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Sweden

Queen Silvia digitally opens advocacy centre for children

Queen Silvia of Sweden

Queen Silvia of Sweden has inaugurated the new Düsseldorf advocacy centre of her project “Childhood-Haus”. The Queen participated in the digital inauguration of Childhood-Haus Düsseldorf from the Royal Palace in Sweden on November 16th 2020. The new establishment is Germany’s fourth children’s home managed by the Queen’s charity “Childhood-Haus”. Childhood-Haus Düsseldorf is housed in the university hospital’s premises, which were virtually displayed during the inauguration.

The speech was given by the Queen in German. At the digital inauguration of Childhood-Haus Düsseldorf, the Queen said: “The principle of Childhood-Haus is the same everywhere: trained specialists from different areas take care of the child and their needs. We put the child at the centre. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the golden rule that characterizes the Children’s Home’s basic idea: Regardless of the result of a procedure, the child must be in a better and stronger position at the end of the process than when it began.”

The Queen continued: “Of course, we cannot take away the bad experiences of the affected children and young people. The findings in the other Childhood Houses remind us again and again how important it is to include the children’s perspective, to meet them on an equal footing and to support them professionally and age-appropriately.”

Following the speech of Her Majesty the Queen, Armin Laschet, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, spoke. The Düsseldorf Childhood-Haus is the fourth in Germany, but the very first in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Childhood-Haus Düsseldorf follows the concept of interdisciplinary care and legal case clarification while caring for children who have been abused.

In the facility, children affected by abuse and violence can receive help and take advantage of all the examinations required for the subsequent investigation in a child-focused environment and with specially trained staff. Under the umbrella of the Childhood House, representatives from the police, courts, medicine and social services will work in a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary way throughout the case.

About author

Senior Europe Correspondent Oskar Aanmoen has a master in military and political history of the Nordic countries. He has written six books on historical subjects and more than 1.500 articles for Royal Central. He has also interview both Serbian and Norwegian royals. Aanmoen is based in Oslo, Norway.