UNICEF and European Parliament launch "Alliance for Children"
BRUSSELS, Belgium | 6 April 2011 — The European Parliament has launched a new "Alliance for Children" in partnership with UNICEF and the Children’s Rights Action Group (CRAG), a group of international non-governmental organizations committed to the defence of children, which includes PMNCH members Save the Children, Plan International and World Vision.
The alliance is an informal, cross-party effort by parliamentarians coming together to raise the profile of children’s issues in the European Parliament, which has 736 members from the 27 countries of the European Union. It aims to create synergies across committees and incorporate children’s rights into the mainstream work of the legislative body. The UNICEF Brussels EU Office initiated the European Parliament Alliance for Children and will facilitate its meetings, together with the Children’s Rights Action Group.
Action on behalf of children
UNICEF has prepared a draft set of “Principles for Parliamentarians” that members of the Alliance for Children will be asked to sign and adopt at the group’s next meeting. The principles commit parliamentarians to use the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as a basis for their work — and to take at least one action on behalf of children during each parliamentary session.