Expert Group on Children at Risk

About 

The Expert Group consists of senior officials from the line ministries dealing with children’s issues or designated agencies in the Member States of the Council of the Baltic Sea States plus the European Commission. The officials engage in regular exchange and practical projects to promote children’s rights and child protection in the Baltic Sea Region. 

The Expert Group on Children at Risk acts as convenor, driver, initiator, coordinator and facilitator to stimulate dialogue and exchange on cross-border concerns, to develop and nurture strategic partnerships and to contribute to the development and implementation of tangible projects and innovative practice.

We engage national, regional and global actors to exchange information on emerging, developing and ongoing initiatives, explore joint opportunities and engage key stakeholders in practical projects. This work effectively contributes to ensuring that potential overlaps are transformed into helpful synergies, trusted partnerships, and joint, harmonised action.

The Expert Group is the governing body of the Children at Risk Unit at the Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat. The Expert Group meets at least twice a year and develops the mandate, budget and yearly plan of activities that are implemented by the Children at Risk Unit.

Objectives

The expert group’s vision is that all children in the Baltic Sea Region enjoy the full range of human rights as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and that children have equal opportunities to grow, develop and thrive free from all forms of violence. 

Our mission is to promote children’s rights and to bolster national child protection systems, including legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect children from all forms of violence, through regional dialogue and practical cooperation. 

Our work draws on, and contributes to, relevant legal and policy frameworks, authoritative guidance, ethical and safe data collection and the voices of children and youth. We take note of relevant global, regional and the Expert Group members’ national agendas, goals and strategies, to ensure strategic direction, complementarity and added value in achieving global, regional and national commitments to children. The Expert Group and the CAR Unit at the CBSS Secretariat is fully committed to keeping children safeguarded from all actions that place them at risk of violence, abuse, exploitation, injury and any other harm.

The expert group’s regional Strategy (July 2020 – June 2025) has three main priorities:

• Prevention and Early Intervention: Strengthening National Child Protection Systems – Experience and research show that a proactive approach – with a priority on prevention and early intervention – delivers better outcomes for children, parents and families. Prevention reduces the vulnerability of children to potentially harmful events. By identifying risk factors along with sources of support and resilience for individual children or specific groups, states are able to deliver meaningful, effective and knowledge-based prevention measures.
• Protection, Support and Justice: Promoting multidisciplinary and interagency services for child victims and witnesses of violence (Barnahus) – The Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on child-friendly justice provide that children are to be treated with care, sensitivity, fairness and respect in civil and criminal procedures, including in the process of gathering evidence from children. Child-friendly justice refers to justice systems which guarantee the respect the effective implementation of all children’s rights at the highest attainable level. Children are to be protected from intimidation, reprisals and secondary victimisation and professionals are to be trained in communicating with children. A fundamental requirement is that children’s rights are safeguarded without infringing on the rights of the other parties involved and relevant procedural laws.
• Partnerships for children’s rights and child protection: Promoting law, policy and joint strategies – Building and nurturing partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders across borders is a fundamental and integral aspect of the work of the expert group to promote international law, policy and practical guidance to protect and implement children’s rights. The Expert Group enjoys strong global partnerships and acts as an ally, observer, and adviser in several regional and international fora. This allows us to share experiences, recommendations and practical tools from our region with a broader audience and make important contributions to the implementation of regional and global agendas as well as international and relevant supranational law, policy and practice. 

Background 

In 1998, the CBSS Heads of Government initiated regional activities on children’s rights as a response to the 1996 World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, which galvanized countries to improve the situation for children. A series of meetings and projects followed on the topics of sexual exploitation, trafficking, and more generally about how to enable regional cooperation on child protection. The results of this work convinced those taking part that they needed a sustainable platform to continue to exchange about challenges and best practices. In 2002, a secure website called the Child Centre (now retired) was set up to enable such collaboration. Simultaneously, a working group which had been establishing this website while also exchanging about their child protection work was transformed into a working group of the CBSS. A unit was established in the CBSS Secretariat which would maintain the secure website and which would service this working group. The group would change names several times, and eventually, become known as the CBSS Expert Group on Children at Risk. 

Now with more than two decades of experience, the Expert Group is well regarded in the region and beyond for following emerging developments, spreading its promising practices, and enabling a robust and dynamic international cooperation supporting the rights of the child. Together the expert group has addressed areas of common interest, including transnational issues relevant to all Member States, by engaging ministries and national agencies, ombudsmen for children, academia, organisations, as well as children. A significant development in the fields of education, health and social welfare has taken place in each member state, and many children are relatively well informed and live in safety and security in their family setting. Read more…

Activities

We engage national, regional and global actors to exchange information on emerging, developing and ongoing initiatives, explore joint opportunities and engage key stakeholders in practical projects. This work effectively contributes to ensuring that potential overlaps are transformed into helpful synergies, trusted partnerships and joint and harmonised action. More concretely, our work includes facilitating dialogues and exchanges with the aim of identifying promising and good practice, building mutual trust and promoting a regional approach and culture on children’s rights and child protection; carrying out various forms of training to ensure continued dialogue and learning between professionals; developing guidance – for a recent guidance on risks and considerations for using photographs of children click here; and developing sustainable networks, initiatives and innovative approaches, policy and tools.

Documents 

• CBSS Expert Group on Children at Risk Mandate
• CBSS Expert Group on Children at Risk Regional Strategy
• Read more…

Members

The Member States are Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Sweden. The chairmanship rotates on an annual basis and follows the CBSS Presidency rotation.

Chair

• Finland: Marjo Malja, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health

Vice-Chair

• Estonia: Kadi Lauri, Social Insurance Board

Members

• Denmark: Maria Pârja, National Board of Social Services
• Germany: Almut Hornschild & Anna Maria Lemcke, Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth
• Iceland: Ólöf Ásta Farestveit, Government Agency for Child Protection
• Latvia: Lauris Neikens, Ministry of Welfare
• Lithuania: Daina Urbonaitienė, Ministry of Social Security and Labour
• Norway: Unni Nygaard, Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs
• Poland: Katarzyna Napiórkowska, Ministry of Family and Social Policy
• Sweden: Andrea Hormazabal, National Board of Health and Welfare

Contacts

• Olivia Lind Haldorsson, Senior Adviser and Head of the Children at Risk Unit, Phone: +46 73 056 45 92, Email: [email protected];
• Shawnna von Blixen, Adviser of the Children at Risk Unit, Phone:
  +46 76 136 72 28, Email: [email protected].