President Rosen Plevneliev met UNICEF Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe and CIS Marie-Pierre Poirier. The main topics of discussion were state policy on child protection and the need for investment in support of early childhood development. Politicians should not just spend public funds but should invest them with a targeted and long-term view on returns, the President said during the meeting.
Poirier said that Bulgaria was a good example of how to focus on problems and solve them. The situation of the child should be placed in the centre of public policy on growth, because investment in early childhood development would have guaranteed high returns, she said.
“What you are doing with reform through deinstitutionalization is exceptional and should be promoted to encourage and show other countries with similar problems that there might be a positive change,” Poirier said. She said, however, that this reform alone was not sufficient and there should be an emphasis on the family. This should not be planned solely by the government but the public should be involved too. Civil society and the business sector should also realize the benefits of partnerships in the interests of the children, Poirier and President Plevneliev agreed.