In the period from 19-21 April 2016, the 8th Children Rights Coalitions Forum in Europe 2016 took place in Tallinn, Estonia. The Network of Organizations for the Children of Serbia - MODS was represented by Jasmina Mikovic from Praxis, member of the MODS Steering Committee, and Sasa Stefanovic, MODS Director. The Forum brought together 75 representatives of national, regional and European coalitions and networks working towards the implementation of children’s rights and the well-being of children.  

The European coalitions working for children’s rights and well-being have recognized that there are numerous factors which influence children’s well-being over the world, perceiving the policy making, which sets children’s rights in the center of the attention, as a centralized issue that can be greatly empowered from a coordinated cross-national effort.

The Forum provided a unified voice and coordinated focus in addressing issues on child rights advocacy, monitoring and networking. In addition, an accompanying one-day training provided participants with practical skills in children’s rights advocacy, and with advice on how to work effectively with internal and external stakeholders and generate additional resources that can be of benefit to both national and EU policy-making process.

The Children Rights Coalitions Forum is seen as an important step in the development of strong child rights coalitions’ platform. With its primary objective to establish continuity in the development of a pan-European platform, where national coalitions can strengthen advocacy efforts, it contributes towards influencing governments’ policies to focus on a better wellbeing for all children across EU and wider Europe.

In order to increase public awareness on children’s rights issues, the event particularly encouraged engagement with country specific stakeholders in children’s rights coalitions, as well as external stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, academia and media. 

The outcomes of the Forum will promote further understanding of the UNCRC principles and will advocate for sustained implementation of children’s rights in the current socio-economic climate, having in mind that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach and taking into account the changing environments and situations and specific needs that attendees came with.