A/HRC/19/64 Council of Europe Strategy for 2009-2011 adopted by the Committee of Ministers, November 2008 Introduction At their 3rd Summit, the heads of state and government of the Council of Europe renewed their commitment to children‘s rights and asked the Council of Europe: • to mainstream children‘s rights in all Council of Europe policies and co-ordinate all Council of Europe activities related to children; a • to eradicate all forms of violence against children, in particular through the launching of a three-year plan of action and specific measures against sexual exploitation of children. The programme, ―Building a Europe for and with children‖ is the Council of Europe's response to this mandate. Launched in Monaco in April 2006, it has strengthened the work on the rights of the child and developed specific tools to prevent and fight against several forms of violence against children. Programme “Building a Europe for and with children 2009-2011: the Stockholm strategy” I. Programme aim: The programme aim is: • to support the implementation of international standards in the field of children‘s rights by all Council of Europe member states, emphasising authorities‘ responsibility and accountability at the national, regional and local levels. The programme aims in particular to promote the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, highlighting its main principles: nondiscrimination, the right to life and development, the best interests of the child as a primary consideration for decision makers, and the right of children to be heard. It also aims to implement the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter and to promote other existing Council of Europe legal instruments in relation to childhood (participation, protection and rights), youth and family; • to introduce a child rights perspective in all policies and activities of the Council of Europe and to support such an approach within the member states. The child rights perspective should be holistic and comprehensive, addressing the rights of the child to ―provision, protection and participation‖b and take into account equality and a b In this context the same definition of child is used as in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, that is every human being below the age of 18. The three Ps, a commonly used clustering of the rights in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, according to Professor Eugeen Verhellen. These include ―provision‖: the rights of the child to access to certain goods and services such as education, health care, an adequate standard of living and social protection; ―protection‖: the right of the child to be protected from all forms of violence, such as maltreatment, abuse and exploitation; ―participation‖: the right of the child to be heard and involved in decision-making. 67