THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SACP PARTICIPATES IN A PARTNERSHIP REVIEW MEETING FOR COOPERATION BETWEEN UNICEF AND THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA

The Chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection, Dr. Eleonora Lilova, participated in the Annual Partnership Review Meeting on the Implementation of the Cooperation Program between UNICEF and the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria in 2020 and to discuss the priority activities for the period 2021-2022.

During the meeting, Dr. Lilova expressed her gratitude for the good cooperation between the SACP and the UNICEF Representatives for Bulgaria:

"I believe that the efforts we are making together are helping to tackle the challenges more easily, as well as to improve the state of children's rights. The pandemic situation has put in the forefront the care for them as one of the most vulnerable members of our society, so that they can more easily cope with the unknown situation," said the Chairperson of the SACP Dr. Eleonora Lilova.

The proposals of the SACP for the priority activities in the period 2021-2022 are related to: improving the health of children in Bulgaria in order to reduce child mortality; reducing and limiting violence against children, e.g. to organize trainings for the multidisciplinary teams under the Coordination Mechanism for Violence, as well as to increase the cooperation in conducting sociological surveys for the child population.

The Chairperson of the SACP expressed her gratitude to Dr. Jane Muita for the support in introducing in Bulgaria the globally recognized program of the World Health Organization for the training of parents of children with disabilities. The pilot testing of this program is implemented under the guidance of the SACP, in partnership with the UNICEF office in Bulgaria, the Autism Today Association, as well as other interested professional organizations in our country.

Currently, a joint program is being prepared between the SACP and UNICEF Bulgaria, and last year the two organizations cooperated on:

• the development of the "I am a child" section of the Unified Information Portal of the Council of Ministers COVID-19, with useful information materials for children and parents;
• the work of the Interdepartmental Expert Group of the National Council for Child Protection in developping a mechanism for implementing the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child;
• the preparation of materials and proposals for the creation of a "White Paper on the Child", which will review the achievements in child policies in the last 10 years, and will be a publication for the 20th anniversary of the State Agency for Child Protection.