Today, 6 March, at the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo was presented the first monitoring report “Report Card: What is Kosovo’s score for childcare?”. The document was elaborated by the Coalition of NGOs for Child Protection in Kosovo – KOMF, with the assistance of the National Network for Children (NNC). NNC is actively helping not only Kosovo but many other countries in the region to improve the well-being of children in the Balkans.
The Kosovo Report Card shows that child poverty in the country is 22.8%, while in Bulgaria it is 26.1%, with one in four children in the country living in poverty. In Bulgaria, for 13 years now, the Report Card has been published by the National Network for Children, with the participation of experts, parents and children, and although the problem of child poverty in Bulgaria has been repeatedly addressed, its rate is still one of the highest in Europe.
“We, the civil society organisations in the Balkans, must support each other in eradicating the injustice concerning our children. If they live in poverty, tomorrow we will have poor and weak societies, and who wants to have poor and uncompetitive neighboring countries? This is why we create these monitoring reports, to show our politicians where the problems are and what needs to be done to make life better for our children and families,” NNC’s Executive Director Georgi Bogdanov said at the official meeting at the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo.
The thirteenth monitoring report “Report Card 2024: What is the Average Government Score for Childcare?” is expected to be ready and presented to the state institutions at the end of April. Last year, the focument for the first time rated the state with its highest average score of 3.33. The score in this year’s Scorecard will be determined in April, as independent experts are currently evaluating the state’s performance toward child-friendly policies.
