On October 24, 2022, Eurodiaconia’s first meeting of its Child Guarantee monitoring group took place online. The meeting was open to Eurodiaconia members as well as national members of other European NGOs that are part of the EU Alliance for Investing in Children, to allow for broader interactions, networking, and peer learning.

The European Child Guarantee was adopted in 2021 at the EU level and aims to ensure that every child in Europe at risk of poverty or social exclusion has access to the most basic of rights like healthcare, housing and education.

After a brief introduction to the Child Guarantee and the state of play, national members discussed their vision and involvement in the Child Guarantee implementation at the national level as well as their experiences with the national action plans. After nearly two hours of lively exchanges, the meeting closed with key takeaways from the experts on the national level and recommendations on how to address the challenges in the implementation of the Child Guarantee.

Further thematic meetings of Eurodiaconia’s Child Guarantee monitoring group are planned in the coming months, focusing on each of the five key objectives of the Child Guarantee (free early childhood education and care, free education, free healthcare, healthy nutrition, and adequate housing). We aim to build capacity among national members and to receive their periodic feedback to adequately monitor and influence policies that will drive the fight against child poverty and social exclusion in the years to come.

Some months ago, Eurodiaconia, as part of the EU Alliance for Investing in Children, joined more than 20 organisations in a statement calling on Member States to take urgent actions to swiftly implement the Child Guarantee. We will continue our advocacy efforts in this direction.