site.btaPresident Radev: Bulgaria Wants to Become Regional UNICEF Centre

Sofia, November 20 (BTA) - Bulgaria wants to become a regional centre of UNICEF and share its experience in the protection of children's rights with the other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, President Rumen Radev told UNICEF Representative in Bulgaria Maria Jesus Conde. Radev received Jesus Conde in the President's Administration in Sofia on Universal Children's Day (November 20), the President's press secretariat reported.

He stressed the progress achieved by Bulgaria in deinstitutionalizing social care services for children deprived of parental care, providing inclusive education, promoting early child development and upgrading the juvenile justice system, as well as other measures for the protection of children's rights over the last 10 years.

Jesus Conde presented the new partnership programme between UNICEF and the Bulgarian government, saying that an action plan for the programme's implementation is to be approved in January.

The two officials concurred that information technology, the Internet and the social media are normal contemporary means for children to socialize, but they require adequate laws and efficient criminal prosecution of people who use the Internet to commit crimes against children and young people.

Digitization is one of the important matters for the upcoming Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council and will be in the main focus of Bulgaria's cooperation with UNICEF, Radev said. He supported the efforts of the UN's children's rights organization to work out a comprehensive approach to dealing with aggressive behaviour in schools by involving not only parents and teachers but also the students themselves.

Jesus Conde noted that the problems confronting a given society inevitably affect children's behaviour, and this requires concerted efforts by the entire educational community, including public institutions, parents, students and NGOs.