Implementing the European Child Guarantee in Portugal

The Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) of the European Commission, the OECD Centre on Well-Being, Inclusion, Sustainability and Equal Opportunity (WISE) and the OECD Directorate for Public Governance are co-operating to provide technical support to Portugal through a project funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument.

The project “Developing structural tools to support the implementation of the European Child Guarantee in Portugal” aims to support Portugal in the implementation of its National Child Guarantee Action Plan 2022-2030. The OECD is assisting the Portuguese Child Guarantee national coordination team in developing tools to monitor and evaluate this plan, enhance local governance, reinforce communication with and engagement of children and young people, and ensure coordinated national and local policy implementation.

In 2021, the Council of the European Union adopted a recommendation to establish a European Child Guarantee. The aim of the recommendation is to prevent and combat social exclusion of children in need by guaranteeing access to a set of key services, thereby also helping to uphold the rights of the child by combating child poverty and fostering equal opportunities.

Combatting child poverty and social exclusion has been a priority for Portugal. The country achieved significant progress in reducing child poverty and social exclusion; and performs well in the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Nevertheless, the risk of child poverty and social exclusion remains high and child well-being outcomes and access to public services differ considerably between regions and by socio-economic background. In January 2023, Portugal’s Council of Ministers approved the country’s National Child Guarantee Action Plan 2022-2030 to implement the European Child Guarantee.

The Project supports Portugal to develop structural tools to help monitor and evaluate the implementation of the National Child Guarantee Action Plan 2022-2030 , to strengthen buy-in of the network of local units, reinforce communication with and engagement of children and young people, and support greater coordination across national and local policies to ensure a common governance approach to policy design and local implementation.

The project is funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, which is the European Commission’s key tool for supporting Member States in designing and implementing growth-enhancing and inclusive reforms. From healthcare, to sound public finances, from the digitalisation of education and public services, to strengthening the business environment and the financial sector, the Technical Support Instrument supports EU Member States with their reform agenda.

This type of support is relevant for other countries wishing to strengthen their data monitoring system and governance capacities to deliver change for children and young people. Areas that may be of interest include:  

1. Reinforcing monitoring and evaluation capacities.
   
2. Improving collection of disaggregated data for policy monitoring, as well as data exchange between different levels of government and institutions. 
3. Strengthening governance arrangements and capacities to ensure inclusive and participatory approaches in delivering for children and young people.  
4. Involving children and young people in policy design and implementation. 

Countries interested in knowledge exchange and/or getting access to some project results (subject to the agreement of the project’s steering committee) are encouraged get in touch, please see our contact details at the end of this webpage. 

International best practices on data collection and monitoring to support the implementation of the Child Guarantee in Portugal

Online workshop on 14, 17 and 18 October 2024