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Impact
The above action enabled UNICEF to contribute to unique outcomes:
At national level
Promoted increased quality of care for a decreasing number of children in residential institutions. While some 100,000 children were in poor public residential care institutions in the early 1990s, in 2008 this number dropped to 24,000 living in reformed and upgraded institutions;
- Increased the availability of quality alternative family-based care options. The number of children living in institutions represents only 30% of the number of children in public care, of which 60% are living with a family, either their extended family or with a maternal assistant;
- Strengthened the capacity of decision-makers reponsible for child rights based policy development, monitoring and evaluation. Accurate disaggregated information is currently considered essential by central level decision-makers for developing, monitoring, and refining evidence-based policies, systems and services.
- Accumulated experience and lessons learned for the reform of child care systems in the CEE/CIS region. Bulgaria, the Republic of Moldova, TFYR Macedonia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and North Korea are a few countries interested in improving the national response based on lessons learned in Romania, and UNICEF has facilitated an exchange of experience through field visits with a special focus on policy and legislation development.
At local level
Promoted increased knowledge and skills on child rights and helped raise the responsibility and accountability of duty bearers. Over 5,000 professionals working in the child protection system serving an estimated 10,000 children are implementing the new standards of care, contributing to monitoring and supervision, and applying new referral and coordination mechanisms to basic county level social services, thus helping to improve the identification of children whose rights are not being met, to ensure a response that is in their best interest.
- Strengthened the capacity of local authorities for the development of alternative services to institutionalization, and increasing their ability to plan for preventive, community-based action. The accumulated experiences and future evaluation in the five counties are currently being used in national level policy dialogues.
- Increased the effectiveness and efficiency of decentralised authorities. Fewer children are now being placed in residential care, and a greater number are receiving alternative family-based care. However, the demand for public care will continue if reform is not extended to other social welfare services, such as family outreach, legal and social counselling, parent education, crisis intervention, and respite centres.
At children’s level
- Promoted the decrease in the number of children in institutions and quality of public and private care. Over 100,000 children were receiving public care in 2008: 24,000 (down from 25,000 in December 2007) were placed in reformed, upgraded, smaller institutions, some 46,000 children received family-type services, including foster care. Another 37,000 children are currently beneficiaries of preventive services, such as day care, counselling, support for extracurricular activities.
- Right to participation, freedom of expression and association. An increasing number of children are now able to express their views and suggestions on key issues (participation of children in the review of the National Plan of Action on Violence against Children), on draft legislation, and on the ways this is implemented (children’s report developed by over 3,000 students, part of the “Spune” Children’s Council).
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