Eurochild Thematic Working Group on Early Years was kicked off at the workshop on the same theme, which took place during the Annual Conference in Malta in November 2007. The programme, presentations and conclusions of the workshop are available at the past events page. Seminar on early years services On Tuesday 8 April 2008 Eurochild organised an event in the European Parliament on “Improving the well-being of young children in Europe: the role of early years services”. It was hosted by MEP Catherine Stihler and organised in cooperation with the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre (IRC), who will soon be issuing a Report Card N°8 on “The transition to Childcare - early childhood education and care”. The seminar was attended by around 70 participants. Speakers included Eva Jespersen from the IRC, John Bennett who was a consultant for the drafting of the report card and co-author of the OECD report “Starting Strong II”, and Peter Moss, Editor of Children in Europe Magazine. The following discussant panel on “Early years in the EU policy context” consisted of the MEPs Catherine Stihler (PSE) and Edit Bauer (EPP-ED), Marie-Anne Paraskevas from the Inclusion Unit of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Tomasz Czajkowski, member of the European Economic and Social Committee, and Maria Herczog, member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. On this occasion Eurochild also launched a background paper on “Improving the well-being of young children in Europe: the role of early years services”, prepared in conjunction with John Bennet.
Here you can find the presentations that were made during the seminar:
Here you can find the final report of the seminar. Children in Europe discussion paper on "Young children and their services: developing a European approach" Children in Europe is a network of 11 national magazines that have joined together to produce a magazine in 10 European languages. It writes about services for young children and their families. Children in Europe's aims include the creation of a forum for the exchange of ideas, practice and information, contributing to the development of policy and practice at European and national levels. In this framework, a Policy Paper on "Young children and their services: developing a European approach" has been developed and launched in 2008, which argues the case for a European approach to services for young children, as well as the creation of a European politics of childhood. For more information: www.childrenineurope.org Work Shop "Who Cares?" During the annual conference of the Social Platform "Social values and democracy: renewing the guiding principles of the European Union", which took place on 5-6 December 2006 in Brussels, Eurochild co-organised a work shop on care. The work shop "Who Cares?" was organised in co-operation with the European Women's Lobby (EWL) and the Federation of Unpaid Parents and Carers at Home (FEFAF). You can view the programme of the work shop and a summary of the conclusions. |
