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Child and Youth Participation in the Slovak Republic

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Child and Youth Participation in the Slovak Republic The report Child and youth participation in the Slovak Republic – A Council of Europe policy review is a comprehensive and innovative analysis of how children’s and young people’s right to participate in matters affecting them is implemented in the Slovak Republic. Taking as a starting point the child’s right to be heard, as set out in Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the report undertakes a legal and policy analysis of child and youth participation in Slovakia. Children’s and young people’s possibilities for participation in all relevant settings are examined: the family, alternative care, health care, education, recreation and cultural life, situations of violence, judicial and administrative proceedings, and public life and civil society. Children and young people were heavily involved in the policy review process leading up to this report. A reflection group of children accompanied the process from beginning to end and empirical evidence on children’s views was collected through focus group discussions and a survey covering over 6 000 children aged 7 to 17. While analysing in depth the challenges for children’s and young people’s participation in the Slovak Republic, the report also showcases interesting examples of good practice and progressive legislation. The report concludes by proposing a step-by-step process for bringing about a change in culture and attitude regarding children’s right to have their views heard and taken seriously. Child and youth participation in the Slovak Republic A Council of Europe policy review www.coe.int/youth www.coe.int/children BUILDING A EUROPE FOR AND WITH CHILDREN Child and youth participation in the Slovak Republic A Council of Europe policy review The opinions expressed in this report may not all reflect the official policy of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe programme "Building a Europe for and with children" was set up to secure and promote children's human rights, and protect children from all forms of violence. http://www.coe.int/children DGI – Justice and Human Dignity Directorate Programme “Building a Europe for and with children” Cover design and layout: Documents and Publications Production Department (SPDP) Council of Europe Illustration: Anne-Sophie Schlick Council of Europe F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex © Council of Europe, 2012 Printed at the Council of Europe Contents Foreword .............................................................................................. 5 Executive Summary ................................................................................ 7 Background to the review ........................................................................ 11 The Slovak Republic in brief ..................................................................... 13 Methodology used for the policy review on child and youth participation .............. 17 Survey of the views of chidren and young people on their experience of participation .............................................................. 21 Outcomes of the child focus groups meeting ................................................ 37 Municipal Case Studies in Banská Bystrica and Gelnica .................................. 53 Legal and policy analysis of child and youth participation ................................ 61 Implementation of the right to be heard in different settings and situations. 89 – The family ...................................................................................... 89 – Alternative care ................................................................................ 98 – Health care ..................................................................................... 102 – Education and school .......................................................................... 107 – Play, recreation, sports and cultural activities ................................................ 117 – In situations of violence ....................................................................... 121 – Judicial and administrative proceedings ...................................................... 128 – Public life and civil society ..................................................................... 136 Conclusions .......................................................................................... 143 Annex I: Methodology for the policy review on child and youth participation ........ 147 Annex II: Children's survey . 157 Annex III: Focus group working method and programme ................................. 163 Annex IV: In-country review team ............................................................... 171 3 Foreword Be empathic and just imagine being in our shoes. You surely also wanted to change things when you were little. It was a group of children from the Slovak Republic who gave this advice to the Council of Europe experts who drafted our new recommendation on participation. I think these chil- dren’s advice captures the essence of child and youth participation: empathy and respect for every person, however young he or she may be. This policy review on child and youth par- ticipation in the Slovak Republic includes many such powerful messages for adults, be they parents, teachers, health professionals, social workers or policy makers. It is no accident that one key recommendation of this report is to launch a campaign to raise adults’ awareness of the benefits of child participation. The findings of this policy review confirm that the Council of Europe is on the right track with the legal standards it has developed over the past few years. The child’s right to be heard and taken seriously is a central requirement in all recent Council of Europe conventions and recommendations on children’s rights. We are proud to say that these standards now cover all relevant areas of children’s lives: the family (Recommendation Rec(2006)19 on policy to support positive parenting), health-care and social services (Guidelines on child-friendly health care and Recommendation CM/Rec(2011)12 on children’s rights and social services friendly to children and families), the education sector (Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education), and the judiciary (Guidelines on child-friendly justice). I am convinced that these standards provide excellent guidance to those who want to improve the way children’s and young people’s views are taken into account by the adults surrounding them. The policy review in the Slovak Republic shows that this is a challenging task, but it also reveals examples of good practice and progressive legislation. Reading the report, one can virtually feel the optimism of children and adults in this country and their motivation to improve the way they interact and build their future together. I would like to thank the Slovak authorities for having volunteered to undertake this policy review and in particular the co-ordination team within the Joint Secretariat of the Committees at the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family. My thanks go also to the author of the report, Mieke Schuurman and to all the other people who contributed to this process: the members of the European review team, the Slovak in-country review team, including the children’s reflection group and the children who participated in the focus-group meeting and the national survey. 5 Child and youth participation in the Slovak Republic Last but not least, I would like to thank Pavla Geschwandtnerová and Michal Brichta, two young people who came to Strasbourg in June 2011 to advise the Council of Europe on its draft recommendation on the participation of children and young people and who brought the message I quoted at the beginning to our attention: “Be empathic and just imagine being in our shoes. You surely also wanted to change things when you were little”. Indeed, remem- bering one’s own childhood is crucial to enabling adults to understand children better. Or, as the German children’s book author Erich Kästner put it: “Only those who grow up and remain children at heart are truly human.” Maud de Boer-Buquicchio Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe 6 Executive Summary “Children’s participation is very important. Everyone should have the right to express their views” “In matters that concern us, we should be involved” Quotations from Slovak children at the national hearing on the draft review report, 31 May 2011 These quotations illustrate the wishes of Slovak children and young people to be able to participate, to express their views on issues that concern them and to be listened to. There are numerous examples in the Slovak Republic of good practices which enable children and young people to have their voices heard, including in families, schools and a number of alternative care institutions. However, a change in culture is needed to ensure that child and youth participation becomes fully embedded in Slovak society. Child and youth participation as guaranteed in Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) means that children have the right to be heard and taken seriously. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has adopted a General Comment on the imple- mentation of this article and gives detailed guidelines on the areas in which children have a right to participate. The Slovak country review on child and youth participation was based on these guidelines. The review was conducted with the support of a European review team, involving European experts and Council of Europe representatives, and
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