Meetings |
14 June 2024 marked the 3rd anniversary of the adoption of the European Child Guarantee recommendation by the Council. On this occasion Child Guarantee Coordinators from 22 Member States met to update each other on actions that they are carrying out in their countries. As highlighted in the speech of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, one in four children in the EU lives in a low-income household, has parents who work much below their working time potential, or is exposed to severe material and social deprivation. Addressing this challenge early in children’s life improves their educational and employment prospects. The Child Guarantee Coordinators from 22 Member States discussed actions in the domains of early childhood education and care, education, health, nutrition and adequate housing, as well as other measures to address child poverty across the EU. Romania, Estonia and Slovakia presented their progress reports, while Poland, France and Germany shared good practices, including the "Startchancen-Programm” for a better educational start in life aiming to decouple academic achievement from social background, and ensuring equality of opportunity for children from all backgrounds. The key-note speech was delivered by Prof. Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. He highlighted the need to sustain and increase investing in children particularly in the light of fiscal consolidations, the non-take up of rights and the link between poverty and mental health.
Meeting of Child Guarantee Coordinators with civil society, Brussels 13 June 2024 On 13 June, Eurochild hosted an informal gathering in its offices with Save the Children and the other EU Alliance for Investing in Children members, the Child Guarantee National Coordinators, and European Commission. This event provided an opportunity to showcase the work done by the organisations in combatting child poverty. Read more here.
EU Children’s Participation Platform, Brussels 27-28 June 2024 On 27 and 28 June, the EU Children’s Participation Platform brought together 36 child members from 14 EU Member States to hear their voices on issues most important to them. The Platform was set up in 2022 on the initiative of the European Commission, as a deliverable of the EU Strategy on the rights of the child. Children came together in Brussels to review what the Platform has achieved so far and to plan activities for the next two years. Several Commission policy initiatives most relevant to children, among others, the recommendations on Investing in Children and the European Child Guarantee, were presented during the meeting. Children interested in the topic of poverty and social inclusion pitched their ideas to others highlighting why it is important, how children can connect with the issue, and what activities the Platform could offer for children to learn more. The 2025-2026 work plan will be ready after the summer break. Find out more about the Platform, by visiting the website.
Belgian Presidency European Child Guarantee conference: from engagement to reality, Brussels 2-3 May 2024 On the 2 and 3 May, the Belgian Presidency organised an event on the European Child Guarantee. The meeting served as an occasion to look at the progress in implementation of the European Child Guarantee, and exchange best practices between the national Child Guarantee Coordinators, representatives of UNICEF, Eurofund, the Belgian national and local authorities, and the civil society. Issues such as challenges and solutions of the Member States in rolling out of measures for children in need were debated. Queen Mathilde of Belgium honoured the discussions with her presence. Ms Karine Lalieux, the Belgian Minister for Social Integration and Poverty Alleviation opened the conference highlighting the approach of Belgium in terms of combatting child poverty, while Ms Andriana Sukova, acting Director-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and Ms Katarina Ivanković Knežević, Director for Social Rights and Inclusion presented the state of play on the initiative and the progress so far achieved by the Member States. MEP Dragoș Pîslaru, Chair of the European Parliament’s EMPL Committee and of the Working Group on European Child Guarantee commented on the need for continued funding and improved coordination of the initiative at EU, national and local levels. Finally, the Child Guarantee Coordinators exchanged best practices, presented their progress reports and discussed on the different national measures aiming at children in need.
Meeting of the EP Working Group on European Child Guarantee, Strasbourg 24 April 2024 The last meeting of the Working Group established in the 2019-2024 term of the European Parliament included presentations and position statements on the implementation of the European Child Guarantee and child poverty. Number of reports were presented including, UNICEF’ Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth and Eurochild’s paper on Children's Rights: Political will or won't? The European Commission presented state of play with the progress reports and the EU monitoring framework. Eurofund mentioned an on-line tool that could be used tool for monitoring of European Child Guarantee. MEPs were also interested in synergies between monitoring of child guarantee and the European Homelessness Platform, perspectives for further work during the next term of the European Parliament, exchange of good practices among the Member States, funds dedicated to improving the situation of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion, and new challenges, in particular related to mental health. More information on the working group here.
Civil society perspective on implementation of the European Child Guarantee, Brussels 22 May 2024 European Commission organised a meeting with representatives of the civil society to discuss their views on the implementation of the national measures in the context of the European Child Guarantee. The meeting provided important insights on issues relating to governance of the initiative, need for stronger cooperation with the local authorities, better access to EU funding for the NGO sector and others. The feedback received will be taken into account in further works on the initiative. |
News |
Commission issues recommendations to better protect children from violence On 23 April the Commission adopted the Recommendation on developing and strengthening integrated child protection systems in the best interests of the child, as a commitment in the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child. The Recommendation supports Member States in their efforts to strengthen child protection systems. Authorities at all levels of governance and civil society across all sectors need to work together to protect children from all forms of violence in a coherent and systemic way. Read more here.
Signature of La Hulpe Declaration calling for further implementing the European Child Guarantee In April, the La Hulpe Declaration on the future of the European Pillar of Social Rights was signed by the European Parliament, the Commission and a large majority of Member States and social partners at a conference organised by the Belgian Presidency. The Declaration reaffirms the Pillar as the compass guiding the work on social policies and provides valuable inputs into the next EU strategic agenda for 2024-2029. Among them, the signatories call for ‘further implementing and strengthening the European Child Guarantee, including with an improvement of its monitoring’. They also ‘recommit to reaching the renewed Barcelona targets on early childhood education and care and recall the importance of investing in universally accessible, affordable, high-quality childcare’. The Declaration thus sends a clear message on the need to keep an ambitious social agenda.
Commission publishes new guidelines to address wellbeing and mental health of young people and teachers at school On 13 May at the start of the European Mental Health Week, the Commission's Expert Group on wellbeing in schools published two new sets of guidelines for education policymakers and for school leaders and educators to help them address the challenges related to wellbeing and mental health of both young people and teachers. The guidelines suggest that wellbeing at school should be tackled in a comprehensive and integrated manner with a high focus on prevention. They highlight the need to assist teachers and educators with additional resources to enable them to sustain their own wellbeing, as well as the need to build strong networks integrating local stakeholders, in particular the healthcare and welfare sectors, but also higher education, youth organisations and families. The Commission's expert group on wellbeing in schools was established to develop evidence-based policy recommendations and guidelines as part of the European Education Area flagship initiative Pathways to School Success. A report is expected to be published this autumn and will contain a more in-depth version of the guidelines with supporting research evidence, additional inspiring practices and practical tips to ensure that they effectively reach schools in Europe. More information on the published guidelines is available here. Additional information on supporting wellbeing and mental health through education in the European Education Area can be found here.
Call for stronger prevention of child institutionalisation – Statement by the European Expert Group on the transition from institutional to community-based care The European Expert Group on the transition from institutional to community-based care issued a “Call for stronger prevention of child institutionalisation: Time to step up monitoring and evaluation of early childhood intervention and family support in the European Child Guarantee”. The statement calls for increased emphasis on measures preventing the institutionalisation of children including, Early Childhood Intervention and support to parents and carers, to be monitored at national and EU level and addressed in the updated versions of Child Guarantee National Action Plans. You can find the full statement here. The statement was released on the occasion of the Belgian Presidency Conference on 2 May 2024 (see above). |
Data and reports |
Publication of the 2023 child poverty figures According to the latest figures published by Eurostat in June 2024, child poverty remained broadly stable in 2023: 24.8% of children were at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) in 2023 compared to 24.7 % in 2022. It is still higher than among the total population (21.4%), and child poverty is particularly high in Bulgaria (33.9 %), Spain (34.5 %) and Romania (39.0%). Overall, it is nevertheless worth highlighting that the total number of children AROPE decreased by 100.000 compared to 2022 (from 20.0 million to 19.9 million).
Incorporating the impact of social investments and reforms in the EU’s new fiscal framework Recent report by EU think tank Bruegel estimates the impact of specific policies (i.e. related to early childhood education and care - ECEC, education and training) on GDP growth. They, among others, show that increasing participation of children below 3 in ECEC to 50% can increase the labour supply which could in turn generate a GDP growth of up to 0.52%. It is worth underlining that even though such estimate only takes into account short-term economic returns—triggered by parents being able to enter the labour-market—, and not more longer-term ones—triggered by enhanced educational and labour-market outcomes of children who attend ECEC, such study already provides an additional illustration of why social spendings should not be conceived as mere costs but rather as investments.
Investing in Childhood: Charting a path to end child poverty across Europe A recent report by Save the Children examines the national social protection systems within Europe, while also looking at the efficacy of the European Child Guarantee. It provides insights into the current state of child poverty in the EU and proposes recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders. Read more here.
#EuropeKidsWant: Our Rights. Our Future. The Europe We Want Civil society launched an online consultation “The Europe Kids Want” to gather views of children and young people on what future EU leaders and Members of the European Parliament should prioritize to make the EU a better place for them. The results of the survey indicate that children’s biggest concerns are: war and conflict - 82%, mental health - 79%, finding a job or study opportunity - 76%, education - 76%, harassment and bullying - 71%. Read the full report here.
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European Child Guarantee Newsletter – No. 5
01-07-2024