EU, since 2005, and we are still not able to start the journey...

Kamal Jafarov (Azerbaijan, EC/DA)
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Draft Second Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime

30/09/2021 | Session

While welcoming the success that the Convention on Cybercrime is enjoying world-wide, with 66 ratifications, the Assembly stressed that since the adoption of the Convention in 2001, the exploitation of information technology for criminal purposes had strongly increased. Adopting an opinion today...

Plenary Session, hemicycle
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PACE tells Belarus to ‘stop the instrumentalisation’ of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers on its border

30/09/2021 | Session

PACE has called on the authorities of Belarus to “stop the instrumentalisation of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers”, in particular those in a vulnerable situation, and to “stop facilitating travel to Belarus of third country nationals under false pretences of tourism”. In a resolution based...

#EnvionmentRightNow
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The right to a healthy environment: PACE proposes draft of a new protocol to the European Convention on...

29/09/2021 | Session

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today called for an ambitious new legal framework, both at national and European level, to anchor “the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment” and presented a draft of an additional protocol to the European Convention...

‘The time to act is now’ – VIP panel debates the environment and human rights

29/09/2021 | Session

A high-level panel representing all sectors of society held an interactive debate today on the theme of the environment and human rights – with agreement among all the participants that “the time to act is now”. The event was opened PACE President Rik Daems and Council of Europe Secretary General...

#Environment

Right to a healthy environment: reducing inequalities, protecting the rights of climate migrants and...

29/09/2021 | Session

Adopting a resolution today in Strasbourg, based on a report by Edite Estrela (Portugal, SOC), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said that access to the fundamental right to a safe, clean and healthy environment was unequally shared between regions, countries and...