Vice Prime Minister Dan Barna’s meeting with the UNICEF Representative in Romania, Pieter Bult

Vice Prime Minister Dan Barna met today with the UNICEF Representative in Romania, Pieter Bult. The two officials discussed the way Romania can use UNICEF international experience and its models in Romania for substantial reforms for children, financed from European funds and the state budget.

The meeting took place on the day the European Commission launched the European Union Strategy on the Rights of the Child and the European Child Guarantee in order to ensure that the most vulnerable children in the European Union have access to healthcare, education, childcare, decent housing and adequate nutrition.

The 'Child Guarantee' is also extremely relevant for Romania, where UNICEF and central and local authorities have developed and tested a similar innovative solution, which can be scaled up once with the implementation of the minimum package of services for children and families, which was adopted last year.

The two officials also discussed the opportunity to use digital instruments to provide real-time data on the situation of children, so that the public policies can be adapted to the needs as soon as possible. In this context, the topic of integrated community centres that can provide online and offline services to children and their families was also addressed.

The meeting was also attended by Secretary of State Elena Tudose and Eduard Petrescu, UNICEF Romania Coordinator for policy and planning.