The GMC invites international group of experts to brainstorm on child rights 20 years on

Barcelona, May 31st, 2010 - The Global Movement for Children is hosting on June 1st and 2nd the first meeting of a select and world-renowned group of experts to brainstorm on a number of key issues that affect children’s well-being across the world.

With its seat recently established in Barcelona thanks to a hosting agreement signed with the Catalan government, the GMC has organised this two-day meeting to pool the views of a small group of experts in different fields to identify countries lagging behind in the full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to put forward possible solutions to help protect child rights in these countries and other parts of the world.
In the words of GMC’s Executive Coordinator, Miquel de Paladella “this is the first of a number of international meetings which we expect will produce some great ideas that we will then study in detail to see which ones can be put into practice”.

This international group is made up of child rights specialists, academics, researchers, sociologists and economists who have broad and in-depth experience in a range of social sciences. The group is integrated by David Roodman (Centre for Global Development), Fabrizio Terenzio (Enda Tiers Monde), Ferran Casas (Universitat de Girona), Gareth Jones, Gerardo Sauri (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), Jason Hart (University of Bath), Kirsty Nowlan (World Vision), Bill Bell (Save the Children), Miquel de Paladella (Global Movement for Children) and Yehualashet Mekonen (African Child Policy Forum). Furthermore, Jonathan Bradshaw (University of York), Manfred Liebel (Technical University of Berlin), Marta Santos Pais (UN Secretary-General Special Representative on Violence against Children), Peter Adamson (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre) and Trond Waage (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre) are also members of the group although they have been unable to attend this first meeting.

The Global Movement for Children is initiating and promoting this series of gatherings as an international coalition of organisations working for child rights across the world. “At times, it is important to step back, relax and discuss in a friendly and informal environment to see things in a different light so you can come up with fresh new ideas. This is what we intend to do with these meetings and we are very grateful that these high-profile participants have accepted the GMC’s invitation”, De Paladella added.  

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For further information, please contact: :

Noemí Mas
Communications Officer
935545208
nmas@gmfc.org