AGF statement on the 1st German biannual report on the national implementation of the EU Child Gurantee

Logo der Europäischen Garantie für Kinder

On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, the German government passed a cabinet resolution on its reporting under the European Child Guarantee. In Germany, the National Action Plan “New Opportunities for Children in Germany” is the basis for implementing the EU Child Guarantee.

The EU Child Guarantee provides for two-yearly reporting on the status and progress of national implementation. The deadline for this first report would have been in March 2024. The German overall reporting consists of a detailed and interesting analysis prepared by the German Youth Institute. It also contains the now adopted statement of the Federal Government on the DJI report as well as further statements, in particular from the children and young people and a joint statement from the civil society organizations involved in the process. Particularly the latter provides a good, jointly supported assessment of the current situation and offers valuable insights for further implementation.

In this respect, the statement from the family organizations is as a supplement to the civil society statement, which now also refers to the statement of the federal government. In their statement, the family organizations regret that the opportunity to critically assess the current poverty policy and to undertake a new long-term strategic approach for a policy against child poverty has not been taken with the statement of the federal government. Furthermore, there is a lack of clear, measurable goals with time-bound implementation perspectives.

Due to the imminent end of the current legislative period, the next federal government will now play a major role in implementation. It will be their responsibility to set the appropriate course and to take clear steps towards achieving the goals in cooperation with the various federal levels, as well as with scientists and civil society actors. The numerous statements and recommendations, including those of the AGF, that were developed in the overall process of implementing the EU Child Guarantee, as well as the current reporting, show the urgent necessity and at the same time provide an important basis for this.

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