Ageing, Children and Gender Issues

The Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) is coordinating a transnational project entitled ’Date Rape Cases Among Young Women and the Development of Good Practices for Support and Prevention,’ funded by the European Commission, Daphne II Programme .
Aims and objectives
The projects has three overriding goals:
Measuring the prevalence and incidence of date rape among female college students in the partner countries, notably: Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Lithuania and Latvia.
Enabling (...)

New toy safety measures proposed by the Commission primarily aimed at banning toxic chemicals have received a cautious welcome from European consumer organisations amid fears that they do not ensure adequate protection for children.
Background
On 3 May 1988, the EU introduced the Toys Directive. Concerns over the use of phthalates in toys have been particularly prevalent in recent years, leading to the introduction of an EU-wide ban in 2005. On 26 September 2007, the European Parliament (...)

The ad hoc group for the development of implementing guidelines for Directive 2001/20/EC has published new Recommendations on children in clinical trials . The purpose of the Recommendations is to protect children and to harmonized the application of such trials across the European Union.
On 4 April 2005, the European Parliament and the Council launched the Directive 2001/20/EC related to good clinical practice in the conduct of clinical trials on medicinal products for human use.
The ad (...)

On 20 November 2007, the European Child Safety Alliance plans to launch a major review of child safety in 18 European countries.
The aim of this launch is to communicate the safety review findings to influential policy makers and stakeholders at both the EU and national level so that they can take action. The launch will take place in the European Parliament and will be hosted by MEP Arlene McCarthy, Chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection.
In addition to (...)

National Childbirth Trust (NCT), Save the Children and UNICEF UK, published a report, A weak formula for legislation: how loopholes in the law are putting babies at risk, to ask UK Government to stop formula milk promotion, on 7 August 2007.
The report was released during the World Breastfeeding Week and coincided with the Government and the Food Standards Agency’s current review of existing legislation.
The three organisations are calling on the UK Government to strengthen the 1995 UK law (...)

EMEA has updated its website with practical information and templates to facilitate compliance with the Paediatric Regulation with respect to Paediatric Investigation Plans.
As part of its implementation of the Paediatric Regulation that came into force in the European Union on 26 January 2007, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has now made the following information available:
Templates to use when applying for a paediatric investigation plan, deferral or waiver.
Information on (...)

European Commission Vice President Franco Frattini, responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security launched on 4 June 2007 the “European Forum on the Rights of Child” created to look to the future, in cooperation with the German presidency of the European Union.
The EU Strategy to promote and safeguard the rights of the child which was issued in 2006 by the European Commission, proposed the establishment of a permanent “European Forum on the Rights of the Child".
The (...)

A new NGO action group has been set up to monitor the EU’s strategy on the rights of the child.
On 17 April, a hearing on the European Commission’s Communication "towards an EU strategy on the rights of the child" was held in the European Parliament. The NGO Action Group prepared a set of key messages to be distriibuted at the hearing.
The International Federation Terre Des Hommes, World Vision, the European Foundation for Street Children Worldwide, Save the Children, EURONET, Eurochild, (...)

In line with Women’s International Day on the 8th March 2007, The World Health Organisation (WHO) has decided to focus on women’s health. WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan has vowed to improve the health of women everywhere. WHO has also recently published a report on Gender equality, work and health: A review of the evidence (2006), which summarises evidence regarding the relationship between gender inequality and health and safety problems related to work.
Mental Health Europe press (...)

The UNICEF launched the 7th Innocenti Report Card on the well-being of children in rich countries. For the first time the Report Card considers children’s health as an important dimension for assessing child well-being.
The report "Child Poverty in Perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries-" offers a comprehensive assessment of the lives and well-being of children and adolescents in the World’s economically advanced nations, based on the UN Convention on the Rights of (...)