site.btaSocial Policy Minister Ivanov Meets with UNICEF Representative to Bulgaria

Caretaker Labour and Social Policy Minister Ivaylo Ivanov met with Christina Dorothea de Bruin, UNICEF Representative to Bulgaria, his ministry said in a press release on Thursday. The two agreed that the deinstitutionalisation of child care, the reform in social services, the policies on early childhood development, and the implementation of the European Child Guarantee will continue to be among the priorities in the partnership between the Bulgarian government and UNICEF.

"One of the main areas of our joint actions with UNICEF Bulgaria is the active support that the organisation provides in the implementation of the process of deinstitutionalisation of child care in the country. Since the beginning of the reform, a total of 133 specialised institutions for children have been closed out of the 137 institutions operating in 2010," Minister Ivanov said. He explained that the last four homes for medical and social care for children are also to be closed. Measures for the prevention of abandonment, reintegration into the family environment, adoption and foster care play a key role in the process.

Christina Dorothea de Bruin gave a high mark to Bulgaria's leading role regarding the reform of child care deinstitutionalisation and overcoming child poverty as well as along the lines of the European Child Guarantee. She said Bulgaria can rely on UNICEF's full support.