Submitted by Victor on
On June 5 the Georgian Coalition for Children and Youth Welfare organised a public event to present the report Georgia: The Child Protection Index. Measuring the Fulfillment of a Child’s Rights. Government representatives, international and national organisations, local partners, the Executive Director of The Romanian Federation of NGOs for Child (FONPC) and ChildPact’s President attended the event.
The event was opened by Jaba Nachkebia, the Chairman of the Georgian Coalition; Hans Bederski, National Director South Caucasus – World Vision Middle East and Eastern Europen; and Mariana Ianachevici, ChildPact’s President.
Andy Guth, World Vision’s Data Collection Manager, presented the data collection methods, the indicators’ framework (made of 626 indicators) and the results for Georgia, as they compare with the results from Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria and Serbia. Andy Guth showed that Georgia made significant progress in some areas, but it lags behind other countries, in particular the policy framework that is necessary for an efficient child protection system.
The Child Protection Index offers a unique opportunity to build a unified approach to monitor government policy and action across the region. It allows for comparing country reforms and progress with an eye towards strategic cooperation. “Now it is our responsibility to use this tool for a better protection of children” said Mr. Guth.
Calin Pop from The Romanian Federation of NGOs for Child (FONPC) shared the experience of the Romanian coalition in working towards child protection at national and regional level, with a focus on the benefits brought by FONPC’s legal incorporation as an independent civil society organization.
Representatives of the Youth Committee of the Georgian Coalition were also present at the meeting and shared their concerns about the big challenges faced by the young people living in institutions and about the Day Care Centers’s standards in Georgia.
The Child Protection Index – a joint project by World Vision International and ChildPact – is an independent tool to measure each country’s child protection reforms in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC): 13 articles of the UNCRC are screened with this tool.
The pilot in Georgia (as well as the pilot in Moldova) is financed by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Romania’s Development Cooperation Programme (RoAid) and implemented with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – the Regional Bureau for Europe and Central Asia.