National Action Plan on Opportunities for Children (DE0050)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? With the aim of combating poverty and social exclusion for disadvantaged children and adolescents within the European Union, the EU member states unanimously adopted the Council Recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee on 14 June 2021. The Federal Government is implementing the Council Recommendation through the National Action Plan (NAP) entitled “New Opportunities for Children in Germany”, which the Cabinet adopted on 5 July 2023. The challenges for the fight against poverty and the implementa- tion of the NAP lie particularly in the need for better coordination, cooperation and net- working among all the relevant governmental and civil-society players as well as greater involvement of disadvantaged children and adolescents.

What is the commitment? An NAP Committee will be set up as a central participatory body to coordinate the implementa- tion of the NAP by 2030 as well as the monitoring process. The committee will provide a dialogue, networking and communications platform for the relevant federal, Land, local- authority, civil-society and academic bodies. Additionally, disadvantaged children and ado- lescents will be included in the implementation of the NAP in a consultative role through special participation formats. A strategy for appropriate participation – meaning easy to access and tailored to the target groups – has been drawn up to that end in collaboration with young people. The results of the child and youth participation process will be channelled into the work of the NAP Committee. Every two years, moreover, progress reports will be published to create transparency regarding the progress made on the planned measures. A digital portal is intended particularly to inform the public about the implementation of the NAP and foster ties among stakeholders.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? The NAP Committee will be an effective instrument for improving coordination, cooperation and networking in the fight against child poverty in Germany. It will also help generate transparency about the associated government activities among specialists in the general public and civil society. The concept for consultative child and youth participation will facilitate the direct involvement of young people from disadvantaged environments in the implementation of the NAP. The participation formats for the NAP are also intended to encourage other government players at the federal, Land and local-authority levels to embed child and youth participation more firmly in their own activities.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? Implementing this commitment will enhance participation, ownership and inclusion and contribute to more people-centred government. The measures will be better directed as a result of target-group-specific participation.

Additional information: “New Opportunities” NAP website (in German): http://www.neue-chancen-fuer-kinder.de European Commission website on the European Child Guarantee: ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1428&langId=en

Milestone activity with a verifiable deliverable | Start date - Implementation by

Constituent meeting of the NAP Committee | 27 September 2023

Events on combating child poverty at local level: Kindersarmutsbekämpfung vor Ort | 30 November 2023 and 1 December 2023

Expert conference on the inclusion of children and adolescents | November 2023

First progress report submitted to the European Commission on the implementation of the European Child Guarantee in Germany | 2024

Digital portal for the NAP | End of 2024