Booklet Eurochild Annual Conference 2014 by Eurochild

Children First Better Public Spending for Better Outcomes for Children & Families

Eurochild

11 Annual th

Conference co-hosted by Hope and Homes for Children Romania Bucharest, 26-28 November 2014

Conference Booklet Public spending must be for the public good. We believe there is no more effective way of building more cohesive and resilient communities than investing in children and families, particularly the most vulnerable. The conference will address important questions around public spending choices. • What evidence is needed for good decision-making? • How should evidence be used? • How can we measure long-term social return on investment? • How does this influence budget decisions? • What is the role of the public and private sectors? • How do we ensure accountability in service delivery, as well as efficiency and effectiveness? • How can we meaningfully involve and empower the children and families we support?

INTRODUCTION

PROGRAMME OVERVIEW

Children First: Better public spending for better outcomes for children and families

Wednesday 26 November 2014 09:00 -12:30 Eurochild Thematic Working Groups meetings (members only) 12:00 -15.00 Registration ( Lobby Atrium )

Thank you for joining us at Eurochild’s 11th Annual Conference! We chose ‘better public spending’ as this year’s theme because we firmly believe that realizing the rights of every child is not only a moral and legal imperative, it also makes economic sense. Whilst the UNCRC provides our constant point of reference, we want to unpick a number of complex issues around public spending choices. We selected evaluation methodologies, social return on investment and public private partnership as three cross-cutting themes because they are part of a continuum of work (at different stages of development) within the Eurochild network.

ganise a side event addressing this issue from an economic perspective. ChildPact, the Regional Coalition for Child Protection, will also use the occasion of this event to celebrate its legal establishment and discuss child protection reforms in the Black Sea Region. We are delighted to be hosted this year by Hope and Homes for Children Romania. We take particular pride in the Opening Doors for Europe’s Children campaign jointly run by Eurochild and Hope and Homes www.openingdoors.eu. We hope this event will strengthen the evidence-base to support our advocacy to end institutional care and strengthen families across Europe.

Each of Eurochild’s thematic priorities will also be addressed through the lens of better public spending: early years, family and parenting support, children in alternative care and child and youth participation. We’re delighted that different Eurochild working groups are taking the lead to organise these workshops.

The event comes at a critical juncture in the EU’s history. We have a new set of leaders and we are at the start of a new round of 7-years of structural and investment funding. The EC’s Recommendation on Investing in Children provides welcome policy guidance but much work needs to be done if it is to make a difference to policy reform and use of EU funds in the coming months and years.

With a strong interest in promoting child-friendly justice, the Embassy of France in Romania has taken the opportunity of this conference to co-or-

We hope you enjoy the event and take with you new knowledge, contacts and most of all inspiration for your on-going work!

15:00 -18:30 INSPIRING - Opening Plenary Session ( Platinum ) 19:30 -22.30 Welcome reception and dinner ( Iridium Grand Ballroom ) Thursday 27 November 2014 09.00 -13.00 DEEPENING – Plenary Session and Mini-Plenaries on cross-cutting themes 09.00 -10.30 Plenary Session on cross-cutting themes ( Platinum ) 10:30 -11:00 Coffee Break ( Lobby Platinum) 11.00 -13.00 Mini-Plenaries on cross-cutting themes ( Platinum ) A. Evaluation methodologies ( Platinum Module 1 ) B. Social Return on Investment ( Platinum Module 2 ) C. Public-private partnerships ( Platinum Module 3 ) 13.00 -14.00 Lunch ( Avalon&Benihana Restaurant ) 14.00 -16:00 DEBATING & LEARNING ( Iridium Grand Ballroom& Lobby ) Study visits 13:30-16:00 (external venues)

Focus Group Discussions / Posters Sessions/ Video Corner 4 14.00 -14.50 Session one 4 15.10 - 16.00 Session two

16:00 -16:30 Coffee Break ( Lobby Atrium ) 16.30 -18.00 EXCHANGING - Workshops on Eurochild thematic priorities A. Family and Parenting Support ( Iridium module 1 ) B. Children in Alternative Care ( Arizona ) C. Early Years Education and Care ( Iridium module 2 )

SIDE EVENTS 14:00 - 18:00 “Building the economic case for child-friendly justice” ( Florida ) Workshop co-financed by the Embassy of France in Romania 16:30 - 18:00 “ChildPact: Regional cooperation for child protection.” Panel organised by ChildPact ( Kansas )

D. Child and Youth Participation ( Colorado ) 19.00 - 22.30 CONFERENCE DINNER ( External venue ) Friday 28 November 2014 09:00 -11:00 BUILDING - Panel Debate on funding for civil society dialogue & advocacy ( Platinum ) 11.00 -11:30 Coffee break ( Lobby Platinum ) 11:30 -13.00 VISIONING - Closing Plenary Session ( Platinum )

Jana Hainsworth

Stefan Darabus

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For a more detailed programme visit our Conference website at http://bit.ly/Eurochild_AC2014

LEVEL 1

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CONFERENCE ROOMS MAP

Inspiring

OPENING PLENARY SPEAKERS (Wednesday, 26 November, 15:00 – 18:30, Platinum)

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS (Wednesday, 26 November, 15:00 – 18:30, Platinum)

Jana Hainsworth - Eurochild Secretary General

Stefan Darabus - Country Director of Hope and Homes for Children Romania Stefan Darabus is Country Director for Hope and Homes for Children in Romania. He has 17 years of experience in developing childcare system reform and innovating social services. His career is focused on changing the paradigm of child protection from institutional to family-like care. His organisation’s mission is to be a catalyst for the eradication of child institutionalisation in Romania first, then globally. A graduate of humanities and a Ph.D., Stefan Darabus finalised his MBA studies a few years ago, applying organisational, strategic and change management to child protection and social systems reform processes. Having managed deinstitutionalisation and child rights policy programmes in Romania and abroad, he is currently involved in developing child protection system reform in European countries.

Rovana Plumb - Minister of Labour, Family, Social Protection and the Elderly of Romania Prior to being Minister of Labour, Family, Social Protection and the Elderly, she was Minister of Environment and Climate Change in Romania. She was a Member of the European Parliament from 2007 to 2012, following her term as Deputy in the Romanian Parliament since 2005. She was State Secretary at the National Agency for Consumers’ Protection between 2001 and 2004. She has a PhD in Management of Industrial Systems, awarded by the Polytechnic University of Bucharest in 2004. She graduated from the Polytechnic University in Bucharest in 1984, with a Bacehelor’s in Engineering.

Ivan Tancabel - Young Person, Member of the Children’s City Council Opatija in Croatia

Ivan Tancabel is an active member of the Children’s City Council Opatija since 2007. He has represented the work and projects of Children’s City Council to policy makers in Croatia, as well as in the meetings of child-friendly cities and municipalities. Ivan was a member of the Network of Young Advisors of Office of the Croatian Ombudsman for Children and has participated in several national and European meetings on children’s rights.

Frank Vandenbroucke - Former Minister of Social Affairs Belgium and Professor in Leuven and Amsterdam Prof. Frank Vandenbroucke studied economics in Leuven and Cambridge, UK, and received his D.Phil. in Oxford. He was Minister for Social Security, Health Insurance, Pensions and Employment in the Belgian Federal Government (19992004) and Minister for Education and Employment in the Flemish Regional Government (2004-2009). He was appointed “Minister van Staat” (an honorary title) in December 2009. He is now a full time professor at the KU Leuven. He also teaches at the Universities of Antwerp (UA), where he holds the “Herman Deleeck” chair, and the University of Amsterdam (UvA), where he holds the “Joop den Uyl” chair. His research focuses on the impact of the EU on the development of social and employment policy in the EU Member States. His list of publications can be found at www.econ.kuleuven.be/frankvandenbroucke.

Jorge Cardona Llorens - Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and Rapporteur for the upcoming General Comment on Public Spending to Realize Children’s Rights Jorge Cardona Lloréns is Professor of Public International Law and International Relations at the University of Valencia. Special Graduation Award (1980) and Special PhD Award at the University of Valencia (1984). Teacher of Public International Law at the Universities of Valencia (1980-1984; 1985-95; and since 2008), Alicante (1984-85) and Jaume I in Castellón (1995-2008). UNESCO Special Advisor on: “Works of the Spirit as Common Heritage of Humankind” (1999-2000). Agent for the Kingdom of Spain before the International Court of Justice in the case of the Declaration of Independence of Kosovo. Legal adviser to diverse States on various international affairs and decisions.

Norah Gibbons - Chairperson, Child and Family Agency, Ireland Norah worked for many years in social work in both the State and NGO sectors in England and Ireland. She was appointed as a member of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse 2000-2009 and while there she chaired the Confidential Committee of the Commission from 2000 to 2005. She was the Director of Advocacy of Barnardos from 2005 to 2012. . She was a member of the Taskforce on the establishment of the Child and Family Agency which reported in June 2012. Norah was appointed first Chairperson of the Child and Family agency in January 2014. She is currently a member of Acknowledgement Forum of Historical Abuse Inquiry in Northern Ireland.

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Jana Hainsworth joined Eurochild as Secretary General in January 2006. She is responsible for the day-to-day running of the network. Jana previously worked in a Brussels-based communications consultancy where she managed communications on the EU’s Community Action Programme to combat discrimination. Jana also managed a network of organisations promoting long-term voluntary service in the youth field and has worked for several years in research and consultancy. She has a Masters degree in environment, development and policy from Sussex University and an Honours degree in Natural Sciences from Durham University in the UK.

Deepening

CROSS-CUTTING THEME OF EVALUATION METHODOLOGIES Why did we choose the theme? At a time when resources are limited, Eurochild acknowledges that services and interventions need to demonstrate their effectiveness in addressing social challenges. It is important that policies and practice build on what works and on what has proven effectiveness. However, given the increased emphasis at EU level towards social innovation and social policy experimentation, it is crucial to broaden our understanding of what is meant by ‘evidence-based’ practice and explore some of the risks and consequences that arise from narrowly defining what counts as evidence in the evaluation of social interventions. Eurochild’s thematic working group on family and parenting support has been working on these issues for the last four years to unpick the rhetoric of evidence base. We expect this event will drill down further into these issues and offer an opportunity to debate our policy position on evidence and evaluation methodology. Whilst the topic has

grown out of Eurochild’s work in the field of family and parenting support, it is relevant for all areas of children’s services such as early years’ education and care and child protection reforms.

What are the parameters of the theme? Under this cross-cutting theme we will explore the purpose of evaluation, and how choices are made about different approaches to evidence and methodology. Rather than discussing the merits or drawbacks of individual evaluation methodologies, the session will offer an opportunity to think more broadly about what evidence is needed, when and for what purpose.

EXPERT SPEAKERS IN THE MINI-PLENARY ON EVALUATION METHODOLOGIES (Thursday, 27 November, 11:00 – 13:00, Platinum Module 1) Tom A. van Yperen - Social Scientist and Professor at Netherlands Youth Institute / Utrecht University / Groningen University Tom van Yperen is a social scientist. His activities at the Netherlands Youth Institute are aimed at improving the quality of child and family services, especially the effectiveness of interventions. He participates in many research projects advises local and national authorities on the reorganization of the child and youth care system in the Netherlands. Tom van Yperen is also special professor at the State University of Groningen. His research and education focuses on ways to set up monitoring of the effectiveness of child and youth care to make professionals view monitoring as a non-bureaucratic and even stimulating tool for improving practice.

What are the questions that we want to address?

Jean Gordon - Universal Education Foundation, Member of the Learning for Well-being Consortium

The discussions around this theme will help us to explore what are the different aims of evaluation in children and family services, what methodologies are most ‘fit for purpose’, how can and should they be used.

Jean Gordon is an international consultant specialised in education and training policy and strategies for lifelong/life-wide learning having retired at the end of 2013 from her position as Director of the European Institute of Education and Social Policy. Jean has over 25 years’ experience in the comparison and analysis of education policies and systems, and in contributing to lifelong learning opportunities and personal development through improving access to learning and its recognition, individualising pathways and increasing transparency of learning and qualifications in Europe. Since 2005 she has been working with UEF and is a member of the Learning for Well-being Community.

RESOURCE PERSONS SPEAKING IN THE PLENARY ON CROSS-CUTTING THEMES (Thursday, 27 November, 09:00 – 10:30, Platinum) Pat Dolan - UNESCO Chair and Director, UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, NUI Galway, Ireland Pat Dolan is joint founder and Director of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre and an Academic Director of the M.A. in Family Support Studies. He also contributes to the wider undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes of the School of Political Science and Sociology as well as supervising Ph.D. candidates and Masters Dissertations in Family Support, Social Work and Community Development. He holds the prestigious UNESCO Chair in Children, Youth and Civic Engagement, the first to be awarded in the Republic of Ireland. His major research interests are Civic Engagement in Children and Youth, Family Support, Reflective Practice and Service Development, Youth Mentoring Models, Adolescents Resilience and Social Networks.

Allyn Fives - Lecturer, UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway, Ireland Allyn Fives is a Lecturer in the School of Political Science and Sociology at NUI Galway, has worked on numerous research projects as part of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, and holds a PhD in political theory from the University of Edinburgh. His research interests are in the areas of normative political theory, ethics, and applied social science. Recent work in normative political theory and ethics has examined the moral and political status of children, morality and the public sphere, issues in research ethics, and the work of John Rawls and Alasdair MacIntyre. His applied social science research has involved experimental and quasi-experimental studies, and focused on methodological issues in RCTs, children’s self-beliefs, and the effectiveness of reading programmes and parenting programmes.

John Canavan - Associate Director, UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, NUI Galway, Ireland

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John Canavan is joint founder and Associate Director of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre. He has extensive experience in researching and evaluating social intervention programmes in the areas of child and family care, educational disadvantage, and community and local development. He received his PhD from Queens University, Belfast in 2006 and holds an MA in Community Development from NUI, Galway.

Deepening

Why did we choose the theme? We will zoom in on the pressure, in times of austerity, to demonstrate returns on investment in children’s rights and well-being. The human rights argument for the transition from an institutional care system, to a system of family care and community based services, is clear. Yet, even though institutionalisation has clearly been demonstrated to give rise to grave violations of children’s rights, levels of institutionalisation remain high in many European countries, and are increasing in some. Despite the evidence showing that prevention and alternative family care are more cost-effective in the long term, vested interests and short-sighted financial considerations often tend to prevail. In order to promote a systemic transition, the economic argument for deinstitutionalisation and for strengthening the capacity of parents and families to care needs to be better understood. This is why Eurochild has accepted the challenge to complement its expertise on deinstititutionalisation, built through the Children in Alternative Care working group, and the Opening Doors campaign, with new economic research. During a two year study, funded by OAK foundation, we aim to develop a framework that will allow policy makers to calculate the broader and long term social return on investment in family care, community based services, and closure of institutions. We expect this event to help frame the terms of reference for the researchers. Whilst the topic has grown out of Eurochild’s work on deinstitutionalisation, it is relevant to all preven-

tive services for children and young people and, in turn, we will draw inspiration from the broader field of social return on investment in children’s services.

What are the parameters of the theme? While there are plenty of cost-effectiveness studies calculating the economic value of specific interventions for children in specific contexts, there are far fewer studies which calculate the broader social return on investing in systemic changes towards child-centered policies. During this mini-plenary we turn the focus away from cost-comparisons between different types of care services, and from evaluations of the cost-effectiveness of particular interventions and programmes, towards broader, long term, social returns on investment of systemic deinstitutionalisation reforms.

What are the questions that we want to address? The discussion will address what the added value of social return on investment arguments in achieving reform towards prevention services for children and families and high quality alternative care options. How can we maximize the power of social return on investment arguments? How can we build on existing costing and cost-effectiveness studies? What are our knowledge gaps? How do we best quantify long term outcomes related to investment in children’s services? And what have been the success factors and barriers for existing social return on investment studies?

RESOURCE PERSON SPEAKING IN THE PLENARY ON CROSS-CUTTING THEMES (Thursday, 27 November, 09:00 – 10:30, Platinum) Nicholas Rees - Policy Analysis Specialist, Division of Policy and Strategy, UNICEF New York

As an advocate for children’s rights, Nicholas Rees has been working with UNICEF for the past six years to help develop and promote evidence-based policies for children. Nicholas has a wide-ranging understanding of the means to measure broader social impact when investing in children and the shaping of social policies. Nicholas received his undergraduate degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies, and his masters degree from the London School of Economics. He has co-authored a variety of publications including Right in Principle and Practice: A review of the economic and social returns to investing in children; Child Outlook; and UNICEF’s Advocacy Toolkit.

EXPERT SPEAKERS IN THE MINI-PLENARY ON SOCIAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT (Thursday, 27 November, 11:00 – 13:00, Platinum Module 2) Claire Milligan - Strategic Violence Against Children Advisor, Save the Children, UK Claire Milligan is an experienced senior level practitioner in international child protection programme management. She has recently joined Save the Children UK’s child protection team as their Strategic Violence Against Children Advisor. Claire’s previous positions include Head of Child Protection at ARK and Chief of Party for Christian Aid’s flagship USAID funded programme for community-based care for orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria. Claire has a Masters Degree in Development Studies and speaks fluent French.

Hanna Heinonen - Programme Director, Central Union for Child Welfare, Finland Hanna Heinonen is the Programme Director for the Central Union for Child Welfare in Finland. She has a background in Social Work and Child Welfare Services. She concentrates on child participation issues. Hanna Heinonen holds a degree in Social Sciences from the University of Helsinki. She has been a member of the Board of Eurochild since 2012. Her special interest are: the quality of child welfare services, preventive work and making the voice of the child more clearly heard in society.

Tiia Hipp - Senior Advisor, Central Union for Child Welfare, Finland Tiia Hipp is the senior advisor for the Central Union for Child Welfare in Finland. She has a background in Social Work and Child Welfare Services. Tiia Hipp holds a master in Social Sciences from the University of Tampere.

Stefan Darabus Country Director of Hope and Homes for Children Romania Stefan Darabus is Country Director for Hope and Homes for Children in Romania. He has 17 years of experience in developing childcare system reform and innovating social services. His career is focused on changing the paradigm of child protection from institutional to family-like care. His organisation’s mission is to be a catalyst for the eradication of child institutionalisation in Romania first, then globally. A graduate of humanities and a Ph.D., Stefan Darabus finalised his MBA studies a few years ago, applying organisational, strategic and change management to child protection and social systems reform processes. Having managed deinstitutionalisation and child rights policy programmes in Romania and abroad, he is currently involved in developing child protection system reform in European countries.

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CROSS-CUTTING THEME OF SOCIAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Deepening

Why did we choose the theme? Promotion of children’s rights and well-being is a common responsibility across all sectors of society and the necessity to work together across the public, private and voluntary sectors is widely understood. The role of businesses and private sector finance is subject to much debate, particularly in the current context of shrinking public expenditures. Eurochild aims to contribute to this debate by bringing clarity on the roles and responsibilities of the public and private sectors and highlighting the different motivations behind their respective engagement.

What are the parameters of the theme? The theme takes account of the growing importance of social innovation, social economy and social enterprise. Commonly understood definitions are offered below as a starting point for the debate. The discussions are expected to focus on the role of the private investment, challenging the stereotype of the private sector as a counterpart rather than a potential partner in the social sphere. Nonetheless we also aim to demonstrate that public-private partnerships cannot replace statutory service provision by exploring the State’s responsibility in ensuring accountability, quality and sustainability of services – particularly in light of their obligations under the UNCRC and the EU Lisbon Treaty. Finally we want to explore the specific role of the voluntary or non-profit sector, looking at public procurement models and how they support or hinder capacity development and improvement in the quality of services for children and families.

• Social innovations are innovations that are social in both their ends and their means. They are new ideas (products, services and models) that simultaneously meet social needs (more effectively than alternatives) and create new social relationships or collaborations. In other words they are innovations that are not only good for society but also enhance society’s capacity to act. • Social economy includes organisations such as co-operatives, mutual societies, associations and foundations as well as other types of enterprises that are distinguished from capital-based companies by specific features linked to shared characteristics, such as the primacy of the individual and the social objective over capital. • A social enterprise is an operator in the social economy. It is an enterprise (business entity) whose main objective is to have a social impact rather than make a profit for its owners or shareholders.

What are the questions that we want to address? Invited experts come from very different perspectives. They are invited to give their experience and insights around three key questions: 1) The importance and the limitations of private investment in their efforts to improve the lives of children and young people; 2) The role of the State and improvements in service procurement, provision and monitoring; 3) The capacity of voluntary and civil society sectors to meet the needs of disadvantaged children and families and how public and private sectors can support capacity development.

RESOURCE PERSON SPEAKING IN THE PLENARY SESSION ON CROSS-CUTTING THEMES (Thursday, 27 November, 09:00 – 10:30, Platinum) Valentina Caimi - Policy and Advocacy Adviser, Social Platform

Valentina Caimi is Policy and Advocacy Advisor at Social Platform. She is responsible for the policy and advocacy work on services of general interest, in particular social, health and financial services, the EU Budget, social economy and social enterprises, social innovation, minimum wage and the impact of state aid, procurement and trade agreements’ rules on services. Valentina previously worked for thirteen years in EU social policies and project management in Italy, in NGOs, social cooperatives, local authorities and vocational training institutions.

EXPERT SPEAKERS IN THE MINI-PLENARY ON PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP (Thursday, 27 November, 11:00 – 13:00, Platinum Module 3) Kathy Evans - Chief Executive of Children England Kathy became CEO of Children England in April 2013, having been its Deputy CEO since May 2010. Founded in 1942 by a group of the major children’s charities operating at the time, Children England is the membership body for children’s charities, voluntary and community sector organisations in England. After graduating from Trinity College Cambridge with a degree in Social and Political Sciences, Kathy took a full-time CSV volunteer placement in a voluntary sector children’s home, an experience that inspired her to train in counselling, and to work with young people in LA secure accommodation for several years. She moved into policy work in 1996: firstly for DrugScope, specialising in drug treatment for young people; then in 2001 to The Children’s Society where she was Policy Director until 2009.

Bianca Isaincu - Regional Advisor for Europe & Central Asia, Child & Youth Finance International Bianca studied development and international economics at the University of Pavia (Italy), in Paris (Université Sorbonne) and in the USA (University of Oregon). She is of Romanian origin and was raised in Italy. After living and travelling around the world, she defines herself as an European Citizen. The exciting experience of working in an international and dynamic team and being with passionate and hopeful people within the CYFI team is fulfilling her expectations and hopes in a better world.

Kevin Goldberg - Corporate and Institutional Partnerships Manager, Groupe SOS Kevin Goldberg, European and national Partnerships Manager at Groupe SOS, a non-profit French-based social enterprise with about 12 000 employees and 350 structures acting in five main fields of activity: youth, employment, solidarity, health & seniors. As part of his functions, he works on the set-up of social and societal projects gathering actors from the public, private and non-profit sectors, with the aim to maximise their impact and generate responsible innovation. Prior to joining Groupe SOS, Kevin has been working as an adviser for the national association of French town mayors in the fields of European policies, sustainable development and new technologies. He is a graduate from the College of Europe and Sciences Po Grenoble.

Delia Pop - Director of Programmes, Hope and Homes for Children Dr Delia Pop is Director of Programmes at Hope and Homes for Children. She is a member of high-level advocacy groups in the US and Europe and has contributed to the transformation of child protection and care systems at national and regional level in 15 countries across Europe and Africa. Born and educated in Romania, Delia is a medical doctor who has worked for 15 years with children trapped in the institutional care system and families at risk of separation.

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CROSS-CUTTING THEME OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

Debating

FOCUS GROUPS (Thursday, 27 November, 14:00 – 16:00, Iridium Grand Ballroom & Lobby)

Session one 14.00-14.50

Session two 15:10-16:00

FG 1/A

FG 2/A

Allyn Fives, UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, NUI Galway, Ireland

Jean Gordon, Universal Education Foundation

Evaluation methodologies

“A pluralist approach to evidence.”

“Learning for Well-being: influencing design, monitoring and evaluation.”

FG 1/B

FG 2/B

Stefan Darabus, Hope and Homes for Children Romania

Tom A. van Yperen, Netherlands Youth Institute / Utrecht University / Groningen University

Social Return on Investment

Evaluation methodologies

“The Financial Projection of the Child Protection System Reform in Romania”

“Hierarchy of evaluation & RCTs.”

FG 1/C

FG 2/C

Hanna Heinonen & Tiia Hipp, Central Union for Child Welfare, Finland

Claire Milligan, Save the Children, UK

Social Return on Investment

“How do child welfare costs accumulate?”

“The social return of investing in prevention and quality alternative care services for children: an exploration of methodologies.”

FG 1/D FG 2/D

Public-Private Partnership

Kathy Evans, Children England

“EU developments in social service provision: the role of the state and private providers in changing modern societies”

Public-Private Partnership

FG 1/E

FG 2/E

Bianca Isaincu, Child & Youth Finance International

Kevin Goldberg, Groupe SOS

Public-Private Partnership

“Promoting young people’s economic rights through innovation and cooperation with banking sector”

“Social Entrepreneurship: promoting equal opportunities for children in France.”

“Delivering quality in children’s services: is public procurement fit for purpose?”

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Valentina Caimi, Social Platform

Learning

POSTER SESSIONS (Thursday, 27 November, 14:00 – 16:00, Iridium Grand Ballroom& Lobby)

POSTER SESSIONS (Thursday, 27 November, 14:00 – 16:00, IIridium Grand Ballroom& Lobby)

Session one 14.00-14.50

Session two 15:10-16:00

PS 1/A

PS 2/A

Tomasz Polkowski, Chairman, Our Home Association

Gabriela Sempruch, Chief Policy Advisor, Mazovian Social Policy Center

“The model of small group homes focused on individual development – implemented by Our Home Association in Poland and Georgia”

“Calculating the cost of inaction: Promoting evidenced based social investments through the use of technology.”

PS 1/B

PS 2/B

Benoit Guerin, Analyst, RAND Europe

Nicoleta Preda, National Programme Development Director, SOS Children’s Villages Romania

“European Platform for Investing in Children: Using the evidence base to guarantee a social return on investment for the implementation of programs and practices on child poverty and wellbeing”

“Velux Project: “Steps to Self-Reliance” – good practices in integrating micro-grants into the frame of case” PS 2/C

PS 1/C Henry Johnston, Director of Programme for Government and Delivering Social Change, Northern Ireland “Northern Ireland Executive Delivering Social Change framework – Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusion for Children and Young People” PS 1/D Ioana Giurisici, Children with Complex Needs Services Director, FARA, Romania “A chance to a decent life for children with special needs and their families” PS 1/E Peter Goldblatt, Senior Advisor University College London Institute of Health equity “Early years education of care: a DRIVER of health equity” PS 1/F Luminita Costache, Education Specialist, UNICEF Romania

Rita Nunes, Researcher, Freie Universität Berlin, European Network of Masters in Children’s Rights “The economic recession impacting children’s rights in Southern Europe” PS 2/D Eszter Salamon, President of European Parents Association “Free meals in kindergarten for inclusion - case study from Hungary” PS 2/E Jeffrey Coleman, Project Programme Director, British Association for Adoption and Fostering “Why we should develop fostering services for children in conflict with the law” PS 2/F Voica Pop, Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF Romania “Financial analysis for scaling up model of community based services at national level”

“The Standard-Cost Based Financing of the Pre-university Education – An Evaluation from an Equity Perspective”

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Learning External venues)

Study visit 1

Study visit 2

World Vision Romania organises a study visit with the aim to showcase two cross-cutting themes, social return on investment and public-private partnership, while focusing on the following thematic priorities: family and parenting support & child and youth participation. Participants will be given an overview to an innovative project called “Interdisciplinary School Based Services for Child Welfare in Romania” developed by World Vision Romania with the goal to include this model among the continuum of child welfare services, by filling the gaps in the implementation of child welfare policy that are not correlated with the rights of the child.

The Feed the Children Association is developing programmes to support disadvantaged families since 1998 year. The main objectives of Feed the Children Association are to improve life quality of underprivileged socio-economic people, to prevent family and school abandonment, to prevent the institutionalisation of children, to attract public attention and to develop the public - private partnership. The study visit proposed by Feed the Children Association will be focused on the social return on investment and public-private partnership themes – which arise when addressing priorities in family and parenting support, children in alternative care, child and youth participation. The Association offers services like: material and financial support to overcome crisis situations according to the identified needs; specialised counseling and accompanying the parents in finding a job; registration to family physician, psychotherapy and family counseling; educational assistance of children with learning difficulties, information gaps; psychological counseling of parents and teachers in order to reduce the risk of serious abuse and neglect of children; social counseling for children and their parents; educational programs for family life, raising children, caring for the home, budget management and so on by the programmes they develop since 2000.

VIDEO CORNER ON THE PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE (Thursday, 27 November, 09:00 – 18:00, Iridium Lobby) Supporting children’s empowerment through social and financial education - Aflatoun The video shows children and youth experience when participating in Aflatoun programmes, inside and outside of school. By teaching basic social and financial skills and providing children with practical experience, Aflatoun hopes that they will believe in themselves and their ability to make a difference in their lives and in the lives of people around them.

Talking about public spending for children – Eurochild Children taking part in CATS (Children as Actors in Transforming Society) discuss about public spending in contribution to the development of the UNCRC Committee General Comment on Public Spending to Realize Children’s Rights & the OHCHR report on “Towards Better Investment in the Rights of the Child”.

Mind Your Wallet! - International Debate Education Association (IDEA) IDEA gives young people a voice through education, debate and by raising their awareness about worldwide issues. This short movie shows a project aimed at raising awareness on financial issues and how to prevent from getting debts and/or solve them. Youth workers, teachers and young professionals are trained to organise debate activities where young people learned to talk about issues related to financial problems and responsibilities.

Wadada World Kids News Flash - Child and Youth Finance International The video is a Wadada World Kids News Flash for Change, hosted by Fiona of Wadada World Kids News. Kids from around the world address the United Nations regarding the Post 2015 Human Development goals. They all plead financial education to be included and embedded in good and accountable financial governance. Common desires include gaining knowledge on how to save money on matters that are important, how to administer money more wisely and how to sustain oneself and become empowered.

Overcoming prejudice: supporting children with dyslexia – Sorana Stanescu, TVR Romania Presenting testimonies from dyslexic children and their families on how it is like to be dyslexic in Romania, a country where learning disabilities are largely unknown, children struggle through school undiagnosed, in lack of proper therapy and support, while their parents are desperate in trying to come up with solutions on their own. It aims to make the case for investing in inclusive education and support for children with dyslexia from an early age improving their chances to reach their full potential.

The benefits of afterschool programs - World Vision Romania Foundation Afterschool programmes performed by World Vision Romania Foundation during 2010 -2014 in areas that require socio-educational intervention and dropout prevention services for the most vulnerable children. At the beginning, the Foundation provided 80% of funding and after 1-2 years, the local authorities, noticing the results, decided to participate in the programme through public investment from the local budget.

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STUDY VISITS (Thursday, 27 November, 13:15 – 16:00,

Study visit participants will: (1) understand how evidence from the piloted project “School-based child welfare service (SDS)” has been used to advocate at local and national level for policy change; (2) hear from beneficiaries (children, parents and school) about the impact and investment of the programme in their life; (3) understand how we document and report on impact and how this project links between child protection and educational systems; (4) understand the role of the public and private sectors in delivery of school-based child welfare service (SDS) for vulnerable children; (5) gain knowledge about ways of working with children and families that we support to involve and empower them in community life.

Learning

SIDE EVENT ON CHILD-FRIENDLY JUSTICE (Thursday, 27 November, 14:00 – 18:00, Florida)

SIDE EVENT ORGANISED BY CHILDPACT (Thursday, 27 November, 16:30 – 18:00, Kansas)

“Building an Economic Case for a Child-friendly Justice”

“Regional cooperation for child protection. Sharing Romanian lessons“

SPECIAL WORKSHOP

CHILDPACT PANEL

co-organized by EUROCHILD & the Embassy of France in Romania, with the participation of the International Juvenile Justice Observatory

This side-event aims to:

• In times of austerity, how do we build an economic case in favour of juvenile justice reform and demonstrate long term return on investment? • How do States reform their juvenile justice system while ensuring optimum use of public resource? • Which approaches and tools are States using to measure, monitor and evaluate results for children and young people in the justice system? Indeed, a large range of International and European standards provide a well-established framework for modelling juvenile justice. In 2010, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted guidelines on child friendly justice. However, according to the Council of Europe, the implementation of these standards has so far been unsatisfying. Moderator: Ms Mariama Diallo, Children’s Rights Consultant, EUROCHILD Associate Member Workshop Agenda Opening words

Christophe Gigaudaut, Head of Cooperation and Cultural Affairs, Embassy of France in Romania Jana Hainsworth, Secretary General, Eurochild

Introducing IJJO’s White Paper “Save money, Marianne Moore, Consultant, International Juvenile Justice protect society and realize youth potential Observatory – Improving youth justice systems during a time of economic crisis” Building an economic case: 3 case studies

Joana Terzieva, National Network for Children, BG Hervé Duplenne, Interregional Director, Western Region, Directorate for Judicial Youth Protection, Ministry of Justice, FR Nathalie Whelehan, Policy Officer, Children’s Law Centre, Northern Ireland

Building an economic case: 4 focused policies In this section of the workshop, all participants will be difor a child friendly justice vided in 4 groups to brainstorm on related policies, the challenge of their implementation, in the light of the 3 questions addressed above and the specific recommendations formulated in the IJJO White Paper

Presentation of the 4 groups insights / Q&A Synthesis and Main Recommendation formulated by Marsession ianne Moore, Consultant, International Juvenile Justice ObClosing Workshop – What’s next? servatory

2. Celebrate and tell the story of the Romanian transition in the field of child protection and how Romania became a sponsor of child protection reforms in the region; 3. Introduce the Child Protection Index, the instrument that ChildPact proposes as an independent tool to measure each country’s child protection reform in accordance with the UNCRC’s rights based approach and the systems approach to child protection. Panel Agenda Welcome and introduction

Mirela Oprea, ChildPact Secretary General

ChildPact presentation

Mira Antonyan, ChildPact Board Member and President of the Armenian Child Protection Network

Romania’s transition experience in child protection Mirela Oprea, ChildPact Secretary General and its support for child protection reforms in the region Presentation of the Child Protection Index

Andy Guth, Child Protection Index Consultant

Concluding remarks and signature of ChildPact reg- Mariana Ianachevici, ChildPact Board Member and istration documents President of APSCF Moldova About ChildPact ChildPact is the Regional Coalition for Child Protection with members in 10 countries (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, and Serbia) and with a current representational base of more than 600 NGOs. Together, ChildPact members serve more than 500,000 children as direct beneficiaries. ChildPact has four main ChildPact objectives: 1. Monitor and influence child-related policies at regional and European levels by documenting child protection concerns and advocating for better policies to protect vulnerable children; 2. Strengthen the capacity of its members by actively supporting their expertise development, visibility and credibility at regional and European levels;

3. Advocate for regional cooperation at inter-governmental and civil society level, in order to identify best practices and solutions to common threats to children’s well-being; 4. Raise public awareness of child rights and protection issues at national, regional and European contexts. More information about ChildPact: www.childpact.org. Panel co-financed by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Official Development Assistance Unit, with UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre as implementation partner.

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This workshop proposes to discuss the economic benefits a child friendly justice system could ensure. Through case studies and group discussions, it will aim at exploring the following issues:

1. Introduce ChildPact, the Regional Coalition for Child Protection, and celebrate its incorporation as a legally registered entity;

Exchanging

WORKSHOP ON FAMILY AND PARENTING SUPPORT (Thursday, 27 November, 16:30 – 18:00, Iridium Module 1)

WORKSHOP ON CHILDREN IN ALTERNATIVE CARE (Thursday, 27 November, 16:30 – 18:00, Arizona)

“Helping parents to help children - why this should be a priority for the public sector”

“Quality intervention for children in alternative care: respect child rights now and save public spending in the future”

Within the overall conference context, this workshop will look at what services related to family and parenting support do we want to promote and how would we get decision makers and commissioners to buy/use them? The aim of this workshop is to build on the information provided throughout the conference and offer participants a chance to discuss how we can move the discussion on in practical terms. It will consider two areas of practice where integration and research has been core to delivery of services, while acknowledging the areas of both good practice and challenges faced. Chair: Marion Macleod, Children in Scotland – co-chair of Eurochild Thematic Working Group on Family and Parenting Support

Discussion Table 1 What kind of family and parenting support services/ programmes/practices do we want to promote? This discussion will link with the SROI theme from day 1. Discussion Table 2 How to convince decision makers to invest in the type of services we want? This discussion will link with the Effectiveness & Efficiencies of Public Spending and Evaluation Methodologies from day 1. To break up the table discussion and to give “food for thought” for the discussions, two practical examples on integrating the evidence into practice – benefits & challenges will be presented. Michelle McCabe, Lifestart Foundation, Ireland ‘The practical challenges of Integration’ The presentation will look at the experiences of implementing a collaborative working arrange-

16:30 – 16:35 – Opening words Introduction by the facilitator, co-chair of Eurochild Thematic Working Group on Children in Alternative Care: Jane Snaith, Family For Each Child, Estonia

ment between a voluntary sector organisation and public sector agency in Ireland. The case study will illustrate the challenges of integration on practice, culture and programme fidelity, and establish what the overall benefits were for both the organisations and more so for the families involved. Hanna Falk, HelsinkiMission, Finland - ‘Co-ordinated volunteering accompanying the public sector’ The presentation will focus on the Save-A-Generation project by the Finnish social work organisation HelsinkiMission and the qualitative research on the effects of volunteer operations developed in the frame of the project. The objective of the research study is to gather information about the effects of HelsinkiMission’s Save-A-Generation project on the customers of the mentoring programme from the perspective of families, professional and voluntary workers and about the cooperation between the third sector and the public sector and factors that facilitate or impede such cooperation. Feedback from discussion tables, summary discussion & concluding remarks will close up the workshop.

This workshop is led by members who are active in Eurochild Thematic Working Group on Family and Parenting Support, which provides a forum for members to exchange experience and know-how, thereby contributing to improved policy and practice across Europe.

As inspiration for the debate, the workshop will start with watching a video with short presentations of and interviews with three young people on their experience with after care. The video was prepared by LOS - Private Social Services, Denmark.

16:50 – 17:55 – Round table discussions The discussions will aim to tackle the following elements: • Poverty cannot be a reason for placing children in care – invest in services to support vulnerable families to care for their children and in capacity of child welfare systems; • Invest in quality care – standards of quality care, investing in quality means investing in future “public profit” (people who can take responsibility and social role in their adult life) • Invest in supporting services for preparation of care leaving – education, employment, social assistance Participants of the round table: • Adriana Birloi, SOS Children’s Villages Romania • Chris Gardiner, “V zájmu dítete” (In the interest of the child), Czech Republic • Michal Dord, President of Vteřina poté, Czech Republic • Meelis Kukk, Estonian Care Workers Union

17:55 – 18:00 – Closing

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Each workshop participant will be invited to join two consecutive discussion tables.

Programme

16:35 – 16:50 – Young people’s views on investing in after care services

Agenda

Setting the scene & explanation of what will happen in the workshop

Workshop organised by Eurochild Thematic Working Group on Children in Alternative Care

Exchanging

WORKSHOP ON EARLY YEARS EDUCATION AND CARE (Thursday, 27 November, 16:30 – 18:00, Iridium Module 2)

WORKSHOP ON CHILD AND YOUTH PARTICIPATION (Thursday, 27 November, 16:30 – 18:00, Colorado)

Within the overall conference context this workshop will look at the (two-way) linkages between the recent EU policy developments, especially the European Quality Framework and the Investing in Children Recommendation, and developments at a national / local level. We will particularly seek to explore how EU policy can influence national policies, advocacy and practice; implications of austerity measures and their impact on public investment decisions on early years at national and local level; and the relevance of Structural Funds to advance quality early years provision.

The workshop aims to showcase participatory practices related to the overall conference theme better public spending - or one of the cross-cutting themes: social return on investment, evaluation methodologies and public private partnerships. The discussion following the presentations aims to identify ways to improve the participation of children in public spending decision-making and implementation processes.

Setting the context : EU policies & challenges ahead

Unaccompanied refugee children in foster care – participating in decision making and budget allocation

Mathias Urban, Director, Early Childhood Research Centre, University of Roehampton, UK.

Donya Azimi & Elinor Brunnberg, Mälardalen University

How and why increase Romania’s (Europe’s?) most disadvantaged children’s pre-school attendance rates? Maria Gheorghiu, Aude Harou & Alina Seghedi, Asociatia OvidiRo’s Romania Presentation of Every child in pre-school, an integrated child and family support programme targeting disadvantaged families in rural Romania. The programme implements a food coupon system conditional on pre-school attendance coupled with cash provided to teachers for schools materials, local council transfers for clothing, and professional training to pre-school teachers.

We do know: the less investment in ECEC the poorer condition in all aspects of accessibility and quality - the case of Greece. Nektarios Stellakis, Assistant Professor at University of Patras, Greece. Regional Vice-President for Europe of World Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP). The presentation will depict the current situation of early years education and care (ECEC) in Greece and make the case for the development of a national plan to implement the EU recommendations on ECEC.

Every year 4000-6000 unaccompanied children arrive to Sweden and many are placed in foster care. The inclusion process varies and children can be discriminated. They are not informed about their rights, which according to adolescents taking part in a small youth study, is a problematic situation. The presenters will talk about the need to involve children in decision making that regards their care situation, including knowing more about the family budget so the economic situation in everyday life will be clearer and not a part in an exclusion process.

Public spending cuts and the impact on children in Cyprus Ourania Kyriakou & Maria Timotheou, Cyprus Children’s Parliament (CCPs) Presenters will talk about work developed by the CCPs during 2013 on social services in view of the planned reorganization of these services in Cyprus. They will depict the impact of the crisis on social services due to extreme cuts on services and benefits, their efforts to influence policy and new legislations that affect children, and the difficulties of making themselves heard by the authorities and the community in general. The main points of a Memorandum handed over to the President on spending and social services, the topic of CCPs session on 18 November, will be highlighted.

The difficulties in bringing EU policy to life in Ireland – and the need for a European Quality Framework.

Children’s participation in the creation of a budget for children

Toby Wolfe, Start Strong, Ireland.

CCC offers children the opportunity to have their and their friends’ opinion to be acknowledged by those who make decisions about questions related to the life of Opatija’s inhabitants. Presenters will describe how the CCC contributes to decision-making processes of the city’s council budget: how children put forward proposals and how they decide which projects will be funded.

While access to ECEC has increased in Ireland, public investment is low, quality is variable, and EU policies (such as the 2011 EC Communication) have had little impact. This presentation will explore some of the reasons for this, including the impact of austerity, competing rationales for investment in early childhood, and also national policy “traditions” (such as Ireland’s historical split between “care” and “early education”, and the Irish State’s reluctance to be involved in service delivery). The presentation will then briefly consider what features a European Quality Framework might need to have if it is to have impact at national level in Ireland.

Katja Knežević & Ivan Tancabel, Opatija Children’s City Council (CCC)

This workshop is led by members of Eurochild Reference Group on children’s participation, an advisory group supporting Eurochild and its member organisations to mainstream child participation into their work.

Discussion This workshop is led by members active in Eurochild Thematic Working Group on Early Years Education and Care, which provides a forum for members to exchange experience and know-how, thereby contributing to improved policy and practice across Europe.

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Building

Purpose of the Panel Debate The panel debate will build on the three cross-cutting themes of the conference: evaluation methodologies, social return on investment and public-private partnerships. The panel will link these themes with Eurochild’s aim to build more effective advocacy for children’s rights to influence and monitor public spending. To address this aim, experts from national and regional child rights networks, civil society, funders and government representatives will focus on three areas. The first area will explore the role of civil dialogue in effective public spending, addressing questions such as how can children’s rights organisations be

involved in government decisions on budget. The second area will focus on the particular role of membership structures and national children’s rights coalitions in implementing the UNCRC and who funds coordination of such networks. Finally the question is addressed how the impact of the work of child rights coalitions on the lives of children and their families can be evaluated, whether this impact is direct or indirect. Coalitions and networks are better able to lead societal change than individual organisations, but often have very limited resources. How can they measure and demonstrate their impact?

Panellists Aine Lynch - Treasurer of the Children’s Rights Alliance - Ireland Áine Lynch is Treasurer of the Children’s Rights Alliance and a former Vice Chair. She is also the CEO of the National Parents Council (primary) in Ireland and a registered paediatric nurse with a BSc (Hons) in Behavioural Science, a diploma in Management, as well as a postgraduate diploma in Child Protection and Welfare. Áine has served as a nurse in both paediatrics and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Áine was manager of Childline and a Director of Services for the ISPCC.

George Bogdanov - Executive Director National Network for Children - Bulgaria George Bogdanov is the executive director of the National Network for Children - a network of 124 leading Bulgarian NGOs, working with children and families. He is strongly experienced in project management and research in the social sphere, including projects concerning deinstitutionalization, development of social services and antidiscrimination policies for children and vulnerable groups. He has a significant background in working with civil groups, NGOs, the Roma community in Bulgaria as well as with isolated communities. As independent national expert, he is a member of the European Social Policy Network and he is a member of the Eurochild Management Board. He has a master in European Social Policy and Social Work.

Mirela Oprea - Secretary General ChildPact - Romania

Mirela Oprea is the ChildPact Secretary General since 2012. The ChildPact members are national networks from 10 different countries in the wider Black Sea area, bringing together 600 NGOs, which work with more than 500.000 vulnerable children. She has a key role in supporting ChildPact’s main objectives: monitoring child-related policies, strengthening the capacity of the national networks and promoting the creation of a regional cooperation mechanism for child protection.

Prior to her involvement with ChildPact, Mirela worked with the Romanian helpline for abused children (World Vision 2000-2003), the National Volunteer Center in Romania (2004-2005), Telefono Azzurro in Italy (2006) and with World Vision Romania (2007-2011). Mirela has a BA in psychology and educational sciences from the Babes-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, Romania), an MA in EU integration policies and a PhD in international development from the University of Bologna (Italy).

Valeriu Nicolae - Child Rights and Roma activist - Romania Valeriu Nicolae is Regional Advocacy Director for World Vision since 2013 and former senior adviser for the Open Society Institute, director of the Roma organisations ERGO and ERIO. He is the producer of “Toto and his sisters” movie that won The Golden Eye for best documentary in Zurich – September 2014. The movie is focusing on the life of children in a ghetto in Bucharest. He is the winner of the 2013 European Citizenship Award of the European Parliament and winner of four other international prizes, including the 2012 UNICEF award for best practice in Sports and Education. He published three books and wrote hundreds of articles about social inclusion, politics and children. He is founder of the Policy Centre for Roma and Minorities.

Joost van Haelst - Children’s Rights Coordinator of the Flemish Government - Belgium Joost Van Haelst is children’s rights coordinator at the Flemish government since 1997. Nowadays, he works within the Division for Youth of the Flemish Ministry of Culture, Youth, Sports and Media, which coordinates the youth and children’s rights policy in Flanders. He is involved in the execution of several policy instruments such as the Flemish youth and children’s rights policy plan, the child and youth impact report, the children’s rights monitor, the governmental network of (Flemish) focal points for youth and children’s rights policy meeting on a regular basis the civil society organizations in a reflection group. Furthermore, he executes the vice-presidency of the National Commission on the Rights of the Child of Belgium. He is Belgian CRC focal point for the Council of Europe and the European Commission. He took care of the start of the subsidization of the Flemish Children’s Rights Coalition since its foundation as autonomous organization in 2000 till 2007.

Bjørn Bredesen - Former Deputy Director General in the Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion - Norway Bjørn Bredesen (1946) has been Deputy Director General of the Norwegian Royal Ministry of Children (including Family policy) from 1994 -2014. Before becoming Director General he has been a Director of Social services in the City of Oslo and project manager at the Ministry of Children. Currently he works as an International Consultant in child policy. Bredesen has through many years been a national representative, chairing international steering committees and expert groups in the field of social, family and child policy partly at the Council of Europe, the Council of the Baltic See States and the Nordic Council of Ministers and United Nations. He has been working closely with the UN on combating violence against children. Bjørn Bredesen (1946) holds a BA in social work and social policy (1974).

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PANEL DEBATE: FUNDING ADVOCACY FOR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS (Friday, 28 November, 09:00 – 11:00, Platinum)

Visioning

CLOSING PLENARY SESSION (Friday, 28 November, 11:30 – 13:00, Platinum)

Closing plenary speakers Mária Herczog - President of Eurochild, Member of the UN Committee of the Rights of the Child

Agnes Von Maravic - Children’s Rights Division, Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, Council of Europe

Dr. Maria Herczog, Ph.D is visiting lecturer at the ELTE Budapest University Doctoral School, and at the Law Faculty post graduate course, Chair of the Family Child Youth Association since 2005. She was elected as a member to the UN CRC Committee in 2007 and re-elected in 2010. She was a member of the EU Economic and Social Committee between 2004-2010 as a representative of the Hungarian civil society. Maria Herczog has been doing research on child welfare, child protection and on child rights, family matters in the last 30 years, author of several books, book chapters and journal articles. She was one of the founding members of Family, Child, Youth Association in 1992 and has been actively involved its work since than in different positions. She was elected to be a member of the Management Board of Eurochild in 2009 and to as president in 2010, re-elected in 2013.

Agnes von Maravić is a Programme Officer in the Council of Europe Children’s Rights Division. She studied Political Science and Public Administration in Potsdam and Lille. Before joining the Council of Europe in 2006, she worked for the German NGO “Action Reconciliation Services for Peace” in Kiev, Ukraine, and as a research assistant at Düsseldorf University, Germany. In the Council of Europe, she has worked on judicial reform in Ukraine before she joined the Children’s Rights Division in 2008. She is currently Secretary to an intergovernmental Committee that develops the next Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child for the period 2016-2019. Her main interests in the field of children’s rights at the moment are participation, the rights of children in alternative care and positive parenting.

Dr Delia Pop is Director of Programmes at Hope and Homes for Children. She is a member of high-level advocacy groups in the US and Europe and has contributed to the transformation of child protection and care systems at national and regional level in 15 countries across Europe and Africa. Born and educated in Romania, Delia is a medical doctor who has worked for 15 years with children trapped in the institutional care system and families at risk of separation.

Gabriela Coman - President, National Authority for Child Rights Protection and Adoption, Romania Gabriela Coman is the former President of the Romanian Federation of NGOs for Children (FONPC) and Executive Director of Focus, the Romanian Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. Her extensive experience in the child protection filed includes the prestigious position of former Secretary of State of the National Authority for Child Protection and Adoptions (2001-2004) as well as UNICEF consultancy positions in Romania, Serbia and Moldova . Fighting for reformed child protection policies and particularly, for the de-institutionalisation of children under three years, have been Mrs. Coman’s main preoccupations during her entire career, both from a governmental and from a non-governmental activist perspective.

Efi Bekou - Secretary General of Welfare, Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Welfare, Greece Efi Bekou holds the position of the Secretary General for Welfare at the Ministry of Labour, Social Security & Welfare of the Hellenic Republic since July 2012. Prior to this, she held the position of the Secretary General for Gender Equality at the Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization from 1999 until 2004 and also acted as a Vice President at the State Scholarships Foundation. Efi’s experience and expertise is on social welfare and gender equality. More specifically, she focuses on strategic planning and policy implementation on combating poverty; on homelessness and the protection of vulnerable groups and people with disabilities. Also she has designed and implemented programs relating to the mainstreaming of women in the economy. She is a Ph.D Candidate in Political Science, she holds a master’s in Political Science and Sociology and an undergraduate degree in Mathematics.

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Delia Pop - Director of Programmes, Hope and Homes for Children

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

NOTES

There are many people and organisations that have contributed to this event. In particular we would like to thank:

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

• Our programme advisory group, in particular Delia Pop, Director of Programmes at Hope and Homes for Children UK; Mirela Oprea, Secretary General of ChildPact; Roxana Ogrendil, Executive Director of FONPC (Romanian Federation of Child Rights NGOs); Luis Pinto, responsible for organization development at Universal Education Foundation; and Professor Pat Dolan, UNESCO Chair and Director, UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, NUI Galway, Ireland; Voica Pop and Eduard Petrescu at UNICEF Romania. • Those people consulted in preparation of the 3 cross-cutting themes. In particular we want to thank our ‘resources persons’: John Canavan, Associate Director, UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, NUI Galway, Ireland; Nicholas Rees, Policy Analysis Specialist, Division of Policy and Strategy, UNICEF New York and his colleague Jing Qing Chai; and Valentina Caimi, Policy and Advocacy Adviser, Social Platform. For the session on public private partnership we sought advice from several people – thanks particularly to Ariane Rodert, Gordon Hahn, Luigi Martignetti and Luk Zelderloo. • FONPC - Romanian Federation of Child Rights NGOs – and Roxana Ogrendil in particular for organization of the study visits. • All the speakers, those running poster sessions, workshops, focus groups and those providing video material. • To the young participants Donya Azimi from Sweden, Ourania Kyriakou and Maria Timotheou from Cyprus, Katja Knežević and Ivan Tancabel from Croatia, and Michal Dord from the Czech Republic.

• Finally, to the Eurochild team in particular Andrea Witt for overall coordination, Manon Jacobs and Monique Kesteloot for logistics support, Agata D’Addato, Reka Tunyogi, Aagje Ieven for leading the mini-plenaries as well as the thematic workshops; Mafalda Leal for leading on the child participation and the early years workshop, Mieke Schuuman for coordinating the panel debate on child rights networks and funding for advocacy; Marie Dubit for supporting members and the national partner networks; Federico Lanzo, Björn Becker and Nerea Rial for communications support prior to, during and after the event; Cristina Negoiescu and Greta Mackonyte, our interns for logistics and content support.

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CONFERENCE BOOKLET

• Our hosts, Hope and Homes for Children Romania, in particular Ottó Sesták, Reka Filip and Stefan Darabus for support on content, logistics and generally for being excellent colleagues to work with.

ORGANISERS

PROGRAMME ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The side event “Building the economic case for child-friendly justice is co-financed by the Embassy of France in Romania. The conference is organised as contribution to a project co-funded by the OAK Foundation on Building the Economic Case for Investing in Prevention and Quality Alternative Care (January 2014-June 2016)

Panel co-financed by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Official Development Assistance Unit, with UNDP Regional Center for Europe and CIS as implementation partner.

TWITTER AND WEB • Conference website: http://bit.ly/Eurochild_AC2014 • Twitter hashtag: #EurochildConf • Emergency telephone: +4 0733 179416 • Howard Johnson Grand Plaza Hotel telephone: +4 021 201 50 13

This event is supported under the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (2007-2013). This programme is managed by the Directorate-General for Employment, social affairs and equal opportunities of the European Commission. The views expressed by Eurochild do not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission.