22/04/2024 President
PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos has expressed his sadness at the death of Baroness Doreen E. Massey, a long-standing member of the Assembly from the United Kingdom and a champion of children’s rights.
“Baroness Massey was a deeply committed and active member of our Parliamentary Assembly from 2015 to 2024, a genuine defender of the European cause and ideal and a proponent of women’s rights.
As our General Rapporteur on Child participation, she was one of the best defenders of children’s rights we have known, recognising children as ‘experts by experience’. An author of numerous reports on the subject, she would not only carefully listen to their points of view but would take account of their positions in policy-making.
All of those who had the privilege of knowing her and working with her will concur with me that Baroness Massey never shied away from the most complicated exchanges with children directly affected by specific conditions. We remember in particular the seminar on children’s mental health and child-friendly justice which she organised in 2017, in her capacity as Chair of the Assembly’s Sub-Committee on Children, which allowed for very powerful testimonies to be heard.
Doreen’s commitment to our values, her sense of humour and compassion will be sorely missed by all her friends in the Assembly from across the 46 member states.”