On Thursday the 28th of February the international conference,”Child Sexual Abuse: Next Steps in the Holistic Support of Children” is taking place at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The conference was arranged by the organization “The Smile of the Child” with the support of the Embassy of Sweden and the British Embassy.
In her introductory speech, the Swedish Ambassador talked about Sweden´s work with the 2030 Agenda for Children and mentioned the End Violence Against Children Solutions Summit, that Sweden as one of the 15 pathfinding countries was the first to host in February last year.
Ambassador Sammelin also raised the collaboration the Swedish Embassy and the Smile of the Child have had on issues regarding children’s rights, such as the conference on tackling bullying and school violence. The Ambassador also addressed Sweden’s untiring work against men’s violence against women and children and pointed out that an important step towards safeguarding the rights of children was taken in June 2018, when the Convention on the Rights of the Child became Swedish law.
Speakers included scientists and professionals from Greece and other countries, among them the Swedish expert Carl Göran Svedin, professor/research leader at Barnafrid – The Swedish National Competence Center for Child Abuse and Neglect at Linköping University in Sweden. Mr Svedin gave his speech on “Protection of the Child Victim” and illustrated a multi-professional approach by describing the structures in Sweden. Professor Svedin stressed also the importance of educating the teachers as the key for preventing the phenomenon of child sexual abuse.
Safeguarding children’s rights in every possible way remains an important task that Sweden stays committed to. It requires cooperation between organizations as well as countries and is crucial to ensure a safe and happy childhood to children all over the world.
Συγχαρητήρια Το Χαμόγελο του Παιδιού - The Smile of the Child for organizing such an important conference!
