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Description
The project is carried out by UNICEF in partnership with the General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection Bacău, Bacău County Council, Bacău Public Health Directorate, Moinești City, Bacău City, Colonești Commune, Corbasca Commune and Brasov City.
The project aims to increase the availability, accessibility and quality of integrated basic and specialized social services available for vulnerable children, in particular children with disabilities (CWD), children living in rural areas, and Roma children.
The target groups are: at least 3,400 vulnerable children and 3,000 parents and caregivers selected from Brașov and Bacău County (Moinești, Bacău, Colonești, Corbasca and 11 other rural localities in neighboring communes); 252 of professionals working with vulnerable children.
The children and their parents will benefit from integrated services at community level - including social assistance, health care, (early) education, organized in five Integrated Community Services Centers. Children and adolescents will be both relevant actors and participants, through the component of Child Friendly Localities, which systematically monitors the involvement of children in the process of debating and formulating public policies, programs and decision-making, thus influencing their lives and future. The professionals will achieve knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the vulnerable children.
The experiences, good practices and lessons learned in the project will be documented and disseminated to national authorities in order to be used in the development of relevant national legislation and policies on integrated (digital) Community services.
Summary of project results
Romania remains among the two poorest countries in the EU. One in five Romanians lives in poverty and geographic location and ethnicity are important poverty determinants as 71% of poor live in rural communities and the risk for Roma of being poorer is ten times higher than for the general population.
Children are the most affected by poverty, and their risk of perpetuating these vulnerable circumstances is much higher than for any other age group. Despite a constant decrease in the past ten years, children continued to be separated from their families with almost 33% living in institutions. Among the main causes of separation are poverty, abuse, and disability. Another key issue is the one of children left behind by migrant parents seeking employment abroad.
Available data clearly shows that specific challenges in accessing services exist for the most vulnerable groups in society, which include rural children, children and families belonging to the Roma minority and children living with disabilities.
With the above in mind, the project supported the expansion of ICCs (Integrated Services Centers) to ensure access of poor families from Bacau and Brasov counties to a broad range of services (basic and specialized services), according to their needs.
The project also aimed at addressing discrimination and negative social norms towards the inclusion of Roma children and children living with disabilities – all while promoting innovative and structured ways of child participation.
To achieve the objectives, a range of activities were conducted and the following main outputs were attained:
- 5 Integrated Community Centers have been established (in Bacău, Brașov, Colonești, Corbasca, and Moinești); online platforms for presentation, information and scheduling of services are available;
- 7,785 children and parents/caregivers accessed the services provided within the centres (social, medical, educational services, specialized psychological services, physiotherapy, speech therapy, etc.);
- more than 2,500 students benefited from extra-curricular activities organized to promote inclusive education and social-emotional skills;
- 750 professionals have been trained to support vaccination;
- more than 130 professionals from nurseries and kindergartens participated in training programs;
- over 240 teachers attended 36 workshops on digital education, inclusive education and social-emotional skills;
- 110 teachers trained as parent educators organized 450 parenting education sessions for more than 1,000 parents;
- 90 educational kits were delivered to schools - for outdoor recreation, math and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) activities; 12 nurseries and kindergartens benefited from equipment and teaching materials;
- The Child Friendly Cities Initiative was given a nationwide framework, and the Coordinating Committee''s nineteen members received training.
The following are the primary outcomes of the project, which aimed to enhance the social inclusion of marginalized children—such as those from remote places, Roma minorities, and those with disabilities:
- vulnerable mothers and fathers (or other caregivers) improved their knowledge and skills to provide care to their children and enable them to access quality services;
- enhanced knowledge and abilities of qualified professionals to suit the requirements of the children at risk;
- strengthened capacity of school staff to support inclusive, high-quality education;
- enhanced local authorities’ capacity to provide child-friendly services, incorporating children''s voices into decision-making processes, and using project evidence to influence national policies and programmes;
- the decisions-makers at the local, county and national level have at their disposal mechanisms and knowledge on inclusive and meaningful child participation.