Elizabeth Milovidov

Professor Elizabeth Milovidov was invited by the US State Department's Africa Regional Services at the US Embassy in Paris, to speak via video conferencing at an event in Kigali, Rwanda on February 19th, 2015. She spoke on the theme of Black History Month and Women's Rights. The event was attended by academic professionals, human rights and civil society advocates, alumni, university student leaders, and media representatives.

On February 10, she was invited by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, to present on Digital Parenting to staff members from the CoE and the European Court of Human Rights, to celebrate Safer Internet Day and increase parental awareness regarding online safety issues.

On March 10-11, Professor Milovidov also attended the public launch of the European think tank ENABLE (European Network Against Bullying in Learning and Leisure Environments), which took place in Athsns and brought together over 100 policy-makers, experts, academics and health professionals from around tghe globe.

On September 12, Professor Elizabeth Milovidov attended the 2014 Day of General Discussion organized by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in the Palais des Nations in Geneva. This year's theme was "Digital Media and Children's Rights."  A specialist of children's rights and internet safety, Elizabeth Milovidov was invited to participate in the proceedings along with representatives of representatives of Governments, NGOS, UN Human Rights mechanisms, United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, national human rights institutions as well as individual experts and children. More information here

The Days of General Discussions (DGD) are organized by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is the most widely ratified international human rights instrument, with 194 States Partie. According to the UN website, the purpose of the DGDs is to "foster a deeper understanding of the contents and implications of the Convention (on the Rights of the Child) as they relate to specific articles or topics", while the overall objective of the 2014 Day of General Discussion was to "better understand the effects of children’s engagement with social media as well as information and communications technologies (ICT), in order to understand the impact on and role of children’s rights in this area, and develop rights-based strategies to maximize the online opportunities for children while protecting them from risks and possible harm."

"It was a rejuvenating experience and I, for one, can not wait to see the outcomes and recommendations to empower children through digital media and ICT and to provide them with equal and safe access to digital media and ICT."

On September 16-18, Milovidov travelled to Lithuania to participate in a training by Insafe, a European network co-funded by the European Commission. Insafe is comprised of 31 national awareness centers (27 of the EU member states, plus Iceland, Norway, Russia and Serbia) that each "implements awareness and educational campaigns, runs a helpline, and works closely with youth to ensure an evidence-based, multi-stakeholder approach to creating a better internet." (source: Insafe website)

Finally, on September 21, Elizabeth Milovidov spoke during an Open House event at the American Library in Paris, where she offered Internet safety advice and provided resources to parents.

In-between all of these activities, Professor Milovidov has been teaching the course on International Public Law to the enthusiastic group of undergraduate students in the Arcadia Study Abroad in Paris program (more about this program).

Prof. Elizabeth Milovidov conducted a series of workshops on Gender and Leadership in Dakar, at Yavuz Selim Middle School, on July 15-16. She spoke on themes such as women empowerment, gender and equality, and women leadership to raise awareness on these issues among the young generations.

These workshops were organized by COPFULEF, a nonprofit association bringing together women scholars from Senegalese universities to promote better representation of women in decision-making instances.

A graduate of UCLA and UC Davis, Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov, Esq. practised as a lawyer in California for four years before moving to France and completing her Ph.D. in International Relations at the American Graduate School in Paris where she now gives courses in International Public Law, along with teaching at AGS's partner Law School at the Université de Cergy-Pontoise.

Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov attended the OECD's Power of Social Media Conference on February 20th, where she met with Estelle Loiseau, Manager for WikiGender and WikiChild. They discussed the OECD's efforts for protecting children online and the risks facing children today.

The conference focused on using social media to power your presence, to be a digital diplomat, to share meaningful images and to use social media for social good. Dr.Milovidov plans to use the social media strategies gathered at the conference to reach out and engage more people with in the key issues toward protecting children on the digital highway, empowering parents in the digital environment and informing organizations on digital responsibility, which are the key issues of her website The Crossing Guard

More on the OECD Conference on Power of Social Media

Visit Elizabeth Milovidov's website The Crossing Guard on children's rights and protection

Professor Elizabeth Milovidov participated in a podcast on women's empowerment produced by the US State Department's Africa Regional Services at the US Embassy in France. This podcast was part of the Africa Conversations monthly series, which brings together Americans and Africans from all walks of life to talk about US and African issues.

This edition focused on the issue of gender equality and women's empowerment as one that is at the forefront of the US Foreign Policy. It explored the way this issue plays out particularly in the professional arena, with a discussion of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s best-selling book Lean In (New York: Knopf, 2013).

Fellow guests on the show included Carole Da Silva, founder and director of the French non-governmental organization AFIP (Association pour Favoriser l'Integration Professionnelle), which acts for the non-discrimination of immigrant minorities in the workplace.

Dr. Milovidov is a law professor and children's rights advocate. She practiced as an international lawyer, liitigator and General Counsel in California for four years before moving to France, where she earned a Ph.D. in International Relations and Diplomacy from the American Graduate School in Paris. She is now a faculty member at AGS and at AGS's partner institution Université de Cergy-Pontoise.

• Listen to Africa Conversations podcast "Women, Work and Power"

• See Elizabeth Milovidov's profile on the AGS website

• Visit Elizabeth Milovidov's website crossingguardconsulting.com dedicated to the protection of children's rights.

Professor Elizabeth Milovidov will participate in an international seminar on "Sexual Tourism Implicating Children: Prevention, Protection, Interdiction and Care for Victims" to take place on October 15-18 at the International Institute for the Rights of the Child in Geneva, Switzerland. This seminar is organized under the direction of Jean Zermatten, Chairman of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, one of the ten human rights treaty bodies that monitor the implementation of the core international human rights treaties. It will bring together children's rights advocates from around the world alongside representatives of State parties, members of parliament, UN organs, members of NGOs in the area, actors within the tourism sector, economists, social workers, sociologists, jurists, psychologists, researchers, students, and other persons concerned by the theme.

The discussants will attempt to define the contours of sexual exploitation and sexual tourism and their legal, economic, psychological, sociological and political dimensions. They will highlight good and bad practices and propose solutions. Elizabeth Milovidov will hold daily workshops which will take place parallel to the plenary sessions in order to allow participants to examine concrete cases.

A lawyer and professor, Elizabeth Milovidov is a specialist of children's rights advocacy. Before this seminar, she is scheduled to sit on International Family Law juries at the University of Paris 8 Law school (September 19).

Visit Elizabeth Milovidov's profile and her website crossingguardconsulting.com dedicated to the protection of children's rights. You may also follow her on Twitter (twitter/crossing_guard) and Facebook (facebook.com/TheCrossingGuard).

On January 22, Professor Milovidov will speak at the American Library in Paris on the subject of "Internet, Social Media and Children."

According to the American Library in Paris website, more than 90% of U.S. teenagers ages 12-17 go online, and 73% of them have profiles on social networking sites; of children ages 5 and below who use the internet, 80% use it once a week. Along with Internet safety expert Samantha Wolfe, Dr. Milovidov will give a presentation on children's rights law and the numerous issues that children using social media and the Internet face - cyberbullying, cybergrooming, predators, sexting, etc. Dr. Milovidov will provide recommendations and resources for parents, educators and businesses to ensure a safer Internet use. The presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A and discussion.

See more information on the American Library in Paris website

Dr. Milovidov is a law professor and children's rights advocate. She practiced as an international lawyer, liitigator and General Counsel in California for four years before moving to France, where she earned a Ph.D. in International Relations and Diplomacy from the American Graduate School in Paris. She is now a faculty member at AGS and at AGS's partner institution Université de Cergy-Pontoise.

See Dr. Milovidov's profile ont he AGS website

See Dr. Milovidov's website on children's rights The Crossing Guard.

Professor Elizabeth Milovidov was a participant in a Children's Rights Law seminar at the London School of Economics, Centre for the Study of Human Rights on April 19-20. The two-day session was directed towards children's rights advocates, childcare professionals, including lawyers and those directly working for children in order to help them better apply the international human rights framework relating to children and young people.

Prof. Milovidov and other children’s advocates discussed such issues as the international human rights framework and how it relates to children; the evolution of international child law, its framework and implementation mechanisms, and the definition of the "child"; and the development issues including child poverty, child labor, trafficking and education.

The session was co-convened by human rights consultant and Immigration Judge, Madeleine Colvin and LSE Research Fellow and child law expert, Dr. Jenny Kuper.

"The most inspirational part of the two-day event was being surrounded by like-minded advocates, legal advisors and professionals with only one focus: how can we improve the lives of children," said Prof. Milovidov. "I also enjoyed being able to introduce the concept of business responsibility related to children to my co-participants as this issue is an underrated topic even amongst child rights professionals."

Prof. Milovidov extended invitations to Kate Iorpenda, Senior Advisor, Children and Impact Mitigation, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Baljeet Sandu, Solicitor and Co-Director of the Refugee Children's Rights Project at Islington Law Centre and Caroline Roseveare, an International Legal Adviser and Consultant on child protection and armed conflict. These distinguished children's rights advocates were enthusiastic about visiting AGS and sharing their passion and vision in the area of child rights.

On March 12, 2012, Professor Elizabeth Milovidov attended the London launch of the Children's Rights and Business Principles. The Principles were formulated by UNICEF, Save the Children and the UN Global Compact with the aim that the business community not only respects, but also proactively supports children's rights. The launch was a gathering of 200 business professionals, children's advocates and academics for a day-long program of discussions and debates centered around the Principles.

Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon underlined the importance of children's rights in the business sphere and called on business leaders to embrace the Principles, reminding them that: “Children are an essential part of the environment in which businesses operate..., [and] businesses have an increasing responsibility to respect the rights of society's youngest members.”

Although there are many guidelines in place that address business
and human rights, a children's rights perspective has been missing in the business world and each of the event sponsors had a word to say about the importance of the Principles:

• UNICEF hoped that the Principles would fill the gap in business and human rights by effectively addressing children's rights.

• Save the Children reminded the audience that "not only had 600 adult representatives from business, government and civil society been consulted in drafting the Principles, feedback was sought and received from 2,000 children in 9 different countries. The Principles, they hoped, would be a practical way to address children's rights and serve as a 'hands-on tool that can help big and small companies to develop child rights efforts in their spheres of influence.'"

• UN Global Compact remarked "on the high level of innovation reflected in the Principles, which demand more than respect for rights and provide a guiding framework to meet the growing demand from businesses and investors for greater progress in children's rights."

More information is available at the Children's Rights Foundation Network.

Dr. Milovidov, whose own work as a lawyer and scholar includes a focus on children's rights law (see profile) commented that "The launch was a fantastic opportunity to get together with business leaders and NGO's to address the overlooked issue of children's rights in business" and that she personally felt that "it was a call to arms to be proactive in this area. However, the role of small and medium size businesses (SMB's) and academia were not addressed at the launch and perhaps, AGS will be able to assist in this area." Dr. Milovidov plans to offer a Children's Rights Law course in the fall.