National Assembly Hosts Round Table on Preventing Childhood Violence

Risida Dimitrova, Nelli Zheleva

Round table on preventing violence among children opened at the National Assembly, Sofia, September 25, 2025 (BTA Photo/Milena Stoykova)

Sofia,

25.09.2025 18:13

(BTA)

A round table on preventing violence among children opened at the National Assembly on Thursday. “Childhood violence is a serious social problem with profound consequences,” Rositsa Kirova, chair of the parliamentary committee on Direct Citizen Participation, Citizens’ Complaints, and Civil Society Engagement, said at the opening.

According to Kirova, the round table has more than 120 attendees. Among them National Assembly Chair Nataliya Kiselova, the parliamentary Labour and Social Policy Committee Chair Denitsa Sacheva, Deputy Justice Minister Mihaela Mechkunova, Deputy Education and Science Minister Natalia Mihalevska, Deputy Interior Minister Filip Popov, Labour and Social Policy Deputy Minister Ivan Krastev, Deputy Ombudsman Maria Filipova, State Agency for Child Protection Chair Eva Zhecheva, UNICEF Representative for Bulgaria Christina de Brown, experts from the Legislative Council Directorate to the Council of Ministers, the Commission for Protection against Discrimination, representatives of the public sector.

Rositsa Kirova explained that the main goal of the meeting is to create a space for dialogue and to outline specific guidelines for action. “Coordination between local authorities, state institutions, and families is needed, and I believe that through the active participation of all of us, we will be able to formulate some recommendations," she emphasized. According to her, work must be done with every child, not only the ones who have a problem, not only the ones who have inflicted violence. "Our mission is to create an environment in which every child feels safe, respected, and loved,” Kirova added. “As a committee, we suggest that real statistics on children who have exhibited aggression should be collected, with a direct link with their teacher, school psychologist, and principal,” the chair said.

According to her, a database could be created, on the basis of which each region and school could have a plan for working with children who exhibit violence. Often, children who exhibit aggression come from a family environment where aggression is exhibited, including towards them, so the work must also involve their parents, Kirova said. “If we give up because it is very difficult, we will not solve the problem,” she added and suggested that this round table should set the beginning of concrete action.

/RD/