“Impressed” by Matignon but also full of proposals, about twenty children from the Social Assistance for Children (ASE) had the opportunity to present their ideas on the environment, health or school to Elisabeth Borne and several ministers, during a dedicated council.
“Today, my ministers, it is you. You are the ones who are going to give me ideas”, declared the President of the Government at the inauguration of this council of ministers for “protected” children, organized the day after the International Day of the Rights of the Child. on November 20, and which was supervised by an inter-ministerial committee for children.
“Each of you faced many difficulties from an early age (…) but today you represent all the children of France,” he greeted.
Social assistance for children in difficulty
This meeting comes at a time when the services of the ASE are experiencing great difficulties. Rights campaigner Claire Hédon took up the issue in mid-November, triggering a conflicting investigation in the north and the Somme, where the situation is particularly sensitive, while sounding the alarm about “the flagrant lack” of means for almost the entire territory. .
President Emmanuel Macron had already hosted a council of children’s ministers at the Elysée at the end of 2017, with Unicef.
“It impresses me because it’s big and it’s the first time in my life that I’ve done it,” says Ryan, 11, over his hot chocolate served in a large Matignon room.
A welcome appreciated by children, mostly from 8 to 12 years old, from Bordeaux, Nantes or Lille.
“Give voice to those who listen least”
For Charlotte Caubel, Secretary of State for Children, it is “important to give a voice to children who are least listened to”, who “have suffered violence” or “have complicated paths”.
Several of them live in social homes for minors (MECS) where they have been admitted by court decision.
This day is “an opportunity to make your voice heard on everyday issues but also to bring up your difficulties because of your situation”, explains Delphine Babel, director of one of these houses in Meurthe-et-Moselle, who accompanies two of them.
“Later I will plant trees”
While Elisabeth Borne receives her Deputy Minister for Relations with Parliament, Franck Riester, upstairs, the children meet in small groups in the halls on the ground floor to draw up proposals on five themes: school, living environment, health and disability, access to culture and sport. and digital technology.
“If I had to ask the prime minister for one thing, it would be that we plant trees. I find that we don’t plant enough trees, that we cut down too many. If the trees die, and the plants and animals “It’s terrible, it worries me a lot. I’m not sure they got it right,” Warrick, 12, told BFMTV.
“Then I will do that, I will plant trees and take care of the animals because if there are more, the story is over,” continues the little one.
In the school workshop, Clarisse, 11, from CM2 in Bordeaux, who has been teased for her physique, asks that we pay “more attention to the fights” in the yard. “We want to tell you that bullying is very difficult,” says another child.
One day a year in pajamas at school.
Interned in a specialized home, 12-year-old Muhammed Ali does not know how to write well and asks the educator to put his demands on paper. For the school, “we would like to change the working conditions”, clean bathrooms, “do sports, more languages and more experiences”.
At the large table of the fictional council, eight ministers took their places among the children. Grégory, 10, who comes from Rheu, near Rennes, finds that Qatar’s soccer fields “in the middle of the desert, pollute a lot. If I were (sic) a minister (…) I would have said to postpone the matches in 2023 for them to be (organized) in other places”.
The Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, promises him that “in the future, we want major events to commit” to the environment and recalls that France wants to “halve” its carbon emissions at the Olympic Games in 2024. .
Aby Diop, 16, asks for “fines” for parents who put their children in front of the screens before they are 3 years old. Sarah El Hairy, representing Education Minister Pap Ndiaye, offers them to become “ambassadors” against bullying, including cyberbullying. On health, 12-year-old Kelyah suggests at school, “more trees, more sports and… one day a year in pajamas.” “Very good idea!” Estimates the Minister of Health François Braun.
Source: BFM TV
