The E.K.K.A. Conference was successfully held on 21/11/2023, entitled: “THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL WELFARE IN GREECE – POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION – CHILD PROTECTION, A MAIN PILLAR OF THE WELFARE SYSTEM”, at Athens Megaron Concert Hall.
The purpose of the Conference was to highlight Child Protection as a main pillar of the welfare system in Greece, as well as to disseminate the principles of the Recommendation on the “European Child Guarantee” to combat child poverty and social exclusion.
The event was attended by the Reverend Fr Antonios Bezaitis, Representative of His Beatiitude Hieronymos, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, General Secretaries, Members of the Parliament, Presidents of Organizations and partners of the Network of “Child Guarantee” stakeholders. With their presence they honored the Conference and addressed a greeting the following:
- Sofia Zacharaki, Minister of Social Cohesion and Family
- Domna Michailidou, Deputy Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports
- Elena Rapti, Deputy Minister of Tourism, National Coordinator of the National Action Plan for the Prevention and Protection of Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation
- Marina Stefou, Secretary General of Demographic and Housing Policy, Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family
- Georgios Stamatis, State Parliamentarian, Member of the Committee on Social Affairs of Hellenic Parliament, Member of Sub-Committee on Children in European Council
- Dr Ghassan Khalil, Diplomatic Representative of UNICEF in Greece
- Ioannis Moscholios, Member of N.C.D.P. and President of POSGAMEA

In the First Thematic Section entitled «THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL WELFARE AND WELFARE ECONOMICS – POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION» , the speakers Mr M. Matsaganis (Professor of Public Finance at Polytechnic University of Milan), Mr G. Planiteros, (Coordinator of the Social Welfare and Inequalities Division of Μ.Ε.Κ.Υ.), Mr P. Liargovas (Professor at University of Peloponnese) and Ms D. Nikou, (Head of the Child and Family Protection Directorate, Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family) referred to economic and statistical data related to poverty and social exclusion in Greece. Indicatively, it was pointed out that “Greece is facing a continuous and remarkable decrease in the population of children (by -32% until 2070)” and “Child poverty has consistently been higher than the poverty rate of any other age group over the past decade”.

In the Second Thematic Section entitled «“CHILD GUARANTEE”, A MAIN PILLAR OF CHILD PROTECTION”» , videotaped speeches were presented by the Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights of the European Commission, Mr Nicolas Schmit, as well as the National Coordinators for the “Child Guarantee” of Spain, Ms Lucia Adani Losoviz and Sweden, Ms Parthena Hantzaridou. Furthermore, with her speech, the President of Ε.Κ.Κ.Α., Dr A. Anagnostou – Dedouli, referred to the challenges and prospects of the National Action Plan and emphasized the importance of the implementation of the European “ Child Guarantee”, given that, the changes in labor relations , which will be brought about by artificial intelligence, the climate change and natural disasters , which entail deterioration of living conditions, wars, and generally the international , geopolitical evolutions, are expected to increase poverty and social exclusion in general. Ms R. Oikonomou (Director of Special Service for the Coordination of ESF - EYSEKT) referred to ESF + to the NAP for the “Child Guarantee”.

In the Third Thematic Section, the Deputy Ombudswoman for the Children’s Rights , Ms. T. Koufonikolakou, the Child Protection Specialist of UNICEF , Ms M. Michailidou, the Vice President of the Association of Social Structures to combat poverty, , Ms Κ. Champipi, as well as the Directors of the Organizations (Mr. K. Yiannopoulos – “The Smile of the Child” and Mr. S. Sifnios – “SOS Children’s Villages”), emphasized everyone’s contribution to the “Chlid Guarantee”, referring to good practices and children’s rights.

In the Fourth Thematic Section, which was dedicated to the children themselves, the children’s voice was presented through researches, focus groups and an interesting audio-visual material created by the videotaped interviews of ROMA children, children from remote areas, children with disabilities, LGBTQI + children and LGBTQI+ families.

Finally, interesting was the Fifth Thematic Section, in which the members of the Social Affairs Committee of the Hellenic Parliament , Mr. G. Stamatis (Member of Parliament State, ND), Mr D. Kalamatianos (MP, Ilia, SYRIZA), Ms K. Kazani (MP, Evia, PASOK), Mr M. Syntychakis (MP, Heraklion, Crete, KKE), Ms A. Kouroupaki, (MP Athens, B1 (North, VICTORY) and Ms S. Stergioti (Department Head of Education, Greek Solution) expressed themselves positively on the Principle of protection of children of vulnerable groups and the need to continue the measures for Chld Protection.

To watch the conference on line press the following link: https://youtube.com/live/UInvUGfWqn4?feature=share

The Annual Report for 2022 of the National Referral Mechanism for the Protection of Human Trafficking Victims – NRM has been published:
In 2022, the Greek NRM monitored the provision of protection services in the country of 460 human trafficking victims
📌54% of the victims were under the age of 25.
📌A percentage of 81% of the total number of registered victims are women and girls.
During the year 2022, 358 new cases of victims of human trafficking were registered in NRM.
📌20 adults and 9 children were exploited (the adults mostly sexually, the children mostly in begging) on the Greek territory.

Follow the link 👉

#nrmgreece

INVITATION

The implementing partners of the research project «Α4 – Crossing borders for effective police investigation to protect female victims of sex trafficking and enhance accounta-bility mechanisms» (GA: 101021832) invite you to attend the project’s Final Conference, which will take place in Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, 29th August 2023, from 09:30 to 15:30 at the premises of the Center for Security Studies (96 Mesogeion Avenue).
During the Conference, the main project activities will be presented, leading to a discussion on crucial problems regarding Trafficking of Human Beings (THB) for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Emphasis will be given on cross-border cooperation between Greece and Bul-garia and on the transferability of good practices from Austria. Representatives of Greek au-thorities, civil society, Hellenic Police, as well as experts from Bulgaria and Austria have been invited to attend the Conference.

About the project

The A4 project have been implemented by the Center for Security Studies (KEMEA), in cooperation with the Greek National Center for Social Solidarity (EKKA), the Centre for European Constitutional Law – Themistokles and Dimitris Tsatsos Foundation (CECL), the Vi-enna Centre for Societal Security (VICESSE) and the Law and Internet Foundation (LIF). The project started in March 2021 and runs until the end of August 2023, being co-funded by the EU Internal Security Fund – Police (ISFP).
The general objective of the A4 Project is to counter impunity for all actors involved in THB, particularly of women and girls for sexual exploitation. To achieve this objective, the project aimed to increase the Law Enforcement Agencies’ investigation capacities along the Greek – Bulgarian Border through the transferability of Good Practices from Austria.

Conference Registration

For you registration at the A4 Final Conference, please fill in the following form by Friday, 18th August 2023:
Α4 Final Conference Registration

The National Center for Social Solidarity (E.K.K.A.), based in Athens, will hire, (14) people for the implementation of "Predetermined Project 4 -Improving the capacity of the National Center for Social Solidarity (EKKA) in the management of unaccompanied minors through the effective operation of the National Child Protection Line" with MIS Code (MIS) 5150049 within the framework of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area for the period 2014-2021 (HM EEA 2014- 2021) and the Program entitled "Development of the management capabilities of the National Asylum and Immigration Systems".
The duration of the contract will be twelve (12) months with the possibility of renewal or extension until the end of April 2024.

In particular, there is provision for the recruitment of personnel in the following personnel:
Interpreters 6 persons
ARABIC 2 persons
URDU 2 persons
FARSI 2 persons
Psychologists 2 people
Social Workers 3 people
Social Scientist (PE Sociology or PE Social Anthropology) 1 person
Informatics 1 person
Financial personnel 1 person
The required general and special qualifications and relevant supporting documents are described in the relevant Notice, on the E.K.K.A.'s Internet Portal: http://ekka.org.gr/index.php/el/prokirykseis/prokirykseis-gia-theseis-ergasias
Candidates are invited to submit applications exclusively from Tuesday, August 9, 2022 tp Thursday, August 18, 2022, either at the Central Service of the E.K.K.A. or by registered post at the following address:
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SOCIAL SOLIDARITY (E.K.K.A.), Vasilissis Sofias
and Zacharof 135, Athens - P.O. 11521, Personnel Department, for the attention of the Secretariat (contact phone 213-2039723).

More Information on the E.K.K.A. Online Portal:
http://ekka.org.gr/index.php/el/prokirykseis/prokirykseis-gia-theseis-ergasias
and at to the Personnel Department of the E.K.K.A.
Ms. Angelopoulou Kon, 213 2039724) and
Mrs. Papandreou Vasiliki, 213 2039725).

On May 22nd & 23rd 2023, the 10th meeting of the Child Guarantee National Coordinators took place in Dublin. The event was implemented by the Irish Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Inclusion and Youth, in collaboration with the European Commission - Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion.

✍️The topics discussed were:
- Governance frameworks for the implementation of the European Child Guarantee
- Analysis of trends and disparities among Member States regarding child poverty and other policy areas related to the Child Guarantee
- Challenges and good practices in monitoring and implementing the Child Guarantee
- Monitoring frameworks for the Child Guarantee at national and European level

 Greece, being a good example, is among the 5 countries that completed a first monitoring framework of the Child Guarantee National Action Plan (NAP). It has incorporated, in the NAP, a first set of indicators and a monitoring strategy, as well as a methodology for data collection, being a good practice for completing a first work plan in monitoring the European Child Guarantee. Also, Spain and Cyprus interested in the indicators and monitoring methodology of the Greek NAP, considering it as a good practice for monitoring their own Child Guarantee NAP.

Follow the link of 👉 Eurofound 

The NATIONAL CENTER OF SOCIAL SOLIDARITY (EKKA) of the Ministry of Labor & Social Affairs intends to sell - through a public tender - textile raw materials, mainly yarn, of a total quantity of 40 tons, of Greek origin and of excellent quality,tested for the quality of their dye by the General State Chemist.