The National Network for Children (NMD) is issuing its independent monitoring report „Belezhnik“ for the 15th time in a row, with this year's special edition tracking the development of child and family policies in the period 2011 - 2025. The report contains hundreds of recommendations for sectoral reforms. But what is being done… Lawyer Georgi Elenkov, director of „Children's Policies“ at the National Network for Children – union of over 140 civil society organizations and human rights defenders working with and for children and families throughout Bulgaria.
- Mr. Elenkov, after 15 years of monitoring by the National Network for Children, the assessment for the country remains around “Average 3“. What does this say about the long-term policy towards children in Bulgaria?
- After 15 years of independent monitoring, the assessment “Average 3.28“ shows not so much a lack of effort as a lack of a consistent state vision for supporting children and families. Bulgaria has had real successes during this period – e.g. the historic process of deinstitutionalization (the closure of large old-style homes for children), the development of community services, individual important reforms in education, child and maternal health, justice, social support. But this progress remains uneven, fragmented and too often dependent on pressure from the civil sector, project funding or the efforts of individual professionals.
- Why does Bulgaria still not have a National Strategy for Children, even though the country is legally bound to adopt one?
- Since 2019, we have been observing a serious stagnation in children's policies, caused, among other things, by massive disinformation and the permanent replacement of expert conversation with populism. It was around the draft National Strategy for Children that one of the most aggressive online disinformation campaigns unfolded (about children being transported by train to Norway and other nonsense), which led to a political retreat and deprived us of a calm professional debate on how the state can support children and families most effectively. The National Strategy for Children is the framework that should provide direction, sustainability and measurable long-term goals for policies for children and families with children.
- You point out that disinformation has replaced the conversation about policies for children and families. How does this affect real reforms?
- The lack of a strategy for the seventh year is a symptom of the exceptional institutional and societal vulnerability to disinformation in Bulgaria. And the consequences are that institutions work “in pieces”, without sufficient coordination, without data connectivity and without long-term planning. Thus, key problems such as the demographic crisis (in 15 years, children in Bulgaria have decreased by about 80,000), child poverty, unequal access to healthcare and education, violence against children, and regression in the protection system continue to reproduce and deepen. It is high time we returned to the expert debate about the direction in which our society is developing when it comes to the most important thing - how it protects, listens to and supports its children.
- What are the most worrying data in this year's “Notebook 2025“ - poverty, healthcare or education? And why is it precisely there that the country is lagging the most?
- It is difficult to single out just one crisis, because the most worrying thing is actually how the various deficits accumulate, impel and reproduce each other. But if we have to point out a key systemic problem, it is undoubtedly child poverty and social inequalities. The well-being of children receives the lowest score in the “Notebook 2026“ – 2.96. Every third child in Bulgaria lives at risk of poverty or social exclusion, and their chance for development continues to depend too much on the family and settlement they were born into. In education, we see a system that is changing too slowly and unevenly – with huge differences in quality, high levels of functional illiteracy, excessive administrative burden on teachers, lack of cross-curricular connections, socio-emotional learning, sufficient civic and health education, lack of development of children's digital-media skills, etc. In healthcare, the problems are chronic – shortage of pediatricians and nurses, severe regional inequalities, a crisis in children's mental health and a continuing delay in key reforms, including around the National Children's Hospital. The common problem in all three areas is the lack of a long-term, integrated policy. The state is not investing sustainably in prevention and early support for children and families.
- Every third child in Bulgaria is at risk of poverty. What specific measures should the state take next year?
- The state must stop treating child poverty only as a matter of social benefits. This is a structural problem that requires social, educational, health and housing measures at the same time. Already next year, there must be clearer targeted budgeting for children, tracking of public spending and directing support to the groups at highest risk - children in large families, single parents, families with low education and vulnerable communities. As we point out in the “Notebook“, it is urgently necessary to develop housing and family policy as a tool for tackling poverty, including social housing, prevention of child eviction due to poverty and linking benefits to social work and employment.
A key instrument here is the European Child Guarantee. It is already leading to some progress in access to services, but it still does not achieve the necessary structural change. The Guarantee needs to become much more visible at the local level and to be implemented not through isolated measures, but through integrated support. It is a positive sign that the national coordinator of the European Child Guarantee, Ms. Natalia Efremova, is the new Minister of Labor and Social Policy.
- Over 7,700 children and parents have participated in the evaluation of state policies. What do children themselves tell you most often about their lives in Bulgaria?
- One of the strongest and most consistent messages from children over the years is that they want to be truly heard. They very clearly recognize when adults are simply “calling numbers” and when they are actually interested in their opinion. Children often talk about feeling enormous pressure – at school, on social networks, in their relationships. They share concerns related to mental health, violence, lack of understanding, fear of being humiliated or rejected. And very often they say something extremely important – that they need not just assessments and sanctions, but support, trust and adults who know how to listen to them.
Children are much more mature and sensitive to social problems than we often assume. They talk about inequalities between different settlements, the lack of spaces for sports and the lack of access to culture, online aggression, the feeling that their future is uncertain. But along with the criticism, children also give very specific solutions - they want more practical education, more participation in decision-making, better care for mental health. This is actually one of the most valuable lessons of “Notebook“ - that when we listen to children carefully, we often find not only the most accurate diagnosis of social problems, but also bold, practical and indispensable solutions for them.
- You report slight progress in juvenile justice. What is still missing for there to be real reform and a special law on juvenile justice?
- In recent years, there has indeed been positive development in juvenile justice. The procedural rights of children have been expanded - both of victims and witnesses, and of children in conflict with the law, more lenient procedures have been developed, and there are now about 70 specialized premises of the “blue room“ type for hearing children throughout the country. New mechanisms have also been introduced in family law proceedings, such as mandatory mediation information meetings. These are important steps towards better justice that understands the child and does not further traumatize him.
The most serious problem, however, remains the system for combating antisocial behavior of minors and juveniles - the most unreformed area in the entire juvenile justice system. There we continue to work according to an outdated model, without a unified regulatory framework, without clear institutional responsibility and without sufficient specialized services and restorative practices. Currently, some children end up in the protection system, others with exactly the same behavior are reported to a children's pedagogical room, thirds work with a public educator, fourths use a social service, and fifths can be isolated in a boarding school or spend 2 months in a temporary placement home on the basis of a prosecutor's decree. There are large differences in the capacity, practices and effectiveness of local services in individual municipalities.
- Do you see political will for long-term policies for children, or does the topic remain in the background for institutions and parties?
- Unfortunately, the topic of children too often remains in the realm of declarations, rather than consistent state decisions. All parties say that children are a priority, but we very rarely see long-term policies, sustainable financing and a cross-party consensus on key issues such as child poverty, child and maternal health, educational reform, etc.
Bulgaria now has a regular cabinet, supported by a stable parliamentary majority, the likes of which we have not seen for a long time. The big question now is whether this stability will also translate into stability in child and family policies. Because the issues of child poverty, healthcare, education, violence and justice can no longer be addressed “in pieces”. A cross-party dialogue, a return to expert discussion and a long-term vision are needed. We hope that the 52nd National Assembly - both ruling and opposition - will show that a consensus on the issue of children is possible beyond political confrontation and populism. Good policy for children is not an ideological issue, but a question of statesmanship.