The Day Center and the YouSmile Network of the Organization at the Eurochild Convention 2024

Eurochild was founded in 2004 and today has 211 members in 42 countries, making it the largest network of children’s rights organizations and people working for and/or with children in Europe,.

This year, 20 years later, on the occasion of its 20th birthday and the 2024 Conference, Eurochild returned to Malta 17 years after its last annual conference there, with another conference, in collaboration with the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, focusing on poverty and social exclusion, underlining that there is still much to be done to fight poverty.

"The Smile of the Child", an active member of Eurochild, was in Malta on July 2 and 3, with its own workshop and participated in the conference "Fostering Rights - Based Solutions to Tackle Child Poverty and Social Exclusion Across Europe". The Scientific Manager of the Day Centerof the Organization, "The House of the Child", Laurence Menetian, participated with a workshop entitled: "Innovative Solutions for Child Mental Health: Lessons from Greece".

The Workshop -which was attended by professionals from various disciplines and countries- aimed to highlight the vicious cycle of victimization of abused children, as well as the need to re-train them from the difficulties they have to face within the child protection system.  The factors of re-traumatisation were analyzed and similar difficulties in the child protection context in other countries were discussed, with the active participation of the participants. Finally, "The Smile of the Child" and the services it offers were presented as good practice, as well was the role of the Day Center in the treatment of abused children which was discussed at length. The Workshop concluded with a discussion on further good practices that could be adopted on a pan-European level and how these could be implemented both at the level of the different organizations present at the conference, and at the institutional level for each country.

The conference was also attended by student-volunteers of the Organization, who represent the “Smile” on the Eurochild's Children's Council. At this conference, a handover was made, from Anna, a student-volunteer who has been involved in the Eurochild's Children's Council until this year, to Faidra, who is taking up the second consecutive term of office for the Organization until 2026.

Alongside the participation of the adult representatives in workshops aimed to enhance the participation of the organizations they represent in Eurochild, the children representatives participated in meetings to strengthen relations and get to know Eurochild and the EU processes, and also implemented a workshop on authentic child participation. The aim was to exchange, participate in member-led workshops, share good practices, listen, and engage with keynote speakers from the EU and the UN, etc. to address the urgent issue of child poverty and social inclusion, shedding light on the transformative power of early childhood development in breaking the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage. 

Convention Objectives:

• Policy Impact: Provide substantive inputs to EU policy debates on combating child poverty, advancing children’s rights and wellbeing, and supporting and strengthening families.
• Knowledge Exchange: Enable sharing best practices related to advancing children’s rights and wellbeing, including on early childhood systems, child poverty/children in need.
• Amplifying Voices: Ensure the voices of children and the organizations supporting them will be actively listened to and contribute to a more inclusive dialogue.
• Collaborative Engagement: Foster collaboration and exchange across Europe among civil society representatives, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in children’s rights and wellbeing.