The EU Delegation to the Philippines is spearheading the first virtual edition of the annual Children’s Rights Summit to promote and uphold the fundamental rights of every child.

Youth advocates Frankie Pangilinan, Macoy Averilla (Macoy Dubs), and Atty Maria Jela Mendones Moran are guest speakers in the summit dubbed as “Para sa Kabataan, Mula sa Kabataan, Isang Pagtitipon para sa Karapatan” on Oct. 17, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, to be streamed live via the EU Delegation to the Philippines’ Facebook account.

The summit will highlight children’s invaluable rights amid the “new normal” and will focus on the four basic rights: survival, protection, participation, and development.

“We want to provide a platform for children to learn about their basic rights and to advocate for their own rights,” EU Delegation to the Philippines Chargé d’Affaires Thomas Wiersing said in a statement on Thursday, Oct. 15.

Over the weekend, a two-day training session was held to orient nominated youth leaders aged 15 to 18 years old on facilitating discussions and breakout sessions for the summit proper. The concept behind the summit has been to train children and youth so that they can train their peers.

For the past two years, the EU-backed children’s rights summit was held onsite in the Philippines.

The EU recognizes, through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, that children including those less than 18 years of age are important members of society, who must be provided a healthy physical and emotional environment as they grow up.

In the same breath, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights itself guarantees the protection of the rights of the child.

The upcoming children’s summit is co-presented by the Ateneo Human Rights Center and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Child Rights Center.