24/05/2011 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Strasbourg, 24.05.2011 - “National parliaments should play a key role when it comes to strengthening protection of children and prevention of all forms of violence against them,” Ivan Popescu (Ukraine, SOC), Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said today at the opening of a conference in Kyiv on combating violence against children. He added that it was up to the parliaments to go ahead with reinforcing national legislation and introducing the highest standards of protection.
Mr Popescu recalled the support of the PACE for the Council of Europe “ONE in FIVE” campaign to raise awareness about issues relating to violence and sexual exploitation of children. The main tool for disseminating the messages of this campaign is a network of contact parliamentarians who meet at every PACE plenary session in Strasbourg. He also encouraged the participants to call upon their respective governments and parliaments to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.
This international conference, taking place on 24 and 25 May, is organised in the framework of the Ukrainian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, in co-operation with the Ukrainian State Service for Youth and Sports, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Violence against Children, and Unicef.