COFACE wants to shape a healthy and safe environment fit for families and their children and has the ambition to build a child compass 2030 to better respect the rights of children and better respond to the needs of both children and their families. One key dimension to be examined as part of this child compass is poverty reduction and support children living in families in vulnerable situations.
In 2017, the European Parliament requested that the European Commission implement a preparatory action on establishing a possible child guarantee scheme. In this context, the Commission has commissioned a Study on the feasibility of a child guarantee to ensure that all children in Europe who are at risk of poverty, social exclusion, or are otherwise disadvantaged, have access to essential services of good quality. The results of this feasibility study were presented and discussed in a European Expert Meeting hosted by COFACE and AGF on 29th September 2020 in Berlin.
During this seminar we analysed the proposals of the feasibility study, trying to contribute to the shaping of the Child Guarantee from a family perspective, integrating the two-generation approach to ensure that both children and families receive support. The results of the discussions fed into the European Commission public consultation on a European Child Guarantee. (which ended on 7th October).
Overall, the objectives of the seminar were the following:
- Presenting the plans for the Child Guarantee
- Contribute to shaping the Child Guarantee from a family perspective and provide input for EU public consultation on a European Child Guarantee
- Rethink and reframe the Child Guarantee through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath
- Foster cross-country exchanges on national family policies and how they reduce poverty
- Bring together NGO and government reps on family policies
- Develop a roadmap for action to implement the Child Guarantee
Presentations by speakers:
Session 1: What can the Child Guarantee look like?
- Keynote presentation by Hugh Frazer, co-author of the Feasibility study on the Child Guarantee
- Reaction by Natalie Picken, European Platform for Investing in Children
- Reaction by Olivier Thévenon, OECD
Session 3: Family policy levers at national/local level to implement the Child Guarantee
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For a summary of the discussions, see here.