UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty data collection panel

The panel ‘Count children to make them count: Filling the data gap’, part of a UN Human Rights Council session held 25 June 2019 in Geneva, focused on data collection in the context of the UN Global Study on children deprived of liberty — reflections both on data that has been collected and on what … Read more

2019 COPE Forum for Reflection and Exchange

At the 2019 COPE Forum for Reflection and Exchange in Krakow, 35 COPE members and affiliates gathered to share challenges and positive practices from the previous year. The Forum presents a unique opportunity for COPE network members to work together and explore innovative initiatives designed to improve the wellbeing and access to rights for children … Read more

International Conference hosted by Probacja Foundation: ‘Bridging the gap: Boosting the visibility, voices and cross-sectoral support of children who have a parent in prison’

‘Prison visits are never fun. Before you’re nervous – you are glad to see them but you’re also worried about them and leaving you are very sad because you don’t know when you’ll get to see them again.’ – Forum for Young People’s Voices COPE’s annual international conference took place on Friday 31 May in … Read more

Eurochild General Assembly and Members Day April 2019

Eurochild held their General Assembly and Members’ Day 17-18 April in Brussels. COPE was approved as a member organisation, and is looking forward to being an active part of the Eurochild network. The event began with a welcome from Jana Hainsworth, Eurochild Secretary General, and then a panel discussion/exchange in the morning of April 17, … Read more

The 12th EU Forum on the Rights of the Child

The 12th EU Forum on the Rights of the Child, organised by the European Commission and held this year on 2-3 April 2019 in Brussels, is an annual gathering of key actors from EU Member States (including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and the Western Balkans) in the interest of promoting good child’s rights practices in … Read more

First Anniversary of COE Recommendation concerning children with imprisoned parents

A year has passed since the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers released Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)5 concerning children with imprisoned parents to their member states. A landmark series of recommendations honouring the rights of children of incarcerated parents and establishing standards for the promotion of those rights, the Recommendation includes protocols and obligations for police, prison … Read more

2019 COPE conference programme

Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE) is pleased to announce the release of the programme for our 2019 COPE Annual Conference, held 31 May in Krakow, Poland. This pan-European conference, entitled ‘Bridging the gap: Boosting the visibility, voices and cross-sectoral support of children who have a parent in prison’, will be hosted by COPE member Małopolskie … Read more

COPE annual conference and network meeting 2019

This pan-European conference, hosted by Małopolskie Stowarzyszenie Probacja and in partnership with Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE), will consider the importance of cross-sectoral support for children with imprisoned parents.

Roma & Traveller Children with a Parent in Prison: Follow-up Report (2018)

Roma and Travellers tend to be overrepresented in European prison populations. Roma individuals make up an estimated fifty percent of sentenced prisoners in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania; Travellers — though they make up 0.6 percent of Ireland’s general population—account for nearly twenty-five percent of the female prison population. Reasons for this over-representation include, among other … Read more

The 6th Annual Regional Rule of Law Forum for South East Europe

The topic for this years Forum was “Children and the European Court of Human Rights”, and COPE was specifically invited to participate in order to ensure that the issue of children with imprisoned parents was included, with particular reference to the European Court of Human Rights case of Serce v Romania (No.35049/08) of 30 June … Read more