ANES and UNICEF partner to ensure equal opportunities for all children in Romania

Bucharest, June 30, 2020. The National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men (ANES) and UNICEF in Romania signed a partnership today to promote and integrate the gender perspective in Romanian public policies in the benefit of children and adolescents. The partnership will be implemented between June 2020 and December 2022. 

Through this agreement, ANES and UNICEF will to work together to ensure equal development opportunities for all children, girls and boys in Romania, especially for the most vulnerable and marginalized by providing protection against any form of discrimination and gender violence. 

Within the partnership, ANES implements actions to promote gender equality and the rights of women and girls that are essential for the rights of all children. 

"Many times, children are victims of domestic violence and gender discrimination, and the new reality of the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing vulnerabilities. The partnership with UNICEF will help us to strengthen our institutional capacity at central and local level, to identify the best solutions and to act more efficiently where it is needed ", said Luminița Popescu, Secretary of State, ANES. 

In the short term, UNICEF will support the development of training and information sessions for representatives of County Commissions for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men and teachers on gender integration approach, with an emphasis on gender integration in education. 

In the medium and long term, UNICEF will provide technical assistance for the development or updating of the legislative framework and implementing rules on gender perspective and equal opportunities, as well as for the development and promotion of actions and events at the national level. 

"The agreement signed today is an important component of the collaboration partnership made by UNICEF with the Romanian Government for the period 2018-2022, and will help us make child protection, including any form of discrimination and violence against children, a priority" said Pieter Bult, UNICEF Representative in Romania. 

UNICEF and ANES have also agreed to use the U-Report platform to regularly consult children and young people on issues related to gender perspective, equal opportunities and, in particular, when developing public strategies and policies concerning them. According to a first recent U-Report poll: 

• Over 60% of respondents believe that in Romania girls and boys do not benefit from equal opportunities; 

• 58% were harassed and assaulted on gender grounds; 

• Almost two thirds believe that the Romanian schools do not promote equal opportunities and treatment between girls and boys; 

• Over 90% say that equal opportunities between girls and boys is a topic that should be discussed in the school environment; 

• 55% of adolescents want to be informed about equal opportunities in group discussions with experts.