Innovations for early child development at local level

Early childhood development is not yet a leading strategic priority in Bulgaria. Ensuring the rights of young children and policies targeting them remain mainly confined to the health, education and social sectors, lacking a holistic and integrated approach.

Solutions to these key challenges in the municipalities of Lom, Kozloduy, Mizia and Tvarditsa were discussed by participants in the seminar “Innovative Approaches and Practices for Early Childhood Development at Local Level”, organized by the team of the Open Society Institute – Sofia within the initiative “Project Generation Facility”. The forum was hosted by Roma Lom Foundation and Lom Municipality, and was attended by representatives of local authorities and NGOs partnering in three projects supported by the Platform and funded through the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 under procedure BGLD-2.003 – Early Childhood Education and Care of the local “Development, poverty reduction and improved inclusion of vulnerable groups” Programme.

In his address to the participants, the Mayor of Lom Municipality Dr. Georgi Gavrilov stressed the importance of partnerships between local authorities and civil society organizations to improve local integration policies, including in the field of early childhood development.

The project teams focused their discussions on the characteristics of meaningful field work and the provision of integrated services in Roma communities. During the two-day workshop, key tasks were identified for training community mediators, educators, psychologists, social and health workers in the three municipalities to effectively provide access to social, educational and health services for the youngest children from vulnerable communities.