With 1 in 4 children up growing at risk of poverty and social exclusion across the European Union even before the pandemic, the European Parliament, the Intergroup on Children’s Rights and the EU Alliance for Investing in Children calls on the Council of the EU and its Member States to be ambitious in the implementation the European Pillar of Social Rights. In addition, the manifesto urges leaders to adopt the Child Guarantee Council Recommendation as a matter of priority and to ensure that the Child Guarantee starts being implemented six months from the adoption of the Recommendation.
The manifesto lists the following demands:
- Develop comprehensive Child Guarantee Action Plans that will be regularly reviewed.
- Set ambitious national targets to halve child poverty by 2030 and make sure that all children are counted.
- Ensure the meaningful participation of children, of relevant multi-sectoral stakeholders – such as local communities and civil society organisations – as well as of parents and carers in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Child Guarantee Council Recommendation.
- Ensure that the Child Guarantee properly feeds into the European Semester process and the country-specific recommendations.
- Ensure a more comprehensive approach to the services provided under the Child Guarantee in the areas of nutrition and leisure activities.
- Ensure coherence and complementarity between the Child Guarantee and the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child
