On 17 February the European Commission held the closing conference on the first phase of the feasibility study for a Child Guarantee.

The event attracted a broad audience - national policy makers, EU officials, Members of Parliament, civil society representatives, academics, practitioners. Eurochild’s delegation included member organisations from six countries: 

  • Mária Herczog, Family, Child, Youth Association Hungary - Hungary
  • Ricardo Ibarra, Plataforma de la Infancia – Spain
  • Mary Nicholson, Children’s Rights Alliance Ireland – Ireland
  • Nina Ohlmeier, German Children’s Fund – Germany
  • George Bogdanov, National Network for Children – Bulgaria
  • Hanna Heinonen, Central Union for Child Welfare, Finland

The event was opened by European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit who said “In all EU Member States there are children living in poverty, including in the richer countries, some of them even experienced increases recently. This is unacceptable. My mandate which is also all ours based on the Pillar of Social Rights is to guarantee children the right to protection from poverty.”

Success! Commission agrees to draft a Council Recommendation to push for national support

The European Commission confirmed at the event that it will propose a governance framework on the Child Guarantee, in the form of a Council Recommendation. This will correspond to the implementation of the Pillar of Social Rights. It will also secure more national level engagement than a Commission Recommendation, and have a strong monitoring and follow-up, targets and indicators. This commitment reflects the calls made by Eurochild together with the EU Alliance for Investing in Children. The European Commission will make its proposal before the second phase of the feasibility study is completed.

Jana Hainsworth, Eurochild Secretary General, spoke in the panel of civil society representatives on behalf of the EU Alliance for Investing in Children, and announced the launch of the statement calling for the Child Guarantee Council Recommendation to be launched as soon as possible in 2020 to keep the timeline of EU budget negotiations. The Commissioner addressed this call with a plea for time and capacity to take learnings from the first phase and the suggestion to link the Child Guarantee to a broader poverty strategy. 

Childhub

You might like..

0
2
Today, 23 million children are growing up at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU. At particularly higher risk of social exclusion are children in vulnerable situations and disadvantaged groups, such as Roma children, children in…
0
6
On 2 February 2020, a group of 15 EU member states called ‘Friends of Cohesion’ gathered in Portugal to discuss the next EU long-term budget— the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). This group of countries includes Bulgaria,…
0
4
A study, which investigates the feasibility of a Child Guarantee for children at risk of poverty, was discussed at a conference by the EU Commission on 17 February. The idea of a Child Guarantee comes from a previous proposal by the…
0
3
We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Norah Gibbons, a committed children’s rights defender and former President of Eurochild.  Norah Gibbons worked for many years in social work, in both the statutory and voluntary sector, in…
0
3
These findings from Eurochild’s new report on the 2019 European Semester were launched at the Towards No child poverty in Europe 2030 event on 14-15 November in collaboration with the Bertelsmann Stiftung in the European Parliament in the presence…
0
2
Following the success of the Eurochild Members’ Day attended by Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit, the meeting of the EU Alliance for Investing in Children was an important opportunity to discuss directly with officials working…
0
94
The European Union is working on two major pieces of work for children – and they are looking for our contribution.   To inform the new European Union Strategy on the Rights of the Child and the Child Guarantee, Eurochild, UNICEF, Save the…
0
38
Last week (7th-8th October), the Eurochild Children’s Council met at the Eurochild Office in Brussels to work on developing the Network’s second Child Participation Strategy and to start planning the next Eurochild conference. Eurochild’s Child…
0
3
According to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, states have committed to provide access to education to every child, regardless of his or her migratory status. However, crossing the doorstep of a school is not enough. For an educational experience…
0
7
The MOCHA project has spent three years identifying and critically assessing the differing models of child primary health care that are used across Europe. It appraised models of child primary health care in all 30 EU/EEA countries. The final…
0
6
Growing inequality affects children’s access to healthcare and education; poverty continues to remain persistently high among children (24%), compared to the adult population (22%). Despite this, the European Semester – the European framework for…
0
6
The European Union is seen as a champion in promoting deinstitutionalisation through its introduction of policies and the allocation of substantial funding. Many improvements have been made in reforming child protection systems and encouraging…
0
2
Achievements were celebrated and solid plans for progress made at the double launch of the Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) report, The State of Children's Rights in Scotland, and the association known as the…
0
2
Eurochild has signed a joint letter addressed to Generation Equality Forum, a civil society-centred gathering convened by the UN Women, calling for stand-alone action on, and participation of, adolescent girls in the global conversations aimed to…
0
85
CAM are children who, for whatever reason, have suffered from displacement, separation or loss as a result of migration. They may: •    Be asylum seekers, refugees, economic or social migrants. •    Be accompanied…