Austerity burden must fall on those with the broadest shoulders, not on children, says Secretary General opening new video exhibition

An exhibition of short films and animations created by children from eight regions of Europe and featuring the impact of economic crisis and austerity measures on their lives was opened today at the Council of Europe.

Many governments have had to take difficult decisions for the sake of economic stability, said the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland who opened the exhibition.

"The moral justification for austerity is that we take the pain today so that future generations are not still paying the price for mistakes tomorrow," he added. "Yet, too often it is precisely our children who are bearing the brunt of these policies."

The exhibition "Austerity Bites: Children's Voices", a joint initiative by the Council of Europe and the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children, illustrates exactly this.

Thirty-six children and young people from eight different municipalities and regions of Europe (Rome, The Hague, Ghent, Athens, Brussels, Glasgow, Preston, Marseille) with the help of professional producers created short films and animations to tell how the economic crisis and the response to it is hurting their rights and life chances.

Children have suffered from the crisis more than adults, the Secretary General argued: while roughly nine per cent of adults in the EU lives in severe material deprivation, the rate is 11 for children. Today, more than 26 million children in Europe are at risk or poverty or social exclusion: this is 800,000 more than in 2008.

Jagland stressed in this regard the importance of the revised European Social Charter, with its Article 17 which explicitly entrenches the right of children and young persons to social, legal and economic protection, and called on all member States of the Council of Europe to give the Charter their full support.

The exhibition "Austerity Bites: Children's Voices" will be on display in the Council of Europe premises, in Agora from 12 to 22 May, 2015 and in Palais de l’Europe from 27 May to 26 June, 2015.

• Website of the exhibition with the videos:  www.coe.int/childrens-voices

• Full text of the address by the Secretary General

• Additional information on the impact of austerity measures on children

• Useful resources on children and austerity

  Извор: Совет на Европа – 12.05.2015