European Child Guarantee Conference in Zagreb sets out next steps to accelerate action for children across Europe

Zagreb, 31 March 2026 — The two-day High-Level Conference on the European Child Guarantee (ECG), “Accelerating Action for Children in Europe — From Commitment to Implementation”, concluded in Zagreb today, with clearly defined next steps and a renewed commitment to the full implementation of the ECG.

The Conference has brought together ministers, senior officials and experts from EU member states and enlargement partners to advance efforts to reduce child poverty and social exclusion across the region. The event was co-organised by UNICEF, the European Commission and the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy of the Republic of Croatia.

The first day of the Conference focused on high-level commitments and roadmaps from EU candidate countries and potential candidates. It also presented the joint EU–UNICEF regional cooperation programme to support the development of robust, evidence based, costed and sequenced ECG action plans and to strengthen governance, financing and monitoring capacities across the participating countries.

The second day of the conference focused on peer learning among the Child Guarantee national coordinators of the EU member states and the technical counterparts from candidate countries and potential candidates. Sessions explored lessons learned, promising implementation models and approaches to integrated services, cross-sectoral coordination and ECG monitoring and evaluation.

There was agreement on three key steps:

• advance national ECG Action Plans in line with EU standards, with clear sequencing, costing and monitoring frameworks;
• deepen peer-to-peer cooperation through the ECG Learning Lab (co-hosted by UNICEF Croatia and UNICEF Romania) to exchange tools, practices and models adaptable across contexts; and
• sustain interministerial coordination and align child-focused reforms with the EU accession process to reduce inequality by helping children grow up healthy, educated and supported, and by ensuring that all children in Europe have equal chances, wherever they live.

With these next steps defined and backed by renewed commitments from EU member states, candidate countries and potential candidates, the Zagreb Conference closed with a shared determination to accelerate the implementation of the European Child Guarantee across the region. Building on the joint EU–UNICEF programme and the ECG Learning Lab, countries will now move forward with stronger cooperation, practical tools and reinforced technical pathways to drive lasting change for children.

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About the European Child Guarantee

The European Child Guarantee (Council Recommendation 2021/1004) aims to prevent and combat child social exclusion by ensuring free and effective access to essential services for children in need, including education, healthcare, adequate nutrition and housing. Croatia was one of seven EU member states that implemented the 24-month pilot programme, “Testing the Child Guarantee in the EU Member States”. Throughout this process, UNICEF has supported the European Commission and the seven countries in a series of activities at EU-wide, national and sub-national levels.

In July 2023, the Government of the Republic of Croatia endorsed the National action plan to implement⁠ the EU Council recommendations on establishing the European Child Guarantee (NAP CG), the main operational tool for improving equal access to key services for children in need, as an important way to prevent social exclusion and poverty in general.