NNC participates in regional forum of ECPAT INTERNATIONAL in Vienna
In the week 30.09 – 04.10 National Network for Children participated in a regional forum for exchange between European organizations, members of the international network for child protection ECPAT International. NNC is a full member of ECPAT since 2018.
The regional forum focused on the practices of national organisations in preventing and responding to child abuse and sexual exploitation.
Georgi Elenkov from the National Network for Children presented the activities of the organization on the Digital Children projects (including the functioning of the Safe Internet Center), NURVAC and INSPIRE; the work of the Legal Aid Network of the NYM on the landmark case against an English pastor – accused of systematic fornication with dozens of children from the district of Bishkek. Hope in the city of. Sliven; highlights from the “Child Protection from All Forms of Violence” section of the 2024 Notebook; and the diverse advocacy causes and activities of the NNC and its members across Bulgaria.
Participants in the regional forum highlighted similar challenges in the European context, including the lack of public sensitivity to the problems of asylum-seeking children, including unaccompanied minors; the increasing cases of multiple sexual abuse in the online environment; the problems of children creating pornographic content to generate profits from social platforms; the lack of resources and support for the NGO sector engaged in the fight against violence and sexual exploitation of children; the daily disinformation against civil organizations, etc.
See a summary of the first panels of the forum, made by the delegate of the CND: