The call is often heard that more money needs to be spent on social protection, child protection and universal services like education and healthcare. Very often this is true when compared to spending on defence or tax breaks (or loopholes) for big corporations, the spending on these areas lags behind significantly, which leads both to human suffering and bigger expenses to the public purse down the line. However, in a way it is also misleading.
Continue reading “Investing in Services and People”Tag: #familypreservation
Remember the UNGA Resolution on Child Rights?
Last December, there was a lot of excitement about the adoption of an unprecedented UN Resolution on Child Rights (you can read the blog about that HERE). It raised a lot of hope that there would be a real boost in making sure Governments take measures to ensure that children can grow up in their own families or in family-based alternative care. And then the pandemic happened.
Continue reading “Remember the UNGA Resolution on Child Rights?”Family Strengthening IS Economic Stimulus
While there was a sense of relief when the EU managed to reach agreement on the Recovery Fund, which is to help EU economies fund economic stimulus to prevent the post-pandemic recession from becoming a bottomless pit, and the next EU long-term budget, there was disappointment too. There had been a lot of hope among people like me who work for child protection and child rights coming up to these talks. This was because there was to be a requirement for EU member states to spend at least 5% of the resources allocated to them from the European Social Fund Plus on addressing child poverty. In the text of the final agreement, this requirement was not mentioned.
Continue reading “Family Strengthening IS Economic Stimulus”Deinstitutionalisation During the Pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic has had an enormous effect on the efforts to deinstitutionalise alternative care in many countries. The interesting thing is that there have been two main effects, pulling in opposite directions. There does not seem to be a lot of middle ground at the moment.
Continue reading “Deinstitutionalisation During the Pandemic”Call-to-Action: Awareness-Raising
Earlier this week, I sent out another advocacy email to a number of big organisations, with a call to action to mobilise an awareness-raising movement to prevent children being separated from their families unnecessarily. Here is that email:
Continue reading “Call-to-Action: Awareness-Raising”Preparing for Post-Pandemic Recovery
In today’s blog, I want to share with you the email that I have sent out to 19 big organisations in May. It is a bit longer than my average blog, but it is worth it:
I am trying to make organisations aware of both the dangers that lie ahead for vulnerable children, and of the opportunity to do something to mitigate those dangers, and I wanted to bring this to your attention as well.
Continue reading “Preparing for Post-Pandemic Recovery”An Update on Goings On
After 20 blogs laying out the explanation with the Theory of Change model for deinstitutionalisation or setting up a comprehensive child protection system, it feels like coming back after having been away for a while. For ten weeks, I have not been able to comment on current events and the work that I have been doing – except on the forum (which you can find HERE). That has not always been easy because a lot has been going on. Still, I do not regret ‘taking this time away’. I think it was important to provide the information given over the previous 20 blogs and to have posted other blogs in between would have created confusion. In any case, now the time has come to catch up again.
Continue reading “An Update on Goings On”