Sofia, September 24-25 2015
Child maltreatment is a hidden form of violence in the Region: 90% goes undetected / WHO Europe
Regional meeting of partners from East Europe, supported by OAK Foundation on programme preventing violence against children took place in 24 and 25 September 2015 in Sofia. Main accent on the agenda of the forum was the role of health and educational system supporting prevention of violence. Lectures and representatives of NGOs from UK, Switzerland, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria took participation.
Some of the organizations presented good practices from own experience; the event gave opportunity for sharing ideas, difficulties and possible solutions for more successful work against child abuse.
Special attention was paid to European Child Maltreatment Prevention Action Plan 2015-2020 of WHO Europe, according to which three main objectives are formulated:
- Make health risks such as child maltreatment more visible by setting up information systems in Member States.
- Strengthen governance for the prevention of child maltreatment through partnerships and multisectoral action by developing national plans.
- Reduce risks for child maltreatment and its consequences through prevention by strengthening health systems in Member States.
Bulgarian Family Planning and Sexual Health Association was presented on the event by the Projects Coordinator Ralitsa Zgalevska.
The project The Art to Inform, which BFPA is implementing with the support of OAK Foundation, includes activities connected with decreasing the cases of sexual exploitation among young people in institutions; reducing the teenage pregnancies in selected roma communities; creating a space for exchanging ideas and sharing efforts concerning prevention of sexual exploitation of children.