Bullying and cyberbullying
Florence, Italy 9-10 May 2016
Presentations
Marta Santos Pais
Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children
Marta Santos Pais was appointed as Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children (SRSG) on May 1st, 2009, and took up her position on September 1st, 2009. As a high level global independent advocate, Marta Santos Pais promotes the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against children in the justice setting, in the home, in institutional care, in schools, in the workplace and in the community. She acts as a bridge builder in all regions, and across sectors and settings where violence against children may occur. Statement
Maha Almuneef
Executive Director
National Family Safety Programme
Saudi Arabia
Maha Almuneef is a pioneer in the field of child maltreatment in Saudi Arabia. A paediatrician. passionate about advocating for child’s rights and well-being. She established National Family Safety Program to combat violence through awareness, advocacy, training professionals in the field and conducting research. She received the International Women of Courage Award in 2014 for her work in drafting the Child Protection Act. Presentation
Niels Baas
Officer and Founder
Cyberbullying the Boss
The Netherlands
Niels Baas (1985) is a researcher at the university of Twente (the Netherlands). He is also founder of an organization aimed at teaching parents, teachers, children, police, and other foundations to cope with the online world of children and with cyber bullying. Niels' research is aimed at the perspectives of children on their online world. Niels is the author of the book: Samen de online wereld verkennen (Discovering the online world together), which elaborately discusses his view (and the view of other experts and most important: children) on how to cope with the challenges and wonderful aspects of the online world.
Robertas Povilaitis
Director
Vaiku Linija-Child Helpline
Lithuania
Robertas Povilaitis PhD, is a clinical psychologist. He has taken part in various events organized by the European Commission in the field of mental health and on violence prevention organized by the European Regional Office of World Health Organisation. Director of NGO “Child Line” (www.vaikulinija.lt) and lecturer at Vilnius University. Since 2011, he is serving as Secretary General of European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (www.efpa.eu) and Board member of the European Anti-Bullying Network (www.antibullying.eu). Presentation
Kirrily Pells
Lecturer, UCL Institute of Education & Research Associate, Young Lives, U of Oxford
United Kingdom
Kirrily Pells is a lecturer in childhood at UCL Institute of Education. Research on children's rights and childhood globally, especially in relation to poverty, development and conflict. She worked as a policy officer on the Young Lives longitudinal study of childhood poverty in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. She is a Research Associate with Young Lives and continues to lead the research and policy work on violence affecting children. Presentation
Sonia Livingstone
Professor
London School of Economics
United Kingdom
Sonia Livingstone is a professor in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. Sonia researches opportunities and risks for children and young people afforded by digital and online technologies, focusing on media literacy, social mediations, and children’s rights in the digital age. Her new book is The Class: living and learning in the digital age (2016, with Julian Sefton-Green). Presentation
Anne Lindboe
Ombudsman for Children Norway
Anne Lindboe is the Norwegian Children's Ombudsman. She was appointed by the Government of Norway for a six-year term in 2012. She obtained the cand.med. (MD) degree at the University of Oslo in 2000, and a specialist in pediatrics in 2011. She holds an MBA in Management from the Norwegian School of Economics. From 2008 to 2011, she was a medical expert for the police in cases about violence and abuse, and from 2010 a researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Eric Debarbieux
Professor, Paris-East university & Director, European Observatory on Violence in Schools
France
- 1973-1991: Educator and teacher with young delinquents or special needs students
- Since 1991: Professor of Education (University of Bordeaux, until 2011, then University of Paris-Est Créteil)
- Since 1998: President of the European Observatory on Violence in Schools
- 2003-2011: President of the International Observatory of Violence in Schools
- 2004: Director of Research and Evaluation – UNESCO Brazil– Brasilia
- 2010-2011: President of “Les Etats Généraux de la sécurité à l’école”, for the French Minister of Education
Monica Bulger
Monica Bulger
Researcher
Data & Society Research Institute
United States
Monica Bulger leads the Enabling Connected Learning initiative at the Data & Society Research Institute. She serves on the International Advisory Board for Global Kids Online, a collaboration between UNICEF, LSE, and international partners to study the risks and opportunities of children’s use of the internet. She additionally serves on the advisory board of the International Child Redress Project helping child victims of sex crimes in Southeast Asia access civil justice. Monica holds a PhD in Education and is a Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute. Presentation
Brian O’Neill
Professor and Director of Research
Dublin Institute of Technology
Ireland
Professor Brian O’Neill is Director of Research, Enterprise and Innovation Services at Dublin Institute of Technology. Prior to that he was Head of Research for the College of Arts and Tourism and Head of the School of Media at Dublin Institute of Technology. Brian has 25+ years researching and working in areas of media policy and digital technologies; media and information literacy, e-safety and information society policy for children. He is a member of the Management Group for EU Kids Online network responsible for its policy work package. He sits on Ireland's Internet Safety Advisory Committee and also chaired the Irish government’s task force on Internet Content Governance, reporting to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. Presentation
Michele Ybarra
President & Research Director
Center for Innovative Public Health Research
United States
Michele Ybarra is the President and Research Director of the Center for Innovative Public Health Research, a non-profit research incubator in the United States. A recognized researcher in technology-related health issues for young people, she has published extensively in the areas of cyberbullying and other types of online victimization, health information seeking, and research methods as they relate to technology. Michele has also developed and tested multiple technology-based behavior change programs both domestically and internationally. Presentation
Kirsten Sandberg
Member and Rapporteur of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
Norway
Kirsten Sandberg, member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the child since 2011, serving as the Committee’s chairperson 2013-2015 and now its general rapporteur. She is Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, formerly Head of the Department of Public and International Law and Dean of Studies at the Faculty.
George Moschos
Ombudsperson
Greece
George Moschos, Deputy Ombudsman for Children’s Rights. He studied Law and Criminology. In 2003 he was appointed as the first Deputy Ombudsman for Children’s Rights at the Independent Authority “The Greek Ombudsman” and was re-appointed twice in this position. He has served as Chairman and member of Bureau of the European Network of Ombduspersons for Children (ENOC) and has participated in numerous national and international committees, consultation meetings and conferences. Presentation
Patrick Burton
Executive Director
Centre for Justice & Crime Prevention
South Africa
Patrick Burton is the Executive Director of the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention (CJCP). He directed both sweeps of the national school-based violence studies conducted in South Africa, quantitative studies into child and youth resilience to violence, and studies into the experience of online aggression and bullying amongst young people. He is leading the South African Global Kids Online Project and was the lead on the recently completed National Schools Safety Framework. Patrick is also the group chair of the violence in schools learning group pf the Know Violence in Childhood Global Learning Initiative. Presentation
Anniken Enersen
Senior Advisor
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Norway
Anniken Enersen is a Senior Adviser at the Section for Human Rights and Democracy, in the UN department, at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), and is responsible for children’s rights. She is a lawyer by training, and obtained her law degree from the University of Oslo and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, with a specialisation in European Community Law. She started her career at the Norwegian MFA in 2002 and has served in the legal department for many years, both in the Section for International Humanitarian and Criminal Law (2006-2011) as well as the Section for the EEA Agreement and International Trade Law (2002-2005).
Mánus de Barra
Child Protection Specialist
Office of the SRSG on Violence against Children
Mánus de Barra is a Child Protection Officer at the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children. Prior to taking on this role, Mánus was the Head of Policy and Legislation at the Office of the Ombudsman for Children in Ireland, where he managed the Office’s work advising the Oireachtas (parliament) and the government on law and policy affecting children. He also previously worked in the Human Rights Unit of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. Presentation
Trond Waage
Former Ombudsperson
Norway
Trond Waage was formerly Norway’s Ombudsman for children for eight years. In this role he initiated the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) and was involved in setting up ombuds offices for children in Europe and Africa. Norway was the first country to establish an Ombudsman for Children, in 1981. His previous positions have included Senior Advisor for the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs in Norway, Director of Research at Childwatch International Research Network, a global nongovernmental network of institutions that collaborate in research on improving children’s well-being; Senior Programme Officer at what is now the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE); and Director of the TV Department at the University of Oslo, Department of Special Education. Presentation
Changu Mannathoko
Senior Policy Advisor, Education
UNICEF
United States
Changu Mannathoko (Ph.D), UNICEF Senior Education Adviser, NYHQ. She provides leadership in mainstreaming and scaling up quality education interventions and models at country level. This includes supporting the generation of evidence to inform the safety and security girls and boys in and around schools to improve their learning outcomes, whilst promoting life skills and social emotional learning to improve the life of girls and boys. Presentation
Jane Riese
Associate Director
Of Safe and Human Schools
Institute on Family and Neightborhood Life
Clemson University
United States
Jane Riese, L.S.W. Associate Director of Safe and Humane Schools and Director of Training for the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program in the Institute on Family & Neighborhood Life at Clemson University, USA. She oversees Olweus trainer certification, recertification, and the work of Olweus Technical Assistance Consultants. In collaboration with Olweusgruppen and Olweus International, Jane adapted and designed the Olweus Quality Assurance System for a pilot project for the certification of Olweus Schools in the United States. Presentation
Sanna Herkama
Researcher KiVa Model
University of Turku
Finland
Sanna Herkama, PhD, is a communication scholar currently working as a senior research fellow in the Division of Psychology, University of Turku, Finland. Her research focuses on school bullying and the communication and cognitive processes connected to it. Herkama has been involved in the development of pilot trials of KiVa antibullying program in various countries. She is also a certified KiVa trainer. Presentation
Ewa Jarosz
Researcher
University of Silesia
Poland
Ewa Jarosz, Researcher and academic teacher on Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology at the University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland. Her academic career is strongly connected with the topic of violence against children. Her area of scientific interests includes themes: respecting child rights in various social environments, violence against children and its prevention, social attitudes towards violence in upbringing, and development of children’s participation in schools and local communities and on political level and barriers of its implementation.
Bernard Gerbaka
President-elect
ISPCAN International
Lebanon
Bernard Gerbaka is a Pediatrician, Chairman of the pediatric department, Director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and Pediatric Emergencies, Hotel-Dieu hospital, Beirut, Lebanon.
He is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in St. Joseph University, Beirut. Since 2003, he is the Lebanese correspondent and co-founder of the Arab professionals' network for the prevention of child abuse and neglect. In 2008, he was re-elected councilor in the Arab network. With ISPCAN, he participated in the I-CAST field test and implementation; he also contributed to the United Nations Secretary General study on violence and was a member of the recommendations committee in the MENA regional consultation, and author of the report on the response of Lebanon to the UNSV-MENA recommendations. Presentation
Teresita Lanzagorta
Representative
Jovenes Constructores
Mexico
Teresita Lanzagorta Bonilla, Director of YouthBuild International in Mexico. She was the Founder and Director of SERAJ (Services to Youth – Servicios a la Juventud, a. c.); she has developed programs on Youth Leadership, Education, ICT access, employability and violence prevention. Founder and President of Board of JCC (Youth Building Community – Jovenes Constructores de la Comunidad), affiliated to YouthBuild International. Founder and Chair of RIE (Youth Specialists Network – Red de Instituciones Especialistas en Juventud), a network to advocate for Youth rights and better youth policies in Mexico. Presentation
Christophe Cornu
Senior Programme Specialist
Respect for All in a Safe and Healthy Environ
Section of Health and Education
UNESCO
France
Christophe Cornu is a Senior Program Specialist at UNESCO in the Section of Health and Education. He has coordinated UNESCO’s international initiative on education sector responses to homophobic and transphobic violence since 2011. He has Masters in International Affairs and Sociology from the Sorbonne University. He has been working in the field of international development for 22 years, with a focus on health education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and prevention of discrimination in the education and health sectors. He has worked and consulted in more than 45 countries for a range of organizations including UN agencies, and international NGOs. Presentation
Euan Platt
Executive
Co-ordinator
IGLYO, Europe
The Netherlands
Euan Platt, MA Sociology. As Executive Co-ordinator of IGLYO (The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer & Intersex Youth & Student Organisation), he manages the secretariat in Brussels. His duties include supporting and advising the board, managing staff, financial and budget management, policy and advocacy, external relations and partnership development. This includes representing the views and experiences of LGBTQI youth to a wide range of key figures, such as MEPs, commissioners, funders and other civil society organisations. Presentation
Michael Dunne
Co-Director
School of Public Health & Social Work, Queensland University of Technology
Australia
Michael Dunne is a psychologist who teaches and does research in the fields of population mental health, particularly regarding East Asian communities. His primary interest is in social epidemiology, including studies of the prevalence, causes and consequences of violence and childhood adversities in China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. Michael has been an advisor on violence research methodology with UNICEF in the East Asia and Pacific Region and ESARO, and most recently with UNICEF China. With colleagues, he recently completed a research consultancy for the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. He has supervised 43 doctoral students, of whom 60% have been from the Asia-Pacific region. Presentation Presentation 2
Marek Michalak
Ombudsperson
Poland
Marek Michalak In 2008 he was chosen by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland to be Ombudsman for Children. He appointed the Codification Commission of Family Law and social advisory board and founded the all-Polish Helpline for Children. The prohibition of corporal punishment was introduced into Polish legal system, as well as numerous amendments to the Penal Code to protect the child against sexual exploitation and other forms of violence. He made endeavors towards ratifying the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (2012). Chairman of the European Network of the Ombudsmen for Children ENOC 2011-2012.
Ersilia Menesini
Professor in Developmental Psychology
University of Florence
Italy
Ersilia Menesini Ph.D. Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Florence, Department of Educational Sciences and Psychology, and President of the School of Psychology. Research related to violence and aggressive behavior in adolescence and childhood, school bullying, peer rejection, dating aggression, cyberbullying and risk behaviours in virtual contexts. Translational research in developmental psychology, designing and evaluating school interventions on bullying and cyberbullying. Has published 150+ scientific papers. Member of European Association of Developmental Psychology Council since 2011, elected president for the period 2017-2019.
Simona Caravita
Professor
Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Italy
Simona C. S. Caravita is Associate Professor of Developmental and Educational Psychology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Italy), and collaborates with the Center of Research on Developmental and Educational Dynamics (Catholic University). She is a psychologist, with a PhD in Psychology from the Catholic University in 2007. Since 2006 she has participated in Italian Government Committees to tackle bullying, including the National Committee organized by the Italian Minister of Education (2006-2008). Her research interests mainly encompass bullying, discrimination, discriminatory bullying, aggressive behavior in childhood and adolescence, moral development, and peer-relationships in childhood and adolescence.
Other resources
UN Resolution - Protecting children from bullying (A/RES/69/158)
Information and communications technologies: maximizing children’s potential and protecting children from online violence, including sexual exploitation Download