The declaration with the recommendations for more targeted spending of the European Child Guarantee (ECG) funds, aimed at the poorest children in Bulgaria and Europe, was elaborated as a result of three-day meetings in Sofia with experts from non-governmental children’s organizations and with officials from state institutions working in this field.
The meeting was very constructive providing many positive and innovative methods and strategies for the future and communication of the results of the EGD. The next steps for the implementation of the guarantee were developed and a summary of the past days was prepared by finalizing a common position.
The experts highlighted in the declaration seven recommendations in the following areas:
- EGD-related interventions;
- Supporting families;
- Services related to early childhood development;
- Access to quality education;
- Improving social housing policy;
- Improving health policy;
- Nutrition and healthy food for children in kindergartens and schools;
A major focus of the declaration fell on the establishment of national indicators for transparent monitoring and evaluation for better accountability and continuous improvement of service delivery.
“We live in difficult times of financial distribution. We are facing economic crises due to the imposition of tariffs on goods worldwide. It is expected that there will be more funds for armaments in government budgets. My appeal is that this should not be at the expense of children and especially those living in extreme poverty,” said Georgi Bogdanov, Executive Director of the National Network for Children (NNC), in the closing discussion.
H.P. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Eurochild, said that “working groups and cooperation between NGOs, state institutions and policymakers are of utmost importance for our joint work in the field of public utilities related to children’s rights and in particular children in vulnerable groups. By investing in children, we are investing in our future and when we make decisions we must think of them first.”
The Declaration will be actively used by Eurochild to advocate with the European institutions and by the NNC with the Bulgarian institutions.
The full text of the declaration can be found Eurochild-Position-Paper-Implementation-of-ECG-in-Bulgaria
