After a four-day visit to Italy from 12 to 16 January, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty today urged national authorities to make progress on eradicating persistent child poverty and to strengthen the country’s human rights architecture, including by establishing an independent National Human Rights Institution (NHRI).

“Intergenerational poverty is not an inevitability”, Commissioner O’Flaherty said, emphasising that “to ensure the next generation can live without fear or want, regardless of the family they are born into or the region they live in, Italy needs a robust, comprehensive, rights-based strategy that addresses the root causes of inequality and breaks the cycle of poverty for good.” He also highlighted that “Italy is a real outlier being one of just few countries that do not have an independent NHRI or are in the process of establishing one. This gap should be filled.”

The Commissioner expresses his gratitude to the Italian authorities for their cooperation and for the exchanges.

Eradicating child poverty

The Commissioner welcomes the efforts Italy has undertaken to tackle child poverty, including the introduction of a universal child allowance (Assegno Unico e Universale) in 2022. He acknowledges the attention paid by successive governments to the high incidence of child poverty, including by shielding children from cuts on allowances imposed on other social groups. He also notes that all the interlocutors he met during the visit recognised the importance of this challenge and the need for urgent solutions.

Despite these efforts, data from reliable sources such as ISTAT, Caritas and others continue to paint a worrying picture. Rates of absolute and relative poverty in Italy remain significantly above the EU average. These rates affect children unequally across regions and social groups and are perpetuated through intergenerational transmission. This shows the need for more robust and adequate policy responses.

In this context, the Commissioner calls on the authorities to develop a comprehensive child poverty eradication strategy that, building on ongoing sectoral initiatives, is rights-based and government-wide. Actions should address the multiple perspectives of child poverty, including education, health and the social security system. To be effective, measures should be steered and implemented by national authorities, in consultation and coordination with local government and civil society. Adequate funding should be provided to ensure that investment in children remains sustainable beyond the exhaustion of existing European and national funds. Areas to be addressed include the funding and management of school canteens, which are essential for providing children with protein-rich food, but also for ensuring their presence at school throughout the day. 

The Commissioner acknowledges the complexity of this challenge, as solutions can only be found through adequate co-ordination at multiple levels of governance. In this sense, he highlights the importance of establishing nation-wide Essential Levels of Provision (Livelli Essenziali di Prestazione, LEP) to ensure that all children’s social rights are fulfilled, regardless of the region they live in. These should be introduced promptly and accompanied by adequate resources, particularly in territories where poverty is highly concentrated. 

Attention should be given to the needs of the most disadvantaged children – including non-citizens without long-term residence permits and children from Roma communities. Benefit conditions should not prevent children living in poverty from accessing allowances and services. Marginalisation should be addressed through increased investment in social and structural measures to promote effective inclusion. 

The national architecture for the protection of human rights

While welcoming the widespread recognition of the need to establish a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI), as Italy has pledged on multiple occasions, the Commissioner notes that Italy remains one of the few Council of Europe member states without an NHRI or a decisive movement towards establishing one.

While multiple bills have been introduced in parliament for the establishment of an NHRI, the Commissioner encourages the authorities to prioritise this matter. The Italian legislator has to define the most suitable model for the national context. At a minimum, the NHRI should be fully compliant with the Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions (the so-called Paris Principles) to be accredited with “Status A" by the Global Alliance of NHRIs. The Commissioner underscores that an NHRI should be fully independent of the government in terms of its structure, functions, staffing and culture, and should have a broad mandate encompassing all human rights. It should also be adequately resourced to function effectively. 

Reforms required under EU legislation, such as the adoption of minimum standards for equality bodies and the designation of independent authorities to monitor the screening of procedures at borders and to protect human rights in relation to the use of artificial intelligence, should provide impetus for a review of Italy’s existing human rights structures. Existing human rights bodies should be reinforced. To this end, strengthening their independence is essential – including through transparent, participatory and merit-based recruitment processes, and by ensuring they have adequate resources, including permanent staff. 

During the visit, the Commissioner was inspired by encounters with children and adolescents, including at a primary school and a social centre run by civil society organisations that support them and their families. There, children can play, learn and grow regardless of their socio-economic background, language or ethnicity. These meetings made it even more apparent that, when offered adequate support and opportunities, young people can thrive and lead. Their message was clear:  the authorities have to meet their human rights obligations and avoid any backsliding in the protection of their dignity.

During his visit to Italy, the Commissioner met with the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Marina Elvira Calderone; the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Giorgio Silli; the President of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Human Rights, Giovanni Battista Iannuzzi; the Director General of the National Office Against Racial Discrimination, Mattia Peradotto; the Constitutional Affairs Committees of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies; the Extraordinary Committee for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights of the Senate; and the Italian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The Commissioner also met with the President of the Ombudsperson for persons deprived of liberty, Riccardo Turrini Vita, and Member, Mario Serio, and with the Ombudsperson for Children and Adolescents, Marina Terragni.

Furthermore, the Commissioner met with a number of civil society organisations and experts on the topics under examination. He also delivered a speech on the need to protect the European Convention on Human Rights at Roma 3 University.

Finally, the Commissioner met with children, teachers, local authorities and representatives of the organisations Con I Bambini and Asinitas in the primary school Pisacane, and with teenagers, social workers and representatives of the organisations Save the Children and Antropos in the “Punto Luce” of Torre Maura.