The Impact of Austerity and Poverty on the Realisation of Children and Young People's Rights

On 23 October Professor Aoife Nolan, Joint Head of the HRLC Economic and Social Rights Unit, gave a keynote speech in Edinburgh at the Annual Conference of the European Network of Ombudsmen for Children (ENOC) on 'The Impact of Austerity and Poverty on the Realisation of Children and Young People's Rights'.   ENOC links 42 independent children's rights institutions from 34 countries in Europe.

The Conference involved all of the Children's Ombudsmen and the Commissioners in Europe.  In addition to inputs from both ENOC members and international experts, the Conference also saw the launch of an exciting participatory project called 'Austerity Bites' involving contributions from children and young people across Europe.  Professor Nolan also drafted the statement on 'Children and Austerity' which was adopted by consensus by ENOC members at their annual general meeting the next day.