§ 23. Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions her Department has held in the last 12 months with the Government of Romania on the issue of the welfare and protection of children. [57824]
§ Clare ShortDiscussions and collaboration have continued with the Romanian government through the European Children's Trust on a project to strengthen the capacity of local government to improve the welfare of vulnerable children and families.
Our assistance has included:
advice on the responsibilities and structures of local authorities to enable them to own and manage services to vulnerable children and families;208Wadvice on systems and models within which integrated social work services can operate, andsupport for the establishment of Centres for Family Support and Child Protection in five countries.We are also supporting 2 small projects, both based in Arad, which will strengthen the capacity of the local government to help young people from orphanages.
So far we have spent £360,000 on these projects.