European Commission's DG JUST received the Special Award of the European Ombudsman Award for Good Administration 2023
The European Commission's department for justice received the award for excellence in diversity and inclusion while working with children on the EU strategy on the rights of the child. Eurochild sees the Award as a recognition of the work done with children and the Commission to produce a new EU strategy on the rights of the child.
DG JUST collected over 10,000 replies to an online questionnaire from children across Europe and beyond, as well as input from over 50 focus groups. Members of the Eurochild Children’s Council were part of a children’s advisory group, which actively participated in designing the questions feeding into the strategy, analysing its responses and presenting these to three European Commissioners.
Alongside the official version of the strategy, the Child Rights Team at DG JUST also developed illustrated child-friendly and accessible versions of the strategy. Eurochild members across the EU worked with children to validate all EU language versions and ensured that each language version was clear and accessible for children.
Many of Eurochild’s members felt this task was an opportunity to discuss the EU’s role in implementing children’s rights with children and young people. It was an important step for the Commission to recognize that children needed to be included as experts in this process.
We are delighted to grant a special #EOAward 🏆 to @EU_Justice for going the extra mile when it comes to involving children in producing a new EU strategy on the rights of the child 👏 pic.twitter.com/RxLVtTQKOR
— European Ombudsman (@EUombudsman) June 28, 2023