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UNICEF: Over 1.3 million Romanian children at risk of poverty, made more vulnerable by COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has put already disadvantaged children and their families in an even more vulnerable situation, according to UNICEF, as 35.8% of the 3.7 million children in Romania - over 1.32 million - are at risk of poverty and social exclusion.
UNICEF warns that in Romania 400,000 school-age children do not go to school and more than 50,000 children are separated from their families, largely due to poverty, violence or neglect.
Thus, given the incoming local and parliamentary elections, the re-opening of schools, as well as the development of new national strategies for 2021-2027, the National Council of Students (CNE), the Romanian Children's Board and UNICEF have put forth for Romanian authorities a set of ten solutions to improve the condition of children.
"The authorities are urged to use the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to address the structural problems facing children, which has worsened during the crisis. An example would be the allocation of 10% of European structural funds for projects designed for children and the use of European structural funds for integrated social services from a single source of funding and not in a competitive manner," according to UNICEF Romania.
UNICEF recommends including the principles of "children first" and "no children left behind" in all strategies, national plans and programmes to be developed and implemented.
UNICEF also recommends the establishment of a ministerial coordination group for children, led by the prime minister or deputy prime minister, for better integration of sectoral strategies and programmes, as well as policies at national and European level.
Improving preventive health services, consolidating the availability of quality disaggregated data and information on the situation of children in Romania and establishing concrete mechanisms for children's participation in policy development and decision-making in accordance with the 2019 Bucharest Declaration of Children are other solutions proposed by UNICEF, CNE and the Romanian Children's Board.
(Source photo:www.unicef.org)