Speeches by the Slovenian Deputy Human Rights Ombudsman, Tone Dolčič, and Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, concluded the two-day international Conference on Children’s Rights and Protection against Violence organised by the Slovenian National Assembly, the Human Rights Ombudsman and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic, Danilo Türk. The organisers devoted special attention to children, who took an active part in the conference.

On the first day of the conference, the participants were addressed by the President of the National Assembly, Pavel Gantar, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, the Human Rights Ombudsman, Zdenka Čebašek-Travnik, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Žbogar, and children’s representative Lea Bijol. The entire conference was broadcast on the national SLO 3 TV channel and interpreted in sign language.

Two panels were held on the first day, dedicated to the education on the rights of the child and the right to protection against violence, and chaired by Majda Potrata, Deputy of the National Assembly and the President of the parliamentary Committee for culture, education, sport and youth, and Eva Irgl, Deputy of the National Assembly and President of the parliamentary Committee for petitions, human rights and equal opportunities.

The first panel was addressed by the Minister of Education and Sport, Igor Lukšič, while the participants presented various approaches to the promotion of the education on the rights of the child, highlighting good practices in Slovenia and abroad. In September, in the framework of its chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, Slovenia began implementing the ‘Our Rights’ project for 50,000 children in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Ossetia in the Russian Federation, which was also presented to the first panel.

The afternoon panel was dedicated to the right of protection against violence. The participants were addressed by the Minister of the Interior, Katarina Kresal, who pointed out the significance of a comprehensive approach to the resolution of problems relating to respect for children’s rights, as well as the importance of human rights education for children. The panel was divided into three sets: the speakers first addressed projects aimed at protecting children against violence, then violence and vulnerable social groups, and ended with various aspects of sexual violence, which has become a serious problem in recent years.

On the second day, the honorary patron, President Danilo Türk addressed the conference, expressing his satisfaction that the ban on corporal punishment is being included in the new Family Code. President Türk underlined the importance of human rights education, since those acquainted with their rights can actively strive for their recognition and find ways for their enforcement.

As a symbolic gesture, the pupils of the Bičevje and Metlika elementary schools and the Novo Mesto secondary school handed over to the distinguished participants – the President of the Republic, Danilo Türk, the President of the National Assembly, Pavel Gantar, the Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, the Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, Ivan Svetlik, and the Human Rights Ombudsman, Zdenka Čebašek-Travnik – hats with messages on our common future that they had made in a children’s workshop.

The third panel discussed the activities of the Council of Europe and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia in the field of children’s rights. The panel was chaired by Darja Lavtižar-Bebler, Deputy of the National Assembly and Head of the delegation to the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly. The panel was addressed by the Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, Ivan Svetlik, who set out the efforts of his Ministry to ensure greater respect for the rights of the child. The panel, divided into three sections, presented activities relating to human rights in Slovenia, the actions of the Council of Europe in the Member States, and access to mechanisms for the protection of rights.

After the final remarks by Deputy Human Rights Ombudsman, Tone Dolčič and the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, the conference was closed by children. The President of the 19th National Child Parliament, Miha Murn, greeted the participants, and the children distributed the remaining message hats among the panellists. The closing address was by Darja Lavtižar-Bebler, Deputy of the National Assembly, who commended the aims and organisation of the conference, and expressed hope that it would further the efforts to enhance respect for the rights of the child.

The exhibition ‘Our Rights’, organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government Communication Office, was displayed in the lobby of the National Assembly. The exhibition is based on a campaign of the Foreign Ministry during Slovenia’s 2005 OSCE chairmanship in which illustrations by the renowned Slovenian illustrator were used as teaching aids in an education project involving 66,000 children in sixteen countries, with the text being translated into seventeen languages.

The participants and other guests also had the opportunity to visit the Council of Europe exhibition ‘Europe is More Than You Think’ and an Information Market, where several Slovenian NGOs, schools and government agencies presented their activities in the field of children’s rights and human rights education.

For more information about the conference, see HERE.

The contributions of the participants will be published soon at the following sites:
-    Human Rights Ombudsman 

Photographs from the conference can be found at:
-    National Assembly
-    Higher vocational school for photography (Any photos taken from the website for publication should include the name of the author: Higher vocational school for photography)