In March, I wrote a blog about my discovery of Childonomics (HERE) and the potential that I see in it. When I started to think about the ways in which we need to prepare for the recovery period after the pandemic, the Childonomics methodology sprang to mind almost immediately. In a situation with which everyone is unfamiliar, where no one has a clear idea of what is needed or what would be the best road to take, Childonomics can really provide a tool to help make informed policy decisions.
When this occurred to me in April, I contacted the people at Eurochild who are behind the development of Childonomics to advocate for pushing Childonomics to the foreground again as something that can help governments and intergovernmental agencies make policy decisions. This suggestion was met with interest. And since then, various people have been involved in doing just that, and I have played a supporting role in this.
One of the ways in which we have brought Childonomics to people’s attention was through a webinar for members of Eurochild, during the Members Days in June. I was honoured to be allowed to facilitate this webinar with Maria Herczog, Jo Rogers, and Jean-Anne Kennedy, all of whom were involved in the development of the system, as speakers. As well as the president of Eurochild H.E. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, who was president of Malta at the time that a Childonomics pilot was run in that country, giving her views on what Childonomics means for Eurochild. She gave a very passionate speech about the need for Childonomics to be used to make sure that there is a real investment in children, not just spending.
The webinar was so popular that the public discussion that we had planned to do as a whole group, had to be split up into 5 break-out groups, to allow everyone the opportunity to give their views. During these discussions, many participants showed interest in and enthusiasm about Childonomics. And there were many interesting suggestions on how it could be used, including teaching it at universities to make sure it becomes ingrained in policymakers, using it to strengthen the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals, and giving it a role in reporting to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
These reactions have made me very hopeful that more and more people, organisations and governments will start to become familiar with Childonomics and will start using it to make sure that policy decisions are made on the right grounds. Especially, when it comes to the post-pandemic recovery. And of course, we will continue work to promote and roll out Childonomics.
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