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Description
Given the context of reducing the advocacy capacity of NGOs during 2018 as a consequence of the deteriorating relations with the central state authorities (OSC Sustainability Index, Romania 2018, FDSC), the project aims to increase the coordination between FONPC members in order to actively involve and encourage the participation of young people to dialogue with the public authorities, to monitor and influence the public policies concerning the human/ child rights, by developing monitoring tools for the child rights protection and referral mechanisms by watchdog and advocacy activities and by promoting the Alternative Report on Child Rights Protection and also by creating the FONPC Youth Council that will be involved in the advocacy activities, strategic programming and decision making. This will ensure a more accessible, transparent and participative environment of the decision-making process at the local and central level, both for the young people and the professionals in order to improve public policies and adjust them to the current needs. Given the fact that Romania is dealing with one of the highest risk of poverty and social exclusion of population at European level (35,7% of the population and 40,9 % of the children are at risk of poverty and social exclusion in 2017 – EUROSTAT 2019) social services represents a necessity in addressing the needs of the vulnerable population. In this regard, FONPC project intends to strengthen the cooperation capacity between the members and young people of FONPC Youth Council in order to implement an advocacy campaign on enhancing the legal framework on child rights protection by attracting champions (important figures and professionals ) to ensure the sustainability and quality of services, but also to raise awareness of the decision-makers and public authorities
Summary of project results
Through the project FORMA SCHIMBARII" Youth and FONPC - dialogue for change, the promoter proposed to improve the organizational capacity of the federation and its member organizations to actively involve and encourage the participation of young people in the development and monitoring of public policies that concern children, in the dialogue with public authorities and influencing decisions regarding the rights of the child, of vulnerable people or at risk of marginalization/exclusion, to make the authorities, institutions, and decision-makers responsible and contribute to a democratic culture at the local/national level. The context is due to the large percentage of children who are still at risk of poverty and social exclusion in Romania - 40.9% in 2017, as well as infant mortality, violence against children, child abandonment, the situation of children affected by migration, access to education and the limited participation of children in the processes that concern them directly. On the other hand, there was also an internal need for the Federation to have a strategy that emphasizes internal communication, influencing public policies, increasing the capacity of members to react promptly, attracting new members, and involving children and young people in the decision-making processes and in the strategic programming of FONPC.
Within A3, 5 Thematic Working Groups were established within the federation on the following themes: care and protection of children, child-friendly services, participation of children and young people, organizational development, and combating and preventing violence against children. The groups met periodically to debate the themes and implement action plans. Within these groups, an early warning system was set up to monitor topics related to children''s rights in the mass media. Within A4, the Promoter organized a training session for 27 Federation members and partners to monitor and realize the Alternative Report on the implementation of the rights of the Child. A course support and a guide on making alternative reports and "How to report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)" were also created. Within A5, a department was created to report the violation of children''s rights to the competent authorities and mass media - the "Smart Justice" department, which involved the recruitment of a coordinator, development of operating regulations, and a methodology. 5 experts were selected to involve FONPC members in advocacy activities. More than 25 notifications were received that concerned violations of the child''s rights and for which actions were taken to report to the competent bodies as well as subsequent monitoring of the cases regarding the intervention of the public authorities. Based on these cases, 3 press releases and 4 positions were sent. Within A6, a new department for the activation/participation of children/young people was developed. For this, a selection procedure was carried out for the person who will coordinate the activity, he was hired and trained. The department ran personal development workshops for children and young people to recruit them to participate in the Youth Forum, an analysis report was made on "The degree of participation of children and young people in the decisions of associations and member organizations of the Federation of Non-Governmental Organizations for Children ". The report was sent to the 64 member NGOs and over 150 partner NGOs of FONPC and also to the children with whom the Federation collaborates. Within A7, the FONPC Youth Council was created and 30 children were selected. The youth council operates based on a regulation drawn up, a methodology for the selection of the CCT board, etc. The Council met frequently, addressing different topics at each meeting, such as: How to defend our rights, materials for the preparation of the UPR report, the participation and protection of young people, etc. Young people from the Council participated in the European Youth Event in Strasbourg where they talked with the President of the European Parliament and met with Romanian MEPs. Within A8, the Youth Forum was organized in November 2022. 185 young Romanian and Ukrainian children participated in the event. Within A9, with the participation of the two established departments, the children''s alternative report to the UN Committee in Geneva was made. Later, representatives of FONPC participated in Geneva to support the document. In the framework of the A10 - advocacy campaign - FONPC experts participated in the specialized commissions in the Parliament and supported the promotion of the law on the activity of preventing the separation of the child from the family; They also participated in monthly working groups at the level of the Ministry of Justice to change the legislation regarding Order No. 1434/2023 of the Ministry of Health, at the Ministry of Labor to change the legislation in the field of social assistance. Together with the members of the Youth Council, they participated in the debate in Parliament related to the lowering of the voting age to 16 years in the local and European parliamentary elections. In addition, the children and young people from the Council participated in a series of events organized by other institutions. As part of the activity, a campaign was also organized for the approval of the Strategy for the Rights of the Child and the Action Plan regarding the Child Guarantee. A video spot was created on this topic and an open letter was sent to the Prime Minister; A debate was organized during the closing conference in which journalists, representatives of public authorities, civil society, children, and young people participated. Within the organizational development activities - A11, A12, A13 - a team building was carried out in which the members of the Board of Directors and the members of the FONPC team participated to strengthen the cooperation between the team and the board of the Federation, a new organizational strategy was carried out for period 2021-2025, a General Assembly and new management procedures, training courses and thematic webinars for members and staff of the Federation.
The activities of the project developed in a sustained way, thus managing to improve the collaboration between the members (project beneficiaries) of the Federation, who actively participated in all the activities in which they were requested and responded promptly to our questionnaires and requests to achieve the goals of this project. Thus, the members were involved in A2, A3 participating in the organized Technical Working Groups (GLT), A4 training on the elaboration of the Alternative Report, A6 answering the questionnaire that was the basis for the elaboration of the analysis report on the degree of involvement of young people in decision-making, A7 and A8 by encouraging the participation of children and young people in the development and monitoring of public policies. The members supported all the campaigns that FONPC ran, and they responded positively to the participation in the Team Building organized in A11. They were involved in the elaboration and approval of the Strategy by answering the experts'' questions and participating in the General Assembly of FONPC where they approved it. They participated in the training sessions organized within A13 and at the same time they were present at the organizational mentoring sessions as well as the development of effective organizational management procedures.FONPC experts, children, and young people were involved in the advocacy process, participated in Parliament and televised debates on lowering the voting age to 16, and drafted the UPR report on topics such as education, discrimination, health, work, youth protection, and of children as well as LOIPIR sent to the UNC. Children and young people have created networks of activists and a safe environment where they can make their voices heard. The Smart Justice Dep. continued its activity solving new cases of violation of children''s rights, elaborating the study The Child is a Challenge for Legal Medicine, launching the White Paper on child protection in the virtual space, print, online, and audio-visual media, signed by the journalists.