Save the Children Sweden, together with its 12 sister organizations in Europe, has been actively involved in advocacy activities. To ensure an efficient work towards all the EU institutions, Save the Children Europe Group has set up an advocacy office in Brussels.
Save the Children Europe Group is a network of Save the Children organisations working in eight European Union (EU) states and four non-EU states. Like other Save the Children organisations, its members work with and for children in their own countries and abroad.
The principle of children's rights lies at the heart of the Save the Children Europe Group. Save the Children Europe Groups’s aim is to help further children's rights in Europe and elsewhere by promoting children's interests in European policy making, funding and programmes.
Save the Children Europe Group has over the years been very successful in its advocacy work. It has been very involved in ensuring the inclusion of children’s rights in the Lisbon Treaty, as well as in the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and was highly involved in drafting the Commission Communication outlining the need for an EU strategy. The Office in Brussels work closely with some members of the European Parliament. Through this collaboration Save the Children has managed to influence the texts of several reports from the Parliament. One important action was taken following the Commission Communication from 2006, when Save the Children, together with Plan International, organised a consultation with children on what they thought the EU should focus on. Many of the recommendations from the children were included in the Parliament report on the Communication. Over the years, the Brussels’ office has produced several documents, which has been submitted to the different EU institutions. You can find them here.
Save the Children Europe Group also works with other nongovernmental organisations (NGO networks) in the fields of social policy, development, migration/asylum, and poverty.