On 20 November, the inaugural session of the Children and Youth Public Council, adjunct to the Human Rights Defender (HRD) of Armenia, was held following the formal approval of the Human Rights Defender on the decision to form the Council.

The objective of the Council is to support the HRD in protecting the rights of children and young people, acting as an advisory body, the HRD’s office informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The objectives of the Council are to support HRD in the development of engagement with children and young people, promote advocacy around issues related to the protection of the rights of children and young people, as well as support HRD in raising awareness about child rights and issues confronted by children and young people in Armenia. The inaugural session was opened with welcome speeches by the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, Kristine Grigoryan and UNICEF Representative in Armenia, Christine Weigand.

“The UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child decades ago on 20 November. However, this is more than a day to celebrate and congratulate each other. This is an important occasion to reaffirm our commitment and increase efforts to make children’s voices heard,” noted Grigoryan, emphasizing the importance of the purpose of the Council.

“UNICEF is proud to support the Human Rights Defender’s efforts to strengthen independent child rights monitoring, which will contribute to Armenia’s commitment to the CRC. It is up to this generation to demand that leaders from governments, businesses and communities end child rights violations now, once and for all. We all must commit to action to make sure every child has every right,” noted Christine Weigand, UNICEF Representative in Armenia.

During the session, the members of the newly formed Council presented the main priorities of their work and their concerns about various issues confronted by children and young people and set forth a number of solutions that need to be considered by adults and decision-makers.