The European Child Guarantee: what lies ahead? - ANALYSIS FOR MEMBERS - Eurochild
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Eurochild
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The European Child
Guarantee:
what lies ahead?
ANALYSIS FOR MEMBERS
JULY 2021Eurochild
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THE EUROPEAN CHILD GUARANTEE: WHAT LIES AHEAD?
Analysis for members
On 14 June 2021, Member States unanimously adopted the Council Recommendation establishing
the European Child Guarantee, now available in all EU languages. As you well know, the Child
Guarantee aims to prevent and combat social exclusion by guaranteeing the access of children in need
to a set of key services, thereby also contributing to upholding the rights of the child by tackling child
poverty and fostering equal opportunities. In particular, Member States are recommended to
guarantee for children in need:
Effective and free access to high-quality early childhood education and care, education and
school-based activities, at least one healthy meal each school day, and healthcare
Effective access to healthy nutrition and adequate housing
Even before the pandemic, over 18 million children in the EU experienced poverty or social exclusion.
Over the last 16 months, this critical situation has been furtherly exacerbated by Covid-19, and
children are among the hardest hit by the crisis. An ambitious framework to protect all children in
need and ensure equal access to key services was thus much needed.
In the past six years, Eurochild’s network has been ceaselessly advocating to ensure the adoption of
an ambitious Child Guarantee. Our strong commitment and numerous advocacy actions allowed us to
have a voice in the Child Guarantee negotiations and influence the numerous steps that led to the
adoption of this revolutionary political instrument. The adopted Recommendation takes on board
most of our key requests, such as the necessity for Member States to draft national action plans,
guarantee free and effective services, and adequate financial support.
This policy briefing includes an analysis of the most significant points included in the
Recommendation and an assessment of the next steps that the Secretariat is planning to undertake
in cooperation with Eurochild members. Member States only have until March 2021 to define how
the Child Guarantee will be implemented in their country. This means we now have a pivotal window
of opportunity to influence measures and policies that will characterise the national fight against child
poverty and social exclusion until 2030. This is why, in the annexes, we have also added materials that
can support you in creating advocacy messages on the Child Guarantee national action plans and
undertaking a gap analysis on what is needed to achieve the Child Guarantee, should you wish to carry
this out and share it with your governments.
In the afternoon of Wednesday 28 July, we are planning to organise a meeting for all the members
interested in influencing the implementation of the Child Guarantee at the national, regional and local
level. The meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss your ideas and concerns and allow the
Eurochild’s Secretariat to assess what kind of support is needed. An official save the date for this
meeting will follow shortly.
In the meantime, feel free to share any feedback, question or reflection by email to Eurochild’s EU
Affairs Officer, Enrico Tormen.Eurochild
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info@eurochild.org - www.eurochild.org
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE CHILD GUARANTEE?
A clear focus on children in need
According to the Recommendation, children in need are persons under the age of 18 years who are
at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This refers to children living in households at risk of poverty,
experiencing severe material and social deprivation, or very low work intensity, and includes children
with a migrant background irrespective of their migration status. Member States are asked to address
specific disadvantages experienced in particular by:
- Homeless children or children experiencing severe housing deprivation
- Children with disabilities
- Children with mental health issues
- Children with a migrant background or minority ethnic origin, particularly Roma
- Children in alternative, especially institutional, care
- Children in precarious family situations
The range of risk factors that can determine child poverty and social exclusion vary considerably from
country to country. Therefore, national approaches to implementing the Child Guarantee should be
tailored to specific circumstances and needs on the ground. For this reason, Member States are
expected to identify children in need and the barriers they face by considering national, regional,
and local circumstances and by involving relevant stakeholders.
Governance and reporting
The Recommendation asks each Member State to nominate a national Child Guarantee Coordinator.
Being charged to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the Child Guarantee, the coordinator
represents a crucial actor both for the EU Institutions in charge of monitoring the implementation of
this instrument and national, regional and local organisations working with and for children in the
country. According to latest information, the European Commission Member States are expected to
do so by October 2021. Moreover, the European Commission is planning to share these details on
their website as soon as possible.
All Member States are also expected to submit to the Commission by March 2022 their Child
Guarantee national plan, covering the period until 2030. These documents will describe how Member
States plan to implement the Child Guarantee and should include:
- Targeted categories of the specific children in need to be reached
- Integrated measures to be implemented
- Quantitative and qualitative targets to be achieved in terms of children to be reached and
measures to be implemented
- Other measures planned or taken to address child social exclusion at the national level
- A national framework for data collection, monitoring and evaluation of the Child GuaranteeEurochild
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Member States will report every two years to the Commission on the progress in implementing the
Child Guarantee, in line with their national action plans.
A useful source of information concerning the design, feasibility, governance and implementation
options of the Child Guarantee in all EU Member States is provided by two Feasibility Studies for a
Child Guarantee which are available on this link. Please also note that the European Commission has
just released a summary of the Final Report that might result more accessible.
Monitoring
The Commission will monitor progress in the Child Guarantee implementation via the Social
Scoreboard in the context of the European Semester and propose, when necessary, country-specific
recommendations to Member States.
The Commission will cooperate with Member States, their national Child Guarantee Coordinators and
the Social Protection Committee to facilitate mutual learning and exchange of good practices. It also
is expected to set up a common monitoring framework to assess the implementation of this
framework and enhance the data availability at the Union level on children in need and their access
to services.
Finally, the Commission will review the progress made in the implementation of the Child Guarantee
and report to the Council in 2026, i.e. by five years after its adoption.
Enabling policy framework
The Recommendation has the merit of recognising the multifaceted nature of child poverty and social
exclusion. For this reason, while putting the best interests of the child as a primary consideration,
Member States are urged to set up an integrated and enabling national policy framework to
comprehensively address the social exclusion of children. In doing so, the Recommendation urges
Member States to:
- Ensure consistency with social, education, health, nutrition and housing policies
- Increase investment in children
- Set up support measures for parents of guardians and income support to families and
households
- Address the geographical dimension of social exclusion
- Strengthen cooperation with and involvement of national, regional and local actors and with
children themselves
- Dedicate adequate national resources and EU funds
- Take into account a gender perspective
Early childhood education and care, and education
The Recommendation recognises that equal access to quality and inclusive early childhood education
and care and education is central to breaking the generational cycle of social exclusion and securingEurochild
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equal opportunities for children in a disadvantaged situation and the different serious barriers that
can impede children from accessing these essential services. To guarantee effective and free access
to these key services, Member States are recommended to:
- Identify and address financial and non-financial barriers, including all ‘out of pocket costs’
- Provide learning support to children with learning difficulties
- Provide the most appropriate response to the specific needs of children with specific
educational needs and of children with disabilities
- Support inclusive education and avoid segregated classes
- Provide at least one healthy meal each school day
- Ensure provision of educational materials
- Provide adequate technological equipment necessary for distance learning and improve
digital skills
- Provide transport to early childhood education and care establishments and schools
- Ensure equal and inclusive access to school-based activities
- Develop a framework for cooperation of all stakeholders involved to provide after school care
and opportunities to participate in sport, leisure and cultural activities
Healthcare
Children in need generally have less access to certain healthcare services; they often are not aware of
them and have fewer opportunities and resources to benefit from disease prevention and health
promotion programmes. This can negatively impact the overall development, health, and mental
health of children. To guarantee effective and free access to this key service, Member States are
recommended to:
- Facilitate early detection and treatment of diseases and developmental problems, ensure
access to periodic medical examinations, ensure timely curative and rehabilitative follow up
processes are in place, and access to vaccination programmes
- Provide targeted rehabilitation and habilitation services for children with disabilities
- Implement accessible health promotion and disease prevention programmes targeting
children in need, their families and professionals working with them
Nutrition
Children in need also have less access to healthy and sustainable nutrition. The Covid-19 pandemic
has demonstrated the importance of school meal schemes, as underlined by Eurochild’s Report
Growing up in lockdown. School closures and national lockdowns left children suddenly deprived of a
reliable source of nutrition. Ensuring access of children in need to at least one healthy meal each
school day is thus paramount. To guarantee effective and free access to this key service, Member
States are recommended to:
- Support access to healthy meals also outside of school-days
- Ensure that nutrition standards address specific dietary needs
- Limit advertisement and restrict the availability of unhealthy foodsEurochild
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- Provide adequate information to children and families on healthy nutrition
Housing and institutional care
Providing adequate housing and ensuring that children and their families receive adequate
temporary accommodation are crucial mechanisms for tackling the social exclusion of children and
their risk of homelessness. To guarantee effective and free access to this key service, Member States
are recommended to:
- Ensure that homeless children and their families receive adequate accommodation, prompt
transfer from temporary accommodation to permanent housing and provision of relevant
social and advisory services
- Assess and revise national, regional and local housing policies to ensure that the interests of
families with children in need are duly taking into account
- Provide children in need and their family priority and timely access to social housing or
housing assistance
Unfortunately, the Recommendation also includes specific passages on institutional care that, in our
opinion, represent a worrying step backwards in the transition from institutional to community and
family-based care.
Recital 24 states:
“With the aim of the de-institutionalisation of children, quality community-based or family-
based care should be promoted. Placing children in institutional care should be done only
when it is in the best interests of the child, taking into account the child’s overall situation and
considering the child’s individual needs.”
The Recital seeks to restrict the circumstances in which children could be placed in institutional care
by reflecting the elements which form the basis of the suitability principle. However, by failing to
frame it within the deinstitutionalization strategy and Child Guarantee Action Plans, it leaves space to
Member States to institutionalise children with no end in sight, under the argument that it is for
their best interest and that the child’s individual needs were considered.
Moreover, Article 10(d) recommends Member States to:
“Take into account the best interests of the child as well as the child’s overall situation and
individual needs when placing children into institutional or foster care; ensure the transition of
children from institutional or foster care to quality community-based or family-based care and
support their independent living and social integration.”
The text not only indicates that institutional care can be adopted as a last resort in the best interests
of the child but also wrongly supports the transition from foster care to family-based care, not
recognising that foster care is internationally understood as one of the possible typologies of family-
based care.Eurochild
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Across Europe, hundreds of thousands of children are growing up in institutions—large residential
settings characterised by depersonalisation and routine. It has been proved that such centres delay
and damage children’s emotional, social, cognitive and physical development and mental health.
Placing a child in an institution cannot be in their best interests and is contrary to the rules that guide
how EU funding should be used to support ending institutional care. Such wording not only risks
jeopardising the crucial steps forward made in recent years by the many Member States but also
threatens to legitimise the systematic placement of children in need in institutional settings.
Funding
One of the main priorities of Eurochild’s advocacy over the last years was ensuring that the Child
Guarantee was adequately funded. We thus welcome that the Recommendation urges Member
States to financially supports the Child Guarantee with EU funds and a national budget.
Within the ESF+, all Member States are expected to earmark an appropriate amount to tackle child
poverty and social exclusion. For all Member States in which the rate of children at risk of poverty and
social exclusion is above the Union average, that amount must be at least 5% of their national ESF+
allocation. These states are Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Spain,
Croatia and Luxembourg.
Besides the ESF+, various EU funds such as the European Regional Development Fund, Asylum
Migration and Integration Fund, InvestEU, and Reform Support Programme should support the
implementation of the national Child Guarantee action plans. Furthermore, the Recovery and
Resilience Facility offers additional Union funding for reforms, investment and policies for children,
such as education and skills. However, as we reported in June, many of the national recovery and
resilience plans did not include plans to dedicate such funding to address the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on children.
This clearly exemplifies that the Council Recommendation on the Child Guarantee should not be seen
as the only policy proposal aimed at eliminating child poverty across the EU, rather as the framework
that will support EU Member States in these efforts and trigger more national investments in
children. The Child Guarantee must connect its measures and ambitions to other EU policies, such as
the EU Strategy on the rights of the child and the European Social Rights Action Plan, which can all
support the implementation of the Council Recommendation on the Child Guarantee.Eurochild
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GOING FORWARD
Despite the immense progress made over the last years, millions of children across the EU are still
experiencing poverty and social exclusion, and their basic rights are not being met. Much more needs
to be done by the Member States and the EU institutions to ensure children can realise their human
rights. The European Child Guarantee represents a monumental step forward in tackling this crisis.
In this section, we highlight information and suggestions on immediate opportunities for influencing
this process and possible steps going forwards. Eurochild Secretariat and members can play a crucial
role in ensuring that this ambitious Recommendation brings about real change at the national level.
Engaging with national governments
To prevent and combat social exclusion, intensive activity at all levels of national government and
society is needed. This requires collaboration across ministries, agencies, local actors and civil society.
Much remains to be done. Immediate opportunities of work at national level are around:
The development of national action plans and identifying the specific children in need within
the national context. Member States only have until March 2022 to draw up these plans, so
there is a risk that they will not set up meaningful consultation processes to speed up the
process. It is thus a key opportunity for civil society organisations to lobby their national
authorities to ensure governments will draw on the knowledge and expertise of NGOs working
with and for children at local and national levels.
As mentioned above, Member States are expected to nominate their National Coordinators
by October 2021. Civil Societies could thus engage with their national authorities to influence
the appointment of this pivotal figure. It will be important to monitor how these persons are
selected, what powers they are given, what kind of resources they can count on, and how the
role fits more broadly into delivering government policy reforms. Moreover, once they are
appointed, national members should engage with National Coordinators to raise the
importance of engaging with civil societies in setting up, implementing, monitoring and
evaluating the Child Guarantee.
Another important step will be liaising with the national, regional and local organisations
that might be involved in the implementation of the measures listed in the Child Guarantee
national action plan from 2022 to 2030. This could help to enhance the quality of the
engagement among authorities and stakeholders.
Overall, civil society organisations should also ask governments to ensure transparency,
access to timely information and participation of families, children and civil society to develop
Child Guarantee national action plans and identify national objectives and priorities.
How?
Contacting national authorities and the national Child Guarantee coordinator to shape the
developments of the national plan. Responsible authorities will be different in each country,
so some research will be of help.Eurochild
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Reflect on what the Child Guarantee could achieve in your country:
o who are the most vulnerable children that should be targeted;
o what are the most urgent measures that should be implemented;
o what are the existing structures and policies that should be strengthened;
o what needs to be set up from scratch;
o what funds will governments allocate to investing in children;
o what are the best practices the Child Guarantee should be based on;
o what are the actors that should be involved;
o what are the best ways to ensure transparency;
Liaise with national, regional and local authorities and stakeholders to investigate what are
the opportunities of engagement in the implementation of the national plan
Share information about the Child Guarantee across your network and beyond, for instance
by talking to the media. This could help to grow the support for a meaningful implementation
of the Child Guarantee. You could publish a press release with your hopes of how the child
guarantee should be implemented in your country. You could also host a press conference or
invite a journalist to a service could benefit from the child guarantee – field trips can be helpful
to get the media interested. The media, if engaged with properly, can be your allies. They can
help you create national dialogues and debates.
Reflect on what kind of audio-visual material could be used to lobby your national, regional
and local authorities. In this regard, you might find these video messages useful from the
Eurochild Board, in which they explain why we need a Child Guarantee
Identify possible allies, such as parliamentarians, Children’s Ombudspersons, children’s rights
organisations, family and professional associations, journalists and share messages and policy
recommendations on how the Child Guarantee can address poverty and social exclusion, on
the need for an integrated, cross-government approach and a clear focus on children
experiencing particular disadvantage and discrimination.
Meanwhile, Eurochild will:
Continue to share information with members on the latest developments, e.g. information on
the monitoring and evaluation of the plans, when this becomes available
Support our members’ endeavours to engage with this process
Keep working with its international peer organisations to shape the process from the EU level
Create spaces to share good practices, experiences, and connections
Work on a flagship report to collect information on the process and influence it
Work with the Slovenian and French Presidencies to capitalise on their role before and during
their EU Council PresidencyEurochild
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Child Participation
The Child Guarantee Recommendation includes children as stakeholders that Member States should
engage with in the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Child Guarantee
national action plans. On the other hand, the document fails to explicitly mention how this should be
ensured, leaving space for national authorities to decide how children should be engaged.
The most effective way to ensure the Child Guarantee improves the lived experiences of children and
protect and realise their human rights, is to guarantee their participation in national democratic
decision-making. Children are experts in their own lives and it is essential that they participate in
decisions that affect them. Children should not be viewed as only objects of government and social
policy but rather as contributors to policy decisions that affect them. Policies that are informed by
lived experiences of children and young people can better address key social challenges such as child
poverty, inequality and child protection.
There is space for Eurochild members to advocate for Member States to promote partnerships with
children, allowing children to express their views, feelings and opinions on how best to move forward
in particular national and local contexts.
How?
While engaging with national authorities, it will be important to underline the utmost
necessity to meaningfully engage with children in all the phases of this process (based on the
9 child participation principles1), as requested by the Recommendation and offer your support
when needed
Cooperate with other national and local civil society organisations in engaging children.
It is essential to continue to demonstrate/role model and provide examples of how children
can participate in these kinds of processes and share the terrific results that can be achieved,
together with good practices and existing frameworks
Where members are working directly with children, in particular those from marginalized
backgrounds, they can ensure that these children contribute to the national action plans. For
example, the National Eurochild Forums can engage with children on the topic of Child
Guarantee and, at the same time, with organisations working with minority groups, disabled
children, children in care, children growing up in poverty, etc.
If you have not already done this, it would be meaningful to start engaging with children
explaining what the Child Guarantee is and explore possible ways to engage in the process.
The European institutions have published a few infographics and factsheets that might help
you in making the Child Guarantee more accessible
1
Transparent; voluntary; respectful; relevant; child-friendly; inclusive; supported by adults who have received
training; safe and sensitive to risk; accountable.Eurochild
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De-institutionalisation
The many discussions regarding the proposal for a Child Guarantee included much focus on the
wording “best interests of the child” and “placing children into institutional care”. These conversations
and the final wording included in the Child Guarantee's adopted version clearly demonstrate that a
common definition of de-institutionalisation is required in the EU political sphere.
How?
While engaging with national authorities, it will be fundamental to underline the utmost
necessity to develop programmes for families at risks, aiming at preventing families’ evictions
and placing children in alternative care system
Advocate for Member States to prioritise family-based care for all children in alternative care
including children with disabilities
Advocate for Member States to develop foster care by raising awareness, adopting foster care
standards, and by provision of adequate support to foster carers as well as recruiting more
foster carers
Advocate for Member States to also ensure adequate support for young people ageing out of
care including housing, career advising, and supervision
Meanwhile, Eurochild will:
Continue to advocate on this issue promoting the transition from institutional to community-
based care
Further develop the framework of its DataCare Project and as a member of The European
Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care (EEG). There is a
need to monitor the Child Guarantee funds and ensure they are used uniquely to support the
transition from institutional to community- and family-based care
Work with its peer international organisations and networks to promote a common definition
of institutional care
Compliance with other national and EU instruments
The Recommendation text emphasises that it is necessary to set up a comprehensive and integrated
enabling policy framework to tackle child poverty. This means that the EU and national instruments
to fight child poverty and social exclusion must be used harmoniously and not contradict each other.
For example, Eurochild welcomed the commitment in the recent European Pillar of Social Rights
Action Plan to lift 5 million children out of poverty by 2030. Considering the impact of the pandemic,
however, it is disappointing that member states did not raise their ambition to cut child poverty by
half by that year—a commitment which would have been in line with the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). For this reason, Eurochild is urging Member States to set more ambitious national
targets. It goes without saying that if governments are seriously willing to tackle child poverty in their
country, the measures included in the Child Guarantee action plan will have to be consistent with the
ones included in the European Pillar of Social Rights.
The same must be said about the Union’s Comprehensive Strategy on the Rights of the Child, a
revolutionary document of the European Commission that aims to: strengthen children’s participation
in society; put the best interests of the child as the primary consideration; protect vulnerable children;Eurochild
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protect children’s rights online; foster child-friendly justice, and prevent and fight for an end to
violence against children. It also aims to combat discrimination against children, including on the
grounds of their sex or sexual orientation or that of their parents. The Member States should use the
principles included in Strategy, which are based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as a
moral compass to define their national measures to protect children’s rights and define what to
include in the Child Guarantee Action Plans.
What now?
To make the Child Guarantee a reality for all children in need across the EU, Member States, civil
society organisations, children and families must work together. The Eurochild network can offer its
expertise to ensure all stakeholders are involved in developing ambitious national action plans and
deliver real change at the national, regional and local level.
Over the following months, we are planning to engage more intensely with members who plan to
prioritise the Child Guarantee, and those who are able to dedicate time and work to influence the
future development of this crucial instrument. In the afternoon of Wednesday 28 July, we are
planning to organise a meeting to hear your opinion on the Child Guarantee from a national context,
what you need from us to support you in advocating this crucial instrument, and to help us shape our
plans as we advance to achieve a real change for children in need.
An official save the date for this meeting will follow shortly. In the meantime, feel free to share any
feedback, question or reflection by email to Eurochild’s EU Affairs Officer, Enrico Tormen.Eurochild
Avenue des Arts 7/8, 1210 Brussels
Tel. +32 (0)2 511 70 83 Fax +32 (0)2 511 72 98
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Annex 1: Developing advocacy messages at national level on the Child Guarantee
It is important to have a clear position and advocacy statement to ensure consistency and help to make your advocacy messages more memorable. Start by outlining your
position and the changes you want to bring about. Try to include a solution to achieving your goal. You can then use this as the basis for you targeted advocacy messages
for different audiences, and for messages at the national, regional and local level. These messages can then support you to prepare, implement and manage awareness
raising through emails, presentations, social media and in your discussions. The examples on the table below can help you consider and develop your own messages.
Afterwards, you can also reflect on the impact of your advocacy messages by considering what was successful and what to change next time, to help you develop your
advocacy messaging in the future.
When developing your position consider: What you want to achieve? What do you want the audience to understand? What do you want the audience to remember?
What do you want the audience to do?
Example of Advocacy Position: Governments must work in partnership with all relevant stakeholders to develop the Child Guarantee national action plans and will bring real
change for children in need.
Example of Advocacy Message: The Child Guarantee national action plans must be developed with the participation of children and relevant civil society organisations to
take into account national, regional and local circumstances, and to effectively identify and reach out to the children in need and find out what barriers they face in
accessing key services and how best to overcome these barriers. Working in partnership with civil society organisations and children will ensure the national action plans
meet the needs of children in need and bring about real change.
Who is your audience at national What are your concerns regarding the development Examples of messages aligned to the relevant audiences.
level? Who do you want to reach of Child Guarantee national action plans?
with this message?
Government level: government Governments will develop the national action To ensure we leave no ‘child in need’ behind in (YOUR COUNTRY), (YOUR
ministers, relevant plans without meaningful input from children ORGANISATION’S NAME) is looking forward to working in partnership with
ministry/department for children, and experts working with and for children. the government to identify the children in need and the barriers they face in
national Child Guarantee The plans will not ‘reach’ or meet the needs of accessing and taking up the key services set out in the Child Guarantee.
coordinator, government advisers, children in need.
decision makers.
Allies: civil society organisations, Other organisations are not aware of the Child Our government are currently developing a Child Guarantee national action
relevant national networks. Guarantee and/or the requirement to create a plan. We can support the government to reduce child poverty by working
national action plan. with them to determine who are the children in need in (YOUR COUNTRY)
and identify the ways in which these children can access the free and
inclusive key services outlined in the Child Guarantee.Eurochild
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Annex 2: Undertaking a Gap Analysis on what is needed to achieve the Child Guarantee
With the adoption of the European Child Guarantee, attention now turns to the national level to
achieve the aims of the Recommendation. Member States are recommended to build an integrated
and enabling policy framework that addresses the social exclusion of children, focusing on breaking
intergenerational cycles of poverty and disadvantage and reducing the socio-economic impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Carrying out a gap analysis will provide you with evidence to share with your government,
stakeholders and allies on what should be included in the national action plan from you and your
organisation's perspective.
Civil society organisations can benefit from preparing to engage with their governments by identifying
information that the governments will need. You do not need to analyse all the information suggested
below. You may want to only focus on those topics that are relevant in your context and for your work.
This could include:
Identifying any current integrated national, regional and local policies or framework on
social, education, health, nutrition or housing that currently supports children, and how can
they be improved;
Identifying the most vulnerable groups of children in need that the Child Guarantee should
target in your country;
Exploring what would make the most significant impact to ensure such services as
education, adequate housing, and social protection systems effectively addresses the needs
of children in need and their families;
In your experience, what are the barriers that prevent children in need from accessing
quality early childhood education and care, education and school-based activities, a healthy
meal every day and healthcare, ensuring you provide evidence such as case studies.
Share your analysis widely with your network, on your website, with children and through social
media. When presenting your analysis to the government, ensure that it is concise and focuses on
clear, action-based recommendations to achieve the Child Guarantee.
At this early stage of developing the national action plans, policymakers will welcome ideas. Hence, a
practical set of responses is most likely to be read and could lead to you and your organisation being
invited to work with them on the national action plan. Also, be alert for opportunities to present your
analysis at different events organised by the government and other stakeholders. The more
opportunities you get to share your analysis, the more likely your analysis will be seen or heard by
decision-makers. The online website of the Conference on the Future of Europe could represent an
excellent platform to organise and promote your events and share such analysis alongside the main
conclusions reached from such an event.Eurochild
Avenue des Arts 7/8, 1210 Brussels
Tel. +32 (0)2 511 70 83 Fax +32 (0)2 511 72 98
info@eurochild.org - www.eurochild.org
Annex 3: Draft of the email for national authorities
{YOUR LOGO}
Address of recipient
Place, Date
Subject: Implementing the European Child Guarantee
Dear (add the name of the recipient),
I am writing to congratulate you on the adoption of the EU Council Recommendation on the European
Child Guarantee. On behalf of (your organisation) and Eurochild, the pan-European network
promoting children’s rights and well-being, we commend you and other EU governments on this
landmark and urgently needed initiative to tackle child poverty and social exclusion in the EU.
We want to take this occasion to reiterate the important contribution that the Council
Recommendation will make to improving children’s lives, and we hope that the Child Guarantee will
catalyse more support for and public investment in children.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 1 in 4 children grew up at risk of poverty and social
exclusion in the EU. Although the EU is one of the most prosperous regions globally, families are
struggling to make ends meet, and children are among the first to suffer. In particular, Eurostat reports
that (percentage – can be found here) % of children in (name of the country) are at risk of poverty and
social exclusion. The COVID-19 outbreak is now having far-reaching effects on Europe’s economic and
social fabric and, consequently, on children’s well-being. Child poverty levels are expected to
dramatically escalate as the full economic impact of the pandemic becomes apparent, making it even
more urgent to act. The Child Guarantee represents a monumental step forward in the EU fight against
this social crisis.
To ensure that the Child Guarantee will not remain an ambitious instrument only on paper and that
it will deliver real change at the national, regional and local level, we would like to underline the
following points:Eurochild
Avenue des Arts 7/8, 1210 Brussels
Tel. +32 (0)2 511 70 83 Fax +32 (0)2 511 72 98
info@eurochild.org - www.eurochild.org
1. The full and meaningful participation of children, families and civil society organisations in the
development and monitoring of the Child Guarantee National Action Plans
As stated in the Council Recommendation, children, families, civil society organisations and
institutions working on social inclusion, non-discrimination and children’s rights should be able to
participate in developing national action plans for the implementation of the Child Guarantee. To
enable this, we urge you to ensure transparency and access to timely information on the development
of national action plans and transparent processes for the participation of key stakeholders at
national, local and regional levels.
(Your organisation) and Eurochild are ready to work with and support the national Child Guarantee
Coordinator and all the different authorities involved. We urge you to ensure that the mandate of
the National Coordinator includes outreach to and consultation with children, families and civil
society organisations in the spirit of constructive engagement.
2. Specific attention should be paid to the following groups of children
[You can indicate which groups should be prioritised and why].
3. Specific attention should be paid to the following measures
[You can indicate which measures / issues should be prioritised and why]
The Child Guarantee is a historic opportunity to develop an integrated, cross-government approach
to fight child poverty and social exclusion, with coordination across the education, health, social
protection, housing, culture and welfare sectors, and between different levels of government. (Your
organisation) and Eurochild are eager to support national, regional and local authorities to ensure
the Child Guarantee will deliver on its promises and leave no child behind.
I hope you will take these proposals into consideration and we remain at your disposal to discuss
these issues further.
Yours sincerely,
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