1st Edition

The first edition of the CNCJ was launched on 20 November 2019, as part of the commemorative session celebrating the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and was aimed at all children and young people residing in National Territory, aged between 8 and 17 years.

Initially, 103 candidates were selected and, in the second year of implementation, the CNCJ came to be made up of 24 counsellors, aged between 11 and 20 years, from the various regions of the country: 4 from the Northern region, 5 from the Central region, 10 from Lisbon, Santarém and Setúbal, 3 from the Southern region, with each of the Autonomous Regions also represented by one female counsellor. This group of counsellors maintained their mandate until June 2024.

Some of the CNCJ’s activities and initiatives are highlighted below:

The CNCJ was received by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (22/11/2023).

European Meeting on Child Participation, in Alcalá de Henares. Organised by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in partnership with the Platform for Children and UNICEF Spain, it brought together 30 children aged between 12 and 17 from 10 countries (Germany, Austria, Spain, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal and the Czech Republic).

Fourteen counsellors met with the Minister of Education, João Costa, in an exchange of ideas on the importance of young people’s opinions and participation in matters that concern them, which were presented in a leaflet (click on the image to access).

Video about the CNCJ, produced by its members, which was presented at the Closing Seminar of the Adélia Positive Parenting Project (13/05/2022).

The CNCJ submitted several contributions to the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child 2022–2027, and two of its members were invited to the high-level conference that launched the said Strategy, held in Rome in April 2022.

Two counsellors took part in the RTP television programme “É ou não É”, where they presented their views on democracy and the future of the country (22/03/2022). Click on the image to listen.

On 4 December 2021, the improvement of the pandemic situation finally allowed the 1st CNCJ Meeting to take place in person, at the premises of Casa Pia de Lisboa. 

The CNCJ took part in the European Commission’s public consultation “How to adapt Europe’s digital decade to children and young people?”.

The CNCJ participated in a thematic meeting on the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union (06/04/2021), which resulted in a video shown at the Porto Social Summit 2021.

In response to the challenge launched by the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, the CNCJ presented its wishes for a better world, which became the basis for the digital brochure “Wishes to Change the World”. Click on the image to access the leaflet.

The CNCJ contributed to the Council of Europe Consultation on the leaflet “Learn about your rights in the digital environment” (07/12/2020). Click on the image to view the leaflet.

The CNCJ took part in the Public Consultation on the European Pillar of Social Rights, at the Belém Cultural Centre, which was attended by the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security (04/11/2020).

The CNCJ was created in the year of the pandemic, and the theme of its 1st National Meeting was “Confinement and its repercussions on the social rights of children and young people” (20/07/2020).