• Championing Children at a Time When It Matters Most

A paediatrician by background, Vice-President Kopacz brings both professional expertise and genuine personal commitment to her role as the European Parliament Coordinator on Children’s Rights. In a year marked by shrinking civic space, funding cuts to civil society, growing anti-rights movements, and children suffering in conflict zones, her leadership has been particularly important. The 2025 report, presented to the Committee on Legal Affairs on 24 March 2026, reflects this urgency with an impressively comprehensive agenda: children’s mental and physical health, online safety, alternative care, family mediation, and the urgent situation of Ukrainian children illegally deported by Russia. Taken together, the breadth of the work reflects the complexity of the challenges children across Europe continue to face.

Looking ahead, the 2026 Work Programme keeps children’s physical and mental health and online safety as its central priorities, while also pursuing broader goals such as introducing children’s rights impact assessments into EU policymaking and advancing the possibility of EU accession to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

• Joining Forces for and with Children

We are proud to share that Eurochild and our members played a meaningful role in Vice-President Kopacz’s work across several key moments.

In January 2025, then Eurochild President Her Excellency Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca met Vice-President Kopacz to discuss our 2024 flagship report Children’s realities in Europe: Progress & Gaps.  Her Excellency highlighted the urgency of strengthening child protection frameworks. Key topics included healthcare for children, mental health and children’s rights in the digital environment.

In June 2025, Ally Dunhill, Director of Policy, Advocacy and Communications at Eurochild, presented two Eurochild reports, our 2024 Flagship Report and our ‘How Children Feel’ report at the High-Level Conference on Supporting Children’s Mental Health: the Role of Schools and Teachers. The conference was co-organised by Vice-President Kopacz and held under the patronage of the Polish Council Presidency.

In November 2025, Vice-President Kopacz hosted members of the Eurochild Children’s Council at the European Parliament, where the children presented their child-friendly version of the European Commission’s Guidelines on Mental Health and Wellbeing at School. Developed together with the Learning for Well-being Foundation, the project translated complex policy recommendations into language meaningful to children themselves. The event was followed by a joint video message with the Vice-President on the Parliament’s social media channels to mark World Children’s Day.

• What Comes Next

Eurochild looks forward to continuing collaborating with Vice-President Kopacz and her Office on a wide range of children’s rights, including child poverty, mental health and participation. We also extend our appreciation to all the Members of the European Parliament, Commission officials and civil society partners who supported this work throughout 2025. Together, we are building a Europe that places children at its heart.

A promising step in that direction has already been taken: on 5 February 2026, a first-of-its-kind roundtable co-organised by Eurochild, the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) and Vice-President Kopacz was held at the European Parliament: “Joining Forces: Strengthening Cooperation for Children’s Rights in Europe”. Ombudspersons, EU institutions and civil society gathered to tackle child poverty, children’s health and rising anti-rights movements, with Eurochild members offering powerful testimony on intimidation and shrinking civic space. We look forward to building on this momentum in the year ahead.

Overview of events organised or co-organised by Vice-President Ewa Kopacz, EP Coordinator on Children’s Rights, in 2025

• Seminar: Empowering Children and Young People to Tackle Cyberbullying, 4 March 2025, European Parliament’s InfoHub. Co-organised with MEP Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová and the Alliance for Childhood European Network Group.
• EMPL/JURI Joint Public Hearing: Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Children in Alternative Care, 18 March 2025. Following the EP Coordinators request, this joint hearing was organised by the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) and the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL).
• Exchange of Views on the Situation of Young Carers in Europe, 18 March 2025. Organised within the EMPL Committee meeting.
• High-Level Conference: Supporting Children’s Mental Health – the Role of Schools and Teachers, 4 June 2025, European Parliament. Co-organised with MEP Adam Jarubas, MEP Bogdan Zdrojewski and the Czepczyński Family Foundation, under the patronage of the Polish Council Presidency.
• Meeting with Eurochild Children’s Council on Mental Health and Wellbeing at School, 19 November 2025, European Parliament’s InfoHub. Co-organised with Eurochild and the Learning for Well-being Foundation.
• JURI Workshop: 45th Anniversary of the 1980 Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, 3 December 2025. Co-organised with the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Policy Department for Justice, Civil Liberties and Institutional Affairs.

They stressed the need for digital and legal protection as well as financial support for human rights defenders. At the meeting, the importance of the recently adopted EU Strategy for civil society was stressed, as it provides a framework for action and protection. It is now time for this strategy to be implemented, a contribution that Eurochild has also made. At the meeting, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency announced a forthcoming report it would publish on 31 March.

The report ‘Civic Space Updates: enabling civil society to uphold EU values and strengthen democracy’, presents FRA opinions on how EU Member States can better protect civic space and support civil society organisations in safeguarding fundamental rights. The findings are based on data and information, including consultations with CSOs. It covers all EU Member States, as well as Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia.

Eurochild looks forward to boosting collaboration with CSOs, institutional partners and donors to improve responses to threats and attacks and to strengthen the protection ecosystem in Europe.

Many of Eurochild’s members face threats to their work for children’s rights. In a recent blog by Szilvia Gyurkó from our member Hintalovon Alapítvány she explains what it means to defend children’s rights when the space for independent action is shrinking. In Hungary, organisations working to protect children are increasingly operating in a climate of pressure and hostility.

Further Information

• Discover our campaign Fighting Anti Rights movements
• Podcast | Shrinking Funds for Nonprofits
• Podcast | Anti-Rights Movements

Drawing connections between the situations in Ukraine, Lebanon, and Palestine, we reflect on how language shapes understanding and emotional responses. Whether you are a journalist, teacher, or parent, the way you communicate can influence perceptions, either easing or intensifying fear and stress in both children and adults. From avoiding stereotypes to preventing the re-triggering of trauma, this episode highlights the powerful role words play in times of crisis.

We also hear from Olha Yerokina, Global Communications Manager at Voices of Children Foundation in Ukraine, and Iryna Lisovetska, a crisis psychologist. They share how children are supported through therapy sessions and structured activities, while also shedding light on the ongoing challenges faced by Ukrainian families. Importantly, they remind us that this has become a daily reality for many, and that psychologists and caregivers themselves need support as they continue their vital work.

The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

This survey is open to all civil society organisations working in an EU Member State, at EU level, as well as in Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia.

Your replies matter! The more responses we get, the more weight the results will have.

To contribute, please click this survey link: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/Survey-FRACivicSpaceConsultation  

The survey link will remain active until 10 May 2026.

How to fill out this online survey:

• Please complete the survey online, and only once per organisation.
• Please note that all responses will be fully anonymised.
• For your convenience, we attach the questionnaire in word format as well. But for your submission to count, please respond online using the link above.

As an independent, local Palestinian child rights organisation dedicated to defending and promoting the rights of children, over the years, DCIP has investigated, documented, and exposed grave human rights violations against children and advocated at the international and national levels to advance access to justice and protection for children.

Citing “challenges resulting from Israel’s targeted criminalisation of Palestinian human rights organisations after 35 years of advocating for the rights of Palestinian children, the organisation announced on 7 April that it would cease its operations. The closure follows years of delegitimisation and disinformation campaigns, as well as funding suspensions and investigations by the United Nations and several European governments, which ultimately found no evidence to substantiate the allegations made against it.

The context

As reported by Human Rights Watch, in 2021, the Israeli military banned DCIP and five other Palestinian human rights groups, calling them “terrorist organisations.” However, international human rights groups, the United Nations, and several governments later found these accusations were not true. It was difficult to challenge the claims because they were based on secret evidence. Some European countries stopped funding the group while they looked into the accusations. After more than a year, they concluded that the claims had no basis.

What’s next?

While airstrikes, shelling, and gunfire continue across the Gaza Strip, resulting in civilian casualties and worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis, other Palestinian human rights organisations are still working in the region. But now it is up to all of us civil society organisations to carry forward the work of organisations like Defense for Children International – Palestine, and continue fighting for the present and future of children in Palestine.

Photo from DCIP’s website.

Read more:

• Grief for Some, Silence for others
• No neutrality in genocide: EU citizens demand the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement
• Children’s rights organisations stand with Francesca Albanese

In May 2026, the European Commission is set to launch the first EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, a long-awaited milestone for the Union’s social agenda. However, in the face of the EU’s failure to consider poverty in newly adopted frameworks, the Coalition on the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy urges the Commission to ensure the strategy is ambitious, human-rights-based, and backed by adequate funding.

Without an ambitious EU Anti-Poverty Strategy backed by adequate EU funds, commitments made by the European Commission at the beginning of its mandate risk remaining narrow in scope and representing only a limited toolbox. With the launch of the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy approaching, the Coalition recalls the following: the fight against poverty cannot be confined to a single strategy or framework. 

What people experiencing poverty across the EU urgently need is not only political commitment, but both a strong Anti-Poverty Strategy and concrete action to ensure they are not left behind in other policy frameworks. 

Full Statement

The next EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028–2034 will shape Member States’ social policies for the next decade. Families facing poverty and discrimination often only interact with authorities during crises, and responses are frequently reactive and punitive, leading to unnecessary child–family separations. EU funds should encourage Member States to invest in strengthening families and communities. The EU’s horizontal principles, solidarity, cohesion, human rights, partnership, transparency, ‘do no significant harm’ and ‘leave no one behind’, must be enforced consistently throughout the funding cycle.

Our key demands:

• Strengthen prevention and social inclusion
• Ensure effective partnership and accountability
• Operationalise fundamental rights

The next Multiannual Financial Framework offers a strategic opportunity to ensure EU funds by supporting families before problems escalate; delivering better outcomes for children; reducing long-term public expenditure; and upholding the EU’s legal and policy commitments. With clear governance, effective partnership, and operationalised safeguards for fundamental rights, EU funding can act as a catalyst for resilient, inclusive social systems across Europe.

This joint paper is enabled by Tanya’s Dream Fund, a time-limited, grant-giving initiative aimed at catalysing systems change in Bulgaria so that families and communities are supported to help children thrive.

Read the joint recommendations for the 2028-2034 MFF Regulatory Framework

Further information

• Discover our project Change for Children in Bulgaria

Updates and Resources

• Joint Paper: Coalition Recommendations for the 2028-2034 MFF

On Wednesday, the 18th of March, I hosted an event at the European Parliament together with German MEP Verena Mertens on violence against children. The event brought together decision makers on children’s rights at the European level and drew strongly from lived experience, both from my childhood with violence and from Verena’s work investigating a high-profile child abuse case in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia during her time in the police.

The event built on my personal testimony on childhood violence and my advocacy. Its key message was clear: closing the gap between resources and those affected by creating awareness, highlighting society’s role, and encouraging decision makers to carry the discourse beyond the event into other circles. Not only within NGO and policy spaces, where interest is often a given, but also into those places which commitment to child protection, police reports and the needs of children for help do not seem to reach.

The statistics on childhood violence aren’t and couldn’t be representative, for we all know that the number of unreported cases is enormous and higher than any figures could ever fully capture and do justice to. Violence against children is illegal, but whoever believes that this alone ends it is gravely mistaken. It changes the game, the framework, but it continues in the dark, the place where it has always flourished. Because of this, the heart of my pursuit, and every step I take on this journey is to raise awareness, to create a momentum, and to make children facing violence visible. For their realities to be told, spoken out loud, and most importantly, heard.

Not talking about violence against children, whether in media, politics, or society, widens the gap between knowledge, resources, and those affected. And we must keep in mind: those affected are children. Not knowing their rights, the resources available, or what comes next. Not understanding the situation, who is help, and who may be danger. Because children cannot navigate this alone, we must navigate it with and for them. We have to show them that they are not alone, that the violence done to them is seen, condemned and spoken about, and that societal discourse does not exclude them but recognises the importance of giving a voice to the voiceless, that they are no less human in their dignity and rights. We must showcase that we are not silent because of our comfort, but that we are vocal to recognise and address their undeniable discomfort.

Light shines brightest in the dark. When we have the power to shed light on the violent realities children experience, we may not end violence entirely, but we can end the safe space that societal taboo and silence provide for it. In Brussels, in Europe, and in all the places our voices can reach.

We, a coalition of 247 organisations working to advancing children’s rights and ending sexual abuse, strongly condemn EU policymakers’ failure to extend the legal basis that allowed these detection activities. This failure creates a deeply alarming and irresponsible gap in child protection. The consequences will be devastating – in Europe and beyond.

Without detection, reports of child sexual abuse material will drop dramatically, as seen during the previous lapse in the legal framework in 2021. Behind every image and video is a child, forced to endure the repeated violation of their fundamental rights, including their right to privacy.

Protection of children is not optional; it is a duty grounded in the EU and international frameworks. We call on EU policymakers to act with urgency and responsibility by adopting, without delay, an ambitious and permanent legal framework.

Read the full Joint Statement