The National Commission for the Promotion of the Rights and the Protection of Children and Young People (CNPDPCJ) represented Portugal as a partner country of the Council of Europe and the European Union in the EU-CoE joint Project “CP4EUROPE - Strengthening National Child Participation Frameworks and Action in Europe”, aimed at strengthening the right of the child to participation by increasing the means, the spaces and the opportunities for child participation in EU and Council of Europe member states, and to support national activities through pan-European action and visibility.
The project, in which the Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland and Slovenia are also partner countries, is cofinanced by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2020) and the Council of Europe and is coordinated by the latter, and its implementation spans from April 1, 2021 until June 30, 2023. It will promote, in particular, the use of the Council of Europe Child Participation Tool (CPAT) and the new Handbook on Children’s Participation “Listen – Act – Change”, as specific tools in this area, and support the development of new (model) tools through national action.
As such, the partner countries were organized in two Action Groups and implemented the project at the national level through concrete and tailor-made action: Group 1 (the Czech Republic, Iceland and Portugal), by undertaking child participation assessments via the implementation of the CPAT; and Group 2 (Finland and Slovenia), by further improving national frameworks as a follow-up to an assessment carried out in 2019/2020.
In Portugal, the project also resulted in the elaboration of the White Paper on Child Participation in Portugal, which is based on the outcomes of the assessment carried out according to the methodology proposed in the CPAT with a few adaptations.
The White Paper on Child Participation in Portugal is available in two versions, also in digital format: an institutional version, both in Portuguese and in English; and a child-friendly Portuguese/English bilingual version.
At the international level, some key expected results of the workflows developed and coordinated by the the Children’s Right Division of the Council of Europe include the creation a “Child participation leadership network” among partner countries, and a website where European resources, experiences and activities can be shared as to benefit all partner countries of the project, as well as other EU and Council of Europe member states.
For inquiries, please contact apoio.presidencia@cnpdpcj.pt
This project is funded by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2020) and the Council of Europe. This communication represents the views of the CNPDPCJ only and is of its sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for the use that may be made of the information conveyed.
