FLORENCE, NOVEMBER 11 – Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Emanuela Del Re, attended last week the “Leading Minds for Children and Young People – Convening the world’s leading thinkers to explore the future of childhood” conference which mainly dealt with the mental health of children and young people.
The conference was co-hosted by UNICEF and WHO at the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti in association with the Italian Cooperation Service and was the highlight of the 30th anniversary celebrations of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Deputy Minister reaffirmed the pledge by the Italian government to “give full value to the commitments made by the international community 30 years ago”. Del Re continued to say that “the increase in mental disorders in children is an emergency that we will have to face by taking a multi-sector, inclusive approach. It also represents a challenge and an opportunity. This is why we decided to make this platform available for dialogue and engagement between government representatives, researchers, civil society and young people so that we can hold discussions and take action to ensure the wellbeing of children, young people and adolescents in the hope that this event can become permanent”. (@OnuItalia)