The high-level Presidency Conference enabled and facilitated a free and open discussion between the highest representatives of some Member States (e.g. Lithuania, Estonia, Malta), EU institutions and NGOs (e.g. Eurochild, SOS Children's Villages). The main themes of this conference included child poverty, the European Child Guarantee, action plans, but also support for refugees from Ukraine. The conference was also attended by young adults and children themselves, who discussed how they see their involvement in issues that concern them, what issues they are addressing in the context of poverty and what they themselves see as possible solutions.
The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan set a target of reducing the number of people at risk of poverty or exclusion by 15 million by 2030, including 5 million children. The European Child Guarantee, endorsed by the Council of the European Union on 15 June 2021, aims to ensure that every European child has access to five basic services: free healthcare, education, pre-school education and care, decent housing, and adequate nutrition. The guarantee will be implemented through national action plans, which Member States will launch within nine months of the adoption of the Council Recommendation.
The problem of child poverty exists in all European Member States, and the current energy and refugee crisis has increased the vulnerability of children and put many families at risk of poverty. It is of the utmost importance to address these problems and to prevent social disparities and inequalities from widening in the future. The European Guarantee for Children will also be linked to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the European Strategy on the Rights of the Child, which were issued in March 2021, thus creating a renewed European policy framework in the context of the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic.
The conference was co-financed by the European Union.
The photo gallery is available here.
