Supporting Ukrainian refugee children: building inclusive Early Childhood Intervention systems

On 29 November, EASPD and MEP Klemen Groselj will host a hybrid event in Brussels to discuss the emergency responses for children and families and how to ensure their access to quality Early Childhood Intervention.

On 29^th November, EASPD and MEP Klemen Groselj will host a hybrid event at the European Parliament in Brussels to discuss the emergency responses for children and families and how to ensure their access to quality Early Childhood Intervention.

Please note: the deadline to register for in-person attendance is 17 November 2023.

Since the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that more than 7 million people, including over 2 million children have fled their homes and crossed into neighbouring countries. Around 600,000 are children under the age of five, and many of them have developmental risks, delays, or difficulties. Their families are struggling to access support services in all parts of Europe. In many cases, being unable to access support, therapy, or early intervention, as well as trauma related to displacement, may negatively affect a child's development and wellbeing.

On 29^th November, EASPD and MEP Klemen Groselj will co-host a hybrid event in Brussels to discuss the emergency responses for those children and families and how to ensure they have access to quality Early Childhood Intervention (ECI).

This event is part of the Emergency Early Childhood Development Support for Ukrainian Refugees (ECDUR) project, which EASPD is implementing in partnership with UNICEF and with support from the U.S. Government. The project provides direct support to young refugee children and their families in Bulgaria, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia and aims to support system strengthening for the provision of ECI services in the host countries.

Event overview

During the event, we will share insights about the state of play for ECI in the EU and in the countries participating in the project, recommendations for establishing ECI systems that are inclusive of children, and discuss how national authorities and the EU can ensure that risks and disabilities are detected and addressed in time. More specifically, the event will aim to:

Promote awareness on family-centred ECI and the need to strengthen national ECI systems.
Highlight the ECDUR project key findings related to the state of play of ECI and access to support for refugee families and children.
Inform policymakers about the needs of Ukrainian refugee families with young children facing disabilities or developmental delays.
Launch the EASPD position paper on emergency response outlining EU and national demands.
Advocate for refugee family support in upcoming political initiatives.

Programme

Location: European Parliament and online

The event will include simultaneous English-Ukrainian interpretation.

14:00 - 14:10	Opening MEP Klemen Grošelj Thomas Bignal, Secretery General, EASPD
14:10 - 14:30	Setting the scene Building national ECI systems in Europe: UNICEF perspective and approaches, Vera Rangelova, ECD Specialist UNICEF ECARO
14:30 - 15:10	Way forward - expanding ECI in Europe and beyond Emergency response for early childhood development, the ECDUR project actions, key findings and recommendations, Irene Bertana, EASPD Comments: Raisa Kravchenko, All Ukrainian NGO Coalition for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities Livia Marginean, Programme Manager from Moldova, Hopes and Homes for Children Carlotta Cimmino, Save the Children Chair: Lyzaveta Drannikova, EASPD
15:10 - 15:50	Panel discussion: how can the EU help strengthen ECI for children and families, including the refugees? MEP David Lega, EPP, Co-Chair of the Child Rights Intergroup Stefan Iszowski, Team Leader, European Child Guarantee, DG EMPL Nazar Tanasyshyn, Deputy Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Ludmila Malcoci, Keystone Moldova Executive Director Agata D’Addato, Eurochild, Head Of Programmes Chair: Eric Bloemkolk, SOFT tulip Director and co-chair of EASPD Member Forum (TBC)
15:50 - 16:00	Closing remarks Ivana Davidovska, Head of projects, EASPD
16:00 - 16:30	Networking coffee and tea

This project to support refugee children and families was made possible with generous contributions from the U.S. Government, people and corporate partners from Belgium and Denmark through the Belgium and Danish National Committees for UNICEF.

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