Child Guarantee: Opening Statement by Dubravka Šuica at UNICEF event

Dear Cathy,
Dear Deputy Chairperson Monique Nsanzabaganwa,
Dear Ministers, dear Congresswoman DeLauro
Dear Malala, dear Yolanda, dear Tamilore,
Excellencies, esteemed guests,

I am honoured to welcome all of you to today’s crucial event. I am particularly delighted that we are focusing on what works concretely for children, where we can improve and how we can collectively maximise our efforts towards real-life positive impact for every child.

In this vein, I am deeply grateful for the close cooperation and alignment between UNICEF’s work and the European Union’s children’s rights priorities.

Upholding children’s rights is essential to progress towards the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030.

During this Commission mandate, we have developed a landmark policy framework, an action plan: the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child. It aims to uphold children’s rights in all actions of the Union and to deliver concretely on the key challenges that children face.

It is an investment in our societies. It is an investment in peace.

I was marked by your UNICEF 2021 report ‘On my mind’: The annual loss of human capital from mental disorders of children and young people is estimated at EUR 54.2 billion in Europe.

Failure to invest in children has a considerable social and economic cost.  And it is first and foremost a failure to invest in our most precious human capital, with severe consequences across all generations.

I will now briefly highlight some concrete proven solutions for investing in children at European Union level:

The European Child Guarantee is the first EU-level policy instrument designed to address disadvantage and exclusion during childhood. It is a proven and effective measure to give children an equal start in life, and to break cycles of poverty and inequality that can last a lifetime. The implementation of the Child Guarantee Recommendation is well underway, with all EU Member States having prepared their national action plans. In these action plans they detail policy measures they intend to implement, set measurable targets and present their governance arrangements.

Some concrete solutions under the Child Guarantee are:

• Individualised support for Roma girls at risk of early school leaving,
• Provision of services and integrated health and social services for families with children, including those with disabilities
• Ensuring access for the medico-socially vulnerable population to public health programmes
• Providing human and infrastructural interventions to enhance the social integration and improving housing conditions.

The Child Guarantee works!

Another example is the European Union’s Global Health Strategy. It helps deliver better long-term health and enhances investment in health.  COVID-19 posed its own challenges to the safety and well-being of children, especially those that are out of school.

Globally, EU-funded projects have been repurposed to focus on the impact of COVID-19, taking the best interests of the child into account.

For example, the EU:

1. swiftly refocused the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to counter the increase of domestic
   violence during lockdowns;
2. addressed child protection issues amplified by COVID-19 in Africa in five focus countries: Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Senegal.
3. We launched the Team Europe Initiative on manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies in Africa to support the African Union in its goal to produce vaccines for Africa in Africa.

Our “Safe Birth” initiative in Africa has significantly helped boost maternal and child survival.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We need governments to act. Actions, and inaction, of governments have a greater
impact on children than on any other group in society.

I will take the inspirations from today’s discussions with me to our EU Member States. Our work has never been about short-term fixes, but about laying the groundwork for sustainable change.

A vision that will continue to guide the Commission’s dedication to children’s rights, ensuring no child is left behind.

Because when children thrive, the world thrives!

Source – EU Commission