EASPD's insights on the European Child Guarantee

On 24 January, the International Day of Education, EASPD launched a series of publications on the implementation of the European Child Guarantee.
Released monthly, by regional area and until April, this series will present EU Member States’ efforts to break the cycle of poverty and social exclusion for children in need. For this first month, we focus on Central and Eastern Europe, highlighting the work of Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
In line with the Council Recommendation published in March 2021, Member States have to ensure that every child at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) has access to five essential services: free early childhood education and care, free education and leisure activities, free healthcare, healthy nutrition, and adequate housing.
Member States were required to develop National Action Plans (NAPs) to implement the Child Guarantee. These plans had to consider the specific needs of vulnerable children and identify the most effective strategies to address those needs. Member States were required to define the categories of “children in need,” set clear objectives and targets, outline specific actions to ensure access to essential services, allocate necessary funding – particularly through the European Solidarity Fund Plus (ESF+) – and set up mechanisms for monitoring and reporting progress.
As of today, all 27 Member States have published their NAP between 2022 and 2023. Most have also published their Biennial Reports, which assess the state of play as required by the Child Guarantee every two years.
The EASPD Team has developed a series of factsheets summarising the National Action Plans (NAPs) and Biennial Reports of all 27 EU Member States under the EU Child Guarantee. While NAPs address a broad range of children in need, our factsheets focus specifically on children with disabilities, children with mental health issues, and those in institutional-based alternative care settings. Each factsheet provides the following information:
- Key data and figures on these children;
- An overview of the main challenges they face;
- A summary of the objectives and key targets set up;
- The list of measures and specific actions ongoing, planned, or adopted to improve the situation of these children.
The next series, which will be published in our newsletter in February, will focus on the Nordic countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden.
More to come in the following months – stay tuned!