§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to support child care provision in Romania. [89044]
§ Mr. Foulkes[holding answer 1 July 1999]: We are presently exploring with the Department for Child Protection of the Government of Romania how best we can assist them, taking account of other donor support in this area.
§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what humanitarian assistance her Department has provided to improve child care provision in central and eastern Europe. [89045]
§ Mr. Foulkes[holding answer 1 July 1999]: We financed a Child Care project in Romania between 1995 and 1998. This provided advice on the framing of child care legislation, support for the development of model Centres for Family Support and Child Protection, and assistance at county council (judet) level with the development of sustainable and accountable services to vulnerable children and families. The total cost was about £339,000. The project was managed by the European Children's Trust.
In Bulgaria, we co-financed with the EU (Phare) a project to advise on child care legislation and good practices. We provided £90,000 in 1998 for a three month study visit to the UK by child care practitioners. We have just started a £300,000 project to advise the Ministries of Education, Health and Labour and Social Policy on alternatives to institutional child care. This is being managed by Save The Children Fund.
We are also financing projects in south-eastern Europe to address the problems of refugee children in the region as a result of the Kosovo crisis. For example we have contributed £300,000 to Save The Children Fund for regional programmes, which include non-formal education through local groups and volunteer teachers; £160,000 to Children's Aid Direct for the distribution of school materials and equipment for Kosovo refugees and host communities in Macedonia; and an unearmarked sum of £2.25 million to UNICEF for their activities in the region. UNICF are aiming to improve access to health care and primary education. They have been effective in developing and advocating child friendly spaces in camps and other locations. These spaces provide basic services for children and mothers such as baby care, pre-school, primary school, recreational activities, counselling and basic health and nutrition education.
Through the newly established Humanitarian Assistance Field Office in Pristina, we will continue to identify further areas of support in accordance with the needs of the returning refugees and the displaced people of Kosovo.