U-Report Survey: What do children in Romania expect from the Parliament and the Senate?
More than 75% of the children interviewed want parliamentarians to have more frequent meetings with children and to listen to their concerns
- Available in:
- English
- Română
-
90% of children and teenagers in Romania want the Parliament to prioritise children's rights in the legislative process.
-
Half of the children want Parliament to be more active in increasing the quality of education, by providing a bigger budget, adopting the new law of education and providing a school counsellor/psychologist in every school.
-
Almost half of the children interviewed believe that the www.senatjunior.ro platform is useful for them to better understand the activity of the Senate.
Bucharest, February 6th, 2023. In November 2022, over 500 children from all over the country, registered on the U-Report platform, responded to the survey on the expectations that children have from the Parliament. Children and teenagers in Romania want the Parliament, in general, and the Senate, in particular, to be proactive in consulting them when decisions that affect them directly are being made. They would like Parliament to develop and adopt legislative proposals that promote children's rights and help ensure that all children have access to quality inclusive education.
9 out of 10 children who responded to the survey believe that Parliament should be more concerned with children's rights, by promoting legislative proposals on topics that directly affect them.
Regarding the senators-children Friendship Group, 62% of the children believe that it should represent a direct link between children and senators, which would contribute to increasing the urgency of projects for children and which would develop the collaboration between Parliament, children and organisations in the field of children's rights.
To ensure that their voice is heard when decisions are made that directly affect them, 78% of children believe that senators should have more frequent meetings with children, both on specific topics such as education, mental health, allowances and scholarships, as well as regarding the involvement of children in decision-making processes in general.
Children and teenagers flagged a multitude of issues they believe Parliament should debate, such as health education, lowering the voting age from 18 to 16, mental health, underage pregnancies, child poverty and school dropouts. 7 out of 10 children believe that these topics should be dealt with by the legislature.
In order to increase the level of understanding among children regarding the activity of the Senate and senators, children can use the www.senatjunior.ro platform, launched on June 1, 2022. 42% of the children who participated in the survey believe that the platform helps them better understand the legislative process and the role of senators.
50% of the Romanian children and adolescents who participated in the survey believe that a new education law, a larger budget allocation for education, as well as school/psychological counseling services in educational institutions should be on the Parliament's agenda in next year.
About U-Report
U-Report is a consultation mechanism developed by UNICEF through which children and young people are encouraged to talk about the things that really matter to them. There are currently almost 9 million U-Reporters in 63 countries around the world, and the community is constantly growing. In Romania, there are currently over 11,900 U-Reporters. The U-Report consultation platform is inspired by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which promotes the rights of all children and adolescents to freely express their opinion on any issue that concerns them (Article 12), freedom of expression (Article 13), the right to meeting and association with others (Article 15) and the right to access information (Article 17).
About UNICEF
UNICEF is present in some of the most difficult places in the world to help the most disadvantaged children on the planet. In 190 countries and territories, everywhere, we work to support every child, to build a better world for all. For more information about UNICEF and its work, visit www.unicef.org.
