Report of the public discussion on Children left behind: between labour migration, institutional standards and extended family, 12 December 2022, Sofia

On 12 December, in Sofia,  ROMACT and the Bulgarian Ombudsperson’s office organized a public discussion on children left behind by parents going abroad for work.
This event was an occasion to raise awareness about the vulnerability of Roma children left behind in poor and marginalized communities by parents going abroad for work, in order to stimulate policy development and reinforce targeted action on the ground.
Nadia Klisurska, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy; Maria Gaydarova, Deputy Minister of Education; Teodora Ivanova, Chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection and a member of the Steering Committee on the Rights of the Child of the Council of Europe; Iskren Arabadzhiyev and Denitsa Sacheva, both Deputy Heads of the Committee on Labour and Social and Demographic Policy in the National Assembly; Viorel Badea, Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on children affected by labour migration; Eleni Tsetsekou, Head of Roma and Travellers Division of the Council of Europe; Velina Todorova, Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child; Christina de Bruin, UNICEF Representative and Diana Kovacheva as the Ombudsperson in Bulgaria contributed to the event.

The meeting report and its recommendations are available in English and in Bulgarian.