What we do

As jointly announced on 20 November 2020, the Greek state and UNICEF mutually agreed to the establishment of a formal presence in the country. This confers the full mandate of UNICEF to Greece, which is to provide assistance to member states to fulfil their obligations to children under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which Greece ratified in 1993.

As such, the UNICEF Greece Country Office is expanding its support to all state institutions that have a role in ensuring all two million children in the country can fully enjoy their rights.

To date, UNICEF has been in contact with a number of governmental bodies, including the Ministries of Health, Social Cohesion and Family, Education, Migration, Justice, the Interior, Development, and Investment, with a focus on issues such as combating childhood obesity, strengthening mental health, foster care and deinstitutionalization, inclusive education without exclusion, the skills and employability of young people, as well as exploring options to fully secure resources and funding for children in the coming years.

The Office’s scope of action primarily covers the following areas:  

•  promoting the physical and mental health of children and youth  
•  including children with disabilities in all aspects of society and education
•  promoting alternative forms of care, such as foster care and deinstitutionalization 
•  finding ways to address and reduce poverty among lower-income families 
•  protecting and educating refugee and migrant children  
•  ensuring the effective participation and inclusion of children and young people in decision-making processes.  
 

Further actions will address issues such as violence in schools, cyberbullying of children, and the creation of child-friendly cities, among others.