News from FICE Romania 

Despite the special conditions caused by the COVID 19 pandemic, FICE Romania was committed to launch and promote again this year the ”19 Days of Activism for Prevention of Violence and Abuse Against Children and Youth”, 1-19 November. Surprisingly, many schools and educational institutions signed up to the campaign to stop and reduce abuse, to raise generations of children who no longer suffer from them and help affected children to channel their potential to creativity and hope, instead of healing wounds that should not occur.

The 19 Days of Activism for Prevention of Violence and Abuse Against Children and Youth brings together multiple ways to organize, especially in schools and other educational institutions, actions to change social behavior, educate and mobilize children, schools, and civil society and to involve them in preventing abuse and violence against children.

The themes included in the campaign were dedicated to: involving children in armed conflict, sexual abuse, bullying and abuse in school, child neglect, child labor, corporal punishment, sale of children, child prostitution, child pornography, child trafficking, harmful traditional practices against children, street children, discrimination based on conditions/health, substance addiction and abuse, child malnutrition, the dangers of ICT (information and communication technology) and virtual communication, child abduction, juvenile justice and children deprived of parental care.

The 2021 Campaign was attended by a number of over 1000 educational units, county assistance centers and educational resources, child protection departments from all counties and regions of the country.

In the participating schools, the children, under the guidance of the teachers, made drawings and posters that they displayed in the hallways, on panels made especially for their messages to be seen, read and known by other children, officials and parents.

In the 19 Days Campaign to prevent abuse and violence against children and young people, 2021 edition, the following was achieved:

• workshops, round tables, debates, participation in local, regional and national television programs;

• online activities with children from the participating kindergartens and schools;

• online and face to face activities, where possible, in compliance with the anti-COVID-19 safety measures, carried out with the parents or grandparents and relatives of the children (in situations where the parents are working abroad);

• meetings with specialists (police, doctors, psychologists, priests);

• circles of compassion.

On November 2, 2021, the “circles of compassion” were created. Children from the communities / schools where cases of child abuse and extreme suffering occurred (including deaths at school or family, as a result of acts of violence) built “altars” dedicated to their peers, where they lit candles, placed photos of the children, placed bouquets of flowers, letters, messages of compassion for the families, etc.

The 19 Days of Activism for Prevention of Violence and Abuse Against Children and Youth campaign, 2021 Edition, had the following partners:

• The National Authority for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Children and Adoption - the partner has a role in the methodological coordination of actions to prevent child abuse and violence;

• The Association of Romanian Communes, AcoR - has a role in supporting prevention and information actions carried out in schools at the level of local public authorities;

• The Association of Directors of the General Directorates of Social Assistance and Child Protection, AD-DGASPC - the partner has a  role in supporting prevention and information activities carried out in child protection institutions/structures;

• Tribuna Învăţământului Magazine - the partner has a role in disseminating the project and its results;

• The National Anti-Drug Agency - has a role in the methodological coordination of activities to prevent the use of illicit substances among children and young people.

 

Additionally, on November 19, 2021, FICE Romania organized in partnership with the Committee on European Affairs within the Romanian Senate, the International Conference on ”Prevention of Abuse and Violence against children - Approach in the Context of the COVID 19 Pandemic”, with the participation of the co-president of FICE International, Prof. Emmanuel Grupper and the President of the FICE Serbia, Ms. Zeljika Burgund, along with other specialists in education, child protection, such as psychologists, social workers, sociologists as well as mayors and politicians, all of them, through their work and speeches, conveyed the idea that professionals in the field of child and youth care must all advocate for a better and safer world for children, in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals – Agenda 2030, especially with SDG Target 16.2 “End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence and torture against children by 2030.”

Dr. Eugen Simion - National Campaign coordinator