14/11/2012 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
20 November: Universal Children’Day
Strasbourg, 14.11.2012 – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will convene its network of contact parliamentarians to stop sexual violence against children on 20 November in Moscow on the occasion of Universal Children’Day . The discussion directed at the topic of “sexual abuse inflicted on children within the circle of trust” will enable the parliamentarians to strengthen prevention and protection policies as well as sanctions at national level.
To date, 22 countries have ratified the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS n° 201); 23 others have also signed it.
Given that one of every five children in Europe is a presumed victim of sexual violence, the contact parliamentarians, from the 47 Council of Europe member States and Mexico, are rallying to promote the parliamentary dimension of the Council of Europe “One in Five” campaign and encourage the ratification and the effective implementation of the Convention.
The meeting chaired by Liliane Maury Pasquier (Switzerland, SOC), Chair of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, will also be an opportunity for the Russian Federation to present its actions for the protection of children.
The meeting will take place on Tuesday 20 November from 9.30 am to 5 pm (Hotel President, 24 Bolshaya Yakimanka).
Draft programme
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On 19 November, the Committee will meet to prepare several reports concerning among others the equal access to health care and a Council of Europe Convention to combat trafficking in organs, tissues and cells of human origin, with the participation of Russian Minister for Public Health Veronika Skvortsova. It will also adopt a draft recommendation presented by Valeriy Sudarenkov (Russian Federation, SOC) on “Nanotechnology: weighing the advantages and the risks to public health and the environment”. Draft agenda
Press contact / accreditation: Estelle Steiner, Council of Europe, tel. +33 (0)3 88 41 33 35, mobile +33 (0)6 08 46 01 57