Prosperitas Vitae Association calls for early childhood development services’ improvement
Prosperitas Vitae Association called for the importance of early childhood development, services for children before reaching 3 years of age and the development of an early intervention network on the national level, on a roundtable discussion on early childhood development. The event was held on 10 November in Csíkszereda, with the involvment of the civil, professional and political sphere.
In her opening speech Enikő Sógor, president of the Prosperitas Vitae Association, director of the Early Childhood Development and Rehabilitation Center in Csíkszentmárton talked about the lack of educational, health and social services for 0-3 year old children. Only 5 to 10 organizations in Romania deal with the treatment of early differences in psychomotor development - explained the situation Enikő Sógor. She also highlighted, that early development is an untapped area in Romania. It is an unknown fact in the country that the correction of this life phase’s problems is a considerable advantage and that it establishes the basis of the latter development, the adult’s health and success.
“There are a lot of successful and cost-effective practices around the world. According to the European Union’s social policy trends, early childhood development is one of the most convincing tools in establishing the society’s well-being and life quality.” said Enikő Sógor. She asked for alliance of the participating parents, specialists, institution leaders and politicians. “We need to make the issue familiar to the public in order to make a difference and persuade the Romanian government to create an early development service system on the national level.” - she emphasized the importance of further steps in the matter.
The participants signed a document that will be sent to the prime minister of Romania, the government and the MEP’s of the European Parliament in order to press the Romanian government to make changes in social policy. Deputies of the Romanian Parliament, Éva Andrea Csép and Attila Korodi, respectively MEP Csaba Sógor said they will support the initiative.
“The European Union cannot force the member states to act on social policies but it could help the early development issue by drawing attention and sharing good examples. The EMPL committee (Committee on Employment and Social Affairs) of the European Parliament deals often with such problems.” said MEP Csaba Sógor.
In the future, in order to continue this process, more roundtable discussions will be organized in other counties. In December a work group will be started to facilitate the local services system. In March 2018 a conference will be organized on this topic, which has been already announced beforehand. Additionally an international conference will take place in the European Parliament.
