5 ways in which the Children’s Guarantee will change the lives of children in Romania for the better

The National Action Plan on the Child Guarantee, adopted by the Government of Romania last October and whose implementation has begun, has a huge potential to change the lives of children in Romania, where 41.5% of them are at risk of poverty and exclusion social.

The Child Guarantee will speed up effective access to a minimum level of services that we need to provide for all children, but especially the most vulnerable. The implementation of the action plan will lead to a systemic change for children in Romania. According to him, the main beneficiaries will be children affected by poverty and social exclusion, children living in rural areas, children with disabilities, Roma children, children from migrant families, underage mothers, but also other categories of vulnerable children, including street children , children with incarcerated parents, children victims of various forms of violence, children addicted to psychotropic drugs, children victims of human trafficking, children in conflict with the law, children in alternative care and unaccompanied and separated children. It is a unique opportunity for present and future generations to benefit from a coherent set of measures funded by national and local budgets and the European Union, to be implemented within a well-defined timeframe, up to 2030.

Here are some important points:

• The Children’s Guarantee action plan aims to reduce the number of children affected by poverty and social exclusion. By 2030, this number should decrease by at least 500 thousand children compared to the value recorded in 2021. Children must be helped as soon as possible, by lifting families out of poverty and social exclusion and by providing opportunities and services which can effectively reduce material shortages. Measures that can play a key role in this are the expansion of the implementation of the minimum package of services, which UNICEF successfully tested in 45 communities and which was transposed into legislation, as well as the model of integrated community centers, also tested by UNICEF in Romania.

• The National Child Guarantee Action Plan will increase children’s participation as we develop tools and mechanisms for child-friendly participation in various sectors such as health, child protection, education and justice. Listening to children’s voices and increasing their participation in decisions that affect them are rights that Romania committed to 34 years ago, when it ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

• To make a real difference for children, the National Child Guarantee Action Plan focuses on prevention. All children and all families need to get support from social workers and social services in every community. All children must be enrolled in school. All children need to be vaccinated against preventable diseases and have better and healthier diets. All children should be registered with a family doctor, especially in vulnerable rural areas. Taking these steps now means less spending in the future and a better situation for children and teenagers.

• Children have the right to quality inclusive education. Children must benefit from quality education from an early age, regardless of where they live. The National Child Guarantee Action Plan focuses on drastically reducing the school dropout rate. The consequences of children dropping out of school affect their lives as future adults. Sometimes the negative impact extends to future generations. Expanding the program that provides a hot meal to children in schools at high risk of dropping out is a specific measure in the action plan that addresses both education and better nutrition.

• The safety of our children will be increased through the measures included in the Action Plan, which includes awareness campaigns, but also a national system for recording and centralizing reports on violence against children. In the connected and fast-paced world we live in, we cannot afford not to take action against online violence as well. Children need to be protected from harassment and abuse in the virtual world as well, having to learn to stay safe in an increasingly aggressive online environment where misinformation creates real victims. Their mental health is at stake, and parents and teachers need the knowledge to address this. We can contribute to an important change – and the action plan includes measures in this area – by training teachers, social workers and parents, among others.

UNICEF has supported the Child Guarantee at European level since its creation in 2020, including testing its implementation in seven Member States. In Romania, UNICEF supported the development of the National Action Plan and currently continues this support. We will continue to collaborate with the authorities in several areas, including strengthening and digitizing the monitoring and evaluation framework of the National Action Plan; development of a budget planning and expenditure tracking system to complement programmatic monitoring by evaluating and directing expenditure (initially EU funds) related to the Plan; supporting the Child Guarantee localization process.

After five years of facing the effects of a pandemic and a war in the region, the Child Guarantee represents the major opportunity of the decade to influence the future of Romania, eradicating poverty and systemic exclusion of children, by providing and ensuring access for all children to integrated services and oriented to their needs. With the right dedication, resources and knowledge, we can start again to build a Romania for every child.