Children as a focus of EU external action

KEY POINTS

• The overall approach for promoting children’s rights in non-EU countries consists of this communication along with the Action Plan on Children’s Rights in External Action and the Staff Working Paper on Children in Emergency and Crisis Situations.
• Children’s rights are a part of universal human rights that the EU is committed to respecting under international and EU treaties, such as:
  • the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC);
  • the Millennium Development Goals, which in 2016 were replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals;
  • the European Charter of Fundamental Rights;
  • and the EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict.
• The EU is to use the following tools to promote children’s rights in non-EU countries:
  • development cooperation in order to eradicate poverty at the source;
  • trade policy that is consistent with the protection and promotion of children’s rights;
  • political dialogue between the EU and partner countries that places emphasis on the commitments under the CRC;
  • empowering children and adolescents to play a more active role in the matters that affect them;
  • humanitarian aid to assist children affected by conflicts, complex emergencies and natural disasters.
• On the 25th anniversary (2014) of the UN CRC, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to ‘prioritise children's rights in all EU external action’ and report annually to Parliament.