Photomania Studio
The Eurochild Conference took place in Cyprus on 16 and 17 June 2026. More than 160 representatives from politics, public administration, academia and civil society from 31 countries exchanged views on the topic of ‘Child Protection Systems’.
Eurochild is the largest European network of organisations working with and for children. This year’s conference focused on the question of how children can be effectively protected despite growing societal challenges such as social inequality, child poverty, political polarisation, and wars and crises.
Child protection as a shared responsibility
Numerous presentations, workshops and discussion sessions made it clear that effective child protection systems can only function if families, policymakers, professionals, civil society organisations and local communities take joint responsibility. Participants discussed how risks can be identified at an early stage, how support services can be better coordinated and tailored to needs, and how children’s rights can be given greater consideration in political decision-making. It became clear that effective child protection encompasses prevention, participation and the shared responsibility of all stakeholders – with the aim of creating societies in which children can grow up safely and realise their potential.
The conference thus not only provided a forum for the exchange of expertise across Europe, but also provided important impetus for the further development of children’s rights and participation structures in Europe.
Children and young people helped shape the conference
This message was also reflected in the programme: the European Children’s Council, a group of eleven young people from various European countries, helped organise several items on the agenda and brought young people’s perspectives to the expert discussions. In doing so, the young people emphasised the importance of genuine participation as an integral part of effective child protection systems.
Bertelsmann Stiftung presents its children’s conference format
The Bertelsmann Stiftung’s ‘Growing Up in Well-being’ team took part with the workshop ‘Future Voices: Now it’s our turn! Turning Children’s Voices into Policy Action’. Together with Finn Reinhart, a former member of the Youth Experts Team (JEx Team), Lena Budach presented the peer-to-peer conference format they had developed jointly. During a gallery walk, participants used practical examples and insights from past children’s and youth conferences to explore how effective child participation can be designed and implemented. The workshop demonstrated that, with suitable methods and appropriate support, even very young children – for example, those who are still learning the local language, cannot yet read or write, or have additional support needs – can actively contribute their perspectives.
The session focused on the question of how children’s voices can not only be heard but also translated into concrete political action. The current scaling-up project being carried out in several federal states was presented. This includes the systematic involvement of local decision-makers in children’s conferences, as well as the development of a dashboard designed to make the children’s recommendations visible and accessible to relevant stakeholders. The dashboard will be integrated into the Municipal Atlas. The aim is to permanently incorporate children’s perspectives into local decision-making processes and thus support policies that are more closely aligned with their needs.
The discussions highlighted a shared challenge: whilst children’s participation is increasingly established in practice, the meaningful and effective involvement of younger children often requires methods specifically tailored to them and appropriate support.
Outlook
The findings of the conference and workshops will be incorporated into this year’s Eurochild Flagship Report. The report is published annually and analyses the implementation of children’s rights and current developments in European countries.
