COPING end of project conference to be held in Brussels

COPING partners have spent the past six months gearing up for the end-of-project conference, Coping With a Parent in Prison: An Agenda for Policy Reform, to be held 6 November 2012 in Brussels to showcase research findings.

With the objective of utilizing research findings to work towards EU policy-reform initiatives, the planning committee chose a prestigious venue set in the heart of Brussels’ European District—the Musée du Cinquantenaire Royal Museums of Art & History. The 150 planned delegates will include MEPs, Commissioners, policy-makers, child right’s and child welfare organizations, members of the European Parliament Alliance for Children and other key figures. Research findings are be presented during the morning plenary session; the afternoon will feature a panel discussion focusing on ways to implement policy based on COPING research findings and spur policymakers towards action.

The panel session will feature European Commission Coordinator for the Rights of the Child (DG Justice) Margaret Tuite; and Director of UNICEF Brussels Philippe Cori, among others, will be chaired by Coping partner Rachel Brett of the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO). In addition, the panel will also host a child ambassador who is set to give a presentation of the children’s perspective. Having a child present during the event will provide insight for the panel members on how to best aid this vulnerable group of children based on the research findings as well as the personal accounts and presentation of the child ambassador.

By actively seeking their participation, the committee aims to ensure that the rights of these children and the research findings of COPING are received by an audience who can take the next step in the EU judicial process via reform and awareness-raising. The event will be co-chaired by Madame Leda Koursoumba, Children’s Commissioner for Cyprus and a member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child; and Madame Maja Gabelica, the Deputy Ombudsperson for Children in Croatia and member of the Eurochips network.