Rights activist addresses EUROCHIPS conference

Activist and author Taslima Nasreen has agreed to deliver the keynote address at the first major European conference on children with imprisoned parents, to be held in Paris on May 12-13.

An estimated 700,000 children within the European Union are separated from an incarcerated parent each year. Yet few people are aware of discrimination, economic hardship and the overall negative impact of a parent's imprisonment on a child's early development.

EUROCHIPS, a prisoners' children network with active members in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK, has organized the conference to raise awareness and promote new ways of acting and interacting on issues concerning this group of children. Different countries take account of the needs of this vulnerable group of children to varying degrees, and the conference aims to put their concerns higher up the agenda for all European states.

In addition to Nasreen, speakers will include Andrew Coyle of the International Centre for Prison Studies (King's College, UK) and Marie Panayotopoulos, European deputy, Greece.

Children With Imprisoned Parents: European Perspectives on Good Practice, a book published by EUROCHIPS exploring various themes such as remaining a parent in prison, children visiting imprisoned parents, lobbying for prisoners' children, and child's rights perspectives, will be presented.

The children's own perspective can be seen in an exhibition of artwork by prisoners' children on the theme "family and prison" from various European countries. Prizes will be awarded, with jury members including European deputy and former French environmental minister Roselyne Bachelot and actress Emmanuelle Béart. The conference will be chaired by the Council of Europe.

For further information, visit www.eurochips.org.