Sharing knowledge, building bridges,

traveling together

Middle East and Eastern Europe region• World Vision’s long-term development work in the Middle East and Eastern Europe region is

divided into four clusters of countries:

• The Balkans: Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Romania

• The Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan

• The Middle East: Jerusalem and West Bank, Lebanon

• Southern Asia: Afghanistan and Pakistan

• Additionally, as an organization, we are striving to support the needs of those affected by violence in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.

World Vision Romania’s unique experience

• Involvement in the Romanian child protection reform through• Advocacy

• Direct service development – A CONTINUUM OF CARE• Services for children with disabilities

• Services for the prevention of separation of children

• Services for family reintegration

• Independent living skills services

• Sustainability

• Civil society support – founding member of FONPC

Other countries in the region facing the same issues

• Increased child vulnerability during transition• Adoption / ratification of UNCRC• Lack of community-based services for children at risk

• World Vision national offices involved in the national federations/ platforms or in supporting civil society involvement • Common goal: CHILD WELLBEING

• Various consultations, technical assistance, exchange visits with individual NOs in the MEER Region•=> Need for a Learning Hub to unify experiences

What do we see?• Millions of children within the wider Black Sea region are in

situations of hunger, violence, labor, trafficking, unaccompanied living, life on the street and institutional care.

• Regional cooperation can tap innovation and pool resources => is an asset that should be used to achieve greater impact for children protection.

Experiences shared at same level:Federation to FederationGovernment to GovernmentNGO to NGO Academia or research involved in documenting

impact

Established at the 4th gathering of the Black Sea NGO Forum in 2011, ChildPact is a coalition of coalitions; national networks of child-focused NGOs from 10 countries met and decided to create a mechanism for the civil society cooperation.

Child Protection Regional Network

What was achieved

• ChildPact is a registered entity

• ChildPact, the Regional Coalition for Child Protection, is a network of networks that brings together 600 child-focused NGOs from 10 different countries. - See more at: http://www.childpact.org/

• Development of the Child Protection Index

• Ongoing exchange, advocacy, positioning with the National Governments, EU and PABSEC

• With great the support from the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/ Official Development Assistance

What is still missing

• A regional mechanism for the protection of children

• Increase inter-governmental cooperation and learning

• Foster inter-Parliamentary exchanges, and shared political responsibility for the future stability of this region

• Create a funding mechanism to support the regional dimension of Child Protection development

“All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Thank you!

Daniela BuzduceaNational Director

World Vision Romaniawww. worldvision.ro

daniela_buzducea@wvi.org