As a member of the the EU Alliance for Investing in Children, EPHA has joined calls from the European Parliament and the Intergroup on Children’s Rights, for EU national governments in the Council and in national capitals to be ambitious in the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and to adopt and implement the Child Guarantee Council Recommendation as a matter of priority. Even before the onset of COVID-19, approximately 1 in 4 children were growing up at risk of poverty and social exclusion across the European Union, and although the EU institutions have already taken significant steps towards tackling this issue, notably through the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, and the European Commission proposal for establishing the Child Guarantee, EU Member States must now take action.
The manifesto calls on EU Member States to:
- Develop comprehensive Child Guarantee Action Plans that will be regularly reviewed.
- Set ambitious national targets to halve child poverty by 2030 and make sure that all children are counted.
- Ensure the meaningful participation of children, of relevant multi-sectoral stakeholders – such as local communities and civil society organisations – as well as of parents and carers in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Child Guarantee Council Recommendation.
- Ensure that the Child Guarantee properly feeds into the European Semester process and the country-specific recommendations.
- Ensure a more comprehensive approach to the services provided under the Child Guarantee in the areas of nutrition and leisure activities.
- Ensure coherence and complementarity between the Child Guarantee and the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child