Eurochild continues to work towards improving international data collection for children in alternative care
Eurochild and our member Maria Herczog from the Child, Youth and Family Association, have joined a new international expert reference group by UNICEF to guide the drafting and eventual agreement of global standardised statistical classification of alternative care of children.
The new reference group offers international stakeholders in the field of children in alternative care to voice their experiences, opinions, and concerns on how to improve and refine the draft statistical classification on alternative care of children.
The classification aims to define a set of definitions, concept and principles that will ensure a standardised and consistent approach to collecting and classifying statistics on different types of alternative care of children within and across UN countries. This could result in more frequent and accurate data collection for children in alternative care, which can drive better evidence-informed policy and interventions for this group of children in our societies.
Our contribution as Eurochild is a continuation of our work to inform and influence EU and European efforts to improve the lives of children in alternative care. It builds on our final findings from Eurochild and UNICEF ECARO’s DataCare project, where we worked directly with 50+ national experts in all EU countries and the UK to evidence the creation of baseline indicators for children in alternative care as part of the European Child Guarantee.
As a result of our efforts, the Child Guarantee EU monitoring framework now includes indicators for children in alternative care, and countries are increasingly collecting and reporting this data!
Want to learn more about our work in this area?
- Read about our achievements in the DataCare project (2019-2023).
- Read about our recent work to influence deinstitutionalisation for children in alternative care in the EU.
- Contact Ciaran O’Donnell, Eurochild Partnership and Programmes Coordinator.
