For a third year in a row, the government received average grade 3 for its care for the children of Bulgaria in the National Network for Children’s “Report Card 2014: What is the average government score for child care?”.
The Report Card is an annual report, which encompasses the progress of commitments, related to policies for children and families and undertaken by the government.
Report Card 2014 was presented on May 12, 2014 to the Council of Ministers. The Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Daniela Bobeva hosted the event.
The experts gave grade good 4 which is report’s highest rating for safe and healthy environment in which the children of Bulgaria live. This score was good 3.50 in the two previous years. The lowest rating is given to the efforts to address child poverty, which for Bulgaria continues to be the highest in Europe since 2007. This score was 3 in 2012. The process of deinstitutionalization, adoption, juvenile justice and neglecting and child abuse are subareas in which the scores are lower compare to the two previous years.
Report Card 2014 grades are:
Child policies | Grade |
| UN Convention on rights of the child | Average 2. 97 |
| Family environment and alternative care | Average 2. 98 |
| Healthcare | Average 3. 11 |
| Education | Average 3. 11 |
| Juvenile justice | Average 2.90 |
Group of external experts has agreed and validated the Report Card grades. One of this year report’s innovation is that the responsible institutions was informed about their commitments, which are analyzed and their feedback was included. The other two interesting features are that this year children and adolescents participated in the research work and the report is coming out in two editions – a popular and for experts.
“52.3% of the children in Bulgaria live at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Only in 20 years, these children, to whom we were not able, to provide good education and normal development opportunities will be the generation that will operate and manage our country.”, said Georgi Bogdanov, CEO of the National Network for Children.
Report Card 2014 addresses 7 key recommendations:
- To create Children’s Ombudsman;
- To develop independent family policies and family-centered approach in all sectorial policies;
- To prioritize prevention, early intervention and parents support in the process of deinstitutionalization;
- To improve the mechanism of prophylactic examinations for uninsured pregnant women;
- To develop a guaranteed minimum package of health services for children;
- To modernize the Bulgarian education system in line with society’s contemporary trends of development;
- To repeal the Act for Combating Anti-Social Behaviour of Minor and Underage Children and the creation of a new special law on child and youth justice.
