The 17th Informal ASEM Seminar on Human Rights was held on 7-8 November 2017 in Sofia, Bulgaria, on the theme of “Human Rights and Children“.
Over 80 selected participants gathered for the Seminar, including civil society experts, academics, NGOs, international organisations, private sector representatives, and senior government officials from Asia and Europe to address the human rights of children within the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) framework. The Seminar aimed to develop recommendations for the different stakeholders working in this field, and to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights of children at the ASEM level.
The 17th Informal ASEM Seminar on Human Rights took place in three simultaneous closed-door working group discussions, each focusing on one of the following topics:
WG1 – International Partnership and State Provision for Survival and Development of Children
WG2 – Protection of Vulnerable Children
WG3 – Participation and Involvement of Children in Decision-making
Two side events on “Children & the Media” & “Children’s Participation” suitably complemented the Seminar. Children participated in it, and was organised by the State Agency for Child Protection, Bulgaria.
For a more detailed overview please see the Seminar Concept Paper.
This Seminar series is co-organised by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), the Raoul Wallenberg Institute (nominated by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. ASEF has been the secretariat for the Seminar since 2000. The 17th Informal ASEM Seminar on Human Rights was hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, and the State Agency for Child Protection, Bulgaria.