site.btaUNICEF Representative to Bulgaria: Over 213 Mln Children Need Humanitarian Aid in 2025

In an interview for BTA marking International Children's Day, June 1, UNICEF Representative to Bulgaria Christina de Bruin said UNICEF estimates that more than 213 million children in 146 counties and territories will require humanitarian assistance in 2025. UNICEF data show that nearly one in five children are living in conflict zones; nearly 50 million are displaced; and nearly half the world’s children live in countries that are at extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change. This is why UNICEF warns that cuts in international humanitarian aid funding could have serious consequences for children.

UNICEF projects at least a 20% reduction in all sources of income from 2024 levels for UNICEF’s humanitarian, development, and child rights programmes in 2026.

According to Christina de Bruin, tackling child poverty remains a challenge and must become a leading national priority. In 2023, UNICEF released a report examining child poverty across 40 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and EU members, including Bulgaria. The findings show that child poverty can be eliminated through a focused mix of three key policies, including expanding social protection for children, such as child and family benefits, de Bruin said.

She also spoke about urgent measures needed to advance child justice reform through mechanisms to divert criminal proceedings, restorative justice programmes, and guarantees that pre-trial and trial detention and all forms of deprivation of liberty are measures of last resort. "We welcome the plan announced by the Minister of Justice for a new Child Justice Act and will support its development," said de Bruin. What UNICEF promotes the most is that adults should be as close as possible to the children and support them, she said.

Following is the full text of the interview:

Mrs. De Bruin, what is the emotion that describes today's celebration - Children's Day?

The 1st of June has a special meaning for me personally. It’s not only Children’s Day—a celebration of joy, laughter, and childhood—but also the day that I first arrived in Bulgaria in 2021, 4 years ago.

I still remember walking through the beautiful streets of Sofia, discovering this beautiful, charming city, surrounded by the sound of children playing, families gathering, and a sense of happiness in the air. That first impression has stayed with me ever since.

So, the emotions I feel when we celebrate 1^st of June is a feeling of Joy, Hope, Love, Innocence – reflecting the purity, potential, and imagination of childhood.

But beyond the joy, 1st of June is also a reminder of our shared responsibility—to protect, nurture, and stand up for every child’s right to grow up safe, healthy, and hopeful wherever they are, wherever they are from!

So it’s a day to celebrate children—and to recommit as adults, to build a world where every child is cherished, and no child is left behind.

What are the main priorities of UNICEF in Bulgaria?

As the United Nations mandated Child Rights organization, UNICEF is guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This treaty covers all aspects of a child's life and sets out global standards and norms about their civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. I would like to underline that the UN CRC is the most ratified international treaty globally and Bulgaria was among the first countries to ratify it in 1991. 

In order to undertake our mandate in Bulgaria, together with our government partners such as the Ministry Labor & Social Policy, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health etc and other stakeholders, UNICEF has identified areas of strategic engagement for our current programming cycle of 2023-2027. These areas include reducing child poverty and social exclusion, promoting early childhood development and care, ensuring quality inclusive education, and preventing violence against children. Another area UNICEF is actively engaged in the mental wellbeing of youth, inclusion of children with specific needs, integration of refugee and migrant children by improving service quality legislative frame and government policies.

Which programmes has UNICEF contributed to a better life for children in Bulgaria?

Looking back at the past 4 years, it has been quite a rich, challenging but rewarding experience for me here in Bulgaria, both personally and professionally. I arrived when the world was under the unprecedent impact of the Covid pandemic with heavy restriction to life in all aspects. While we were just slowly emerging from the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine started, which triggered a massive influx of refugees to the EU, and to Bulgaria. 

These double crises had a particularly negative impact on children – usually the vulnerable members of any society. As the Representative of UNICEF, I had to move to an emergency, multi-tasking mode, where I led our office and coordinated closely with the Government, and other partners to mobilize all resources in support of the Bulgarian children, Ukrainian refugee children, and their families. 

On balance, I am glad for the achievements for children in Bulgaria together with my amazing team and our dedicated partners. Over the last four years, over 20,000 Ukrainian children benefited from various programmes supported by UNICEF; our work has benefited over 17,000 children through EU Child Guarantee programme; the Steps Together programme supports over 5,000 children every year in schools; we reach over 80,000 young children and mothers every year through our Early Childhood Development programmes and Bebbo App; our protection programme supports over 15,000 children every year. These are just a few examples of our work.  These are not just numbers - they represent real progress and lasting change in the lives of children.

Looking back, it is rewarding to reflect on the challenging programming context while celebrating these impressive results and progress that we achieved together with the Government, dedicated colleagues, and many of our committed partners.  This progress was also made possible through the generosity of donors, including the private sector. Obviously, more work needs to be done in many areas to bring wellbeing to every child in Bulgaria.

In 2024, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child made recommendations to Bulgaria. What is our progress and where are there weaknesses?

The areas indicated by the Committee on the Rights of the Child on which Bulgaria should focus special efforts are:  children affected by violence; improving the situation of children deprived of a family care; Environment; Education; asylum seeking by refugee and migrant children and juvenile justice. With regard to non-discrimination, the CRC paid particular attention to disadvantaged children, especially children with disabilities, Roma children and children living in poverty, as well as children in residential care and asylum seekers.

According to the CRC, progress has been made in Bulgaria in many respects, like for example the reduced child mortality rates, the deinstitutionalisation policy and the measures to address child poverty, but specific recommendations have been made regarding intervention mechanisms in cases of violence.  The need for measures for multisectoral and comprehensive interventions and support for children who are or have been victims of violence was highlighted.

The quality of education at all levels, the content of the school curriculum and inequalities in access to education and educational outcomes, as well as limited access to quality early education, were also reported as unsatisfactory.

The Committee also noted the lack of progress in the child justice system and recommended  Bulgaria expedited the reform (UN Child Rights Committee publishes findings on Bulgaria, Congo, Lithuania, Russian Federation, Senegal and South Africa | OHCHR).

Can we define the trend of tackling poverty as permanent?

Unfortunately, we see a worsening trend. Following a period of steady decline, the share of children in Bulgaria at risk of poverty or social exclusion has been rising again since 2022 and has reached 35.1% according to the latest data from NSI.

In 2023, UNICEF released a report examining child poverty across 40 OECD and EU countries, including Bulgaria. The findings show that child poverty can be eliminated through a focused mix of three key policies: One of them is extending social protection for children, including by increasing the effectiveness of social benefits and family allowances for children. Guaranteeing access to quality basic services like healthcare and education, which are vital for children's well-being; supporting parents with job opportunities and family-friendly policies that help them balance work and caregiving.

One of the main tools to fight child poverty is the European Child Guarantee. It aims to ensure that every child in need has free access to essential services: early childhood education and care, school activities, at least one healthy meal per school day, healthcare, nutritious food, and decent housing.

Bulgaria was among the first countries to adopt a National Action Plan to implement the European Child Guarantee. The plan sets an ambitious target: to reduce the number of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion by 196,700 by 2030.

To make this goal a reality, stronger involvement is needed from a broader range of national institutions and stakeholders and reducing child poverty must become a national priority.

In which areas do you think there should be legislative changes to better protect and care for children?

In accordance with the CRC recommendations, urgent measures should be taken to advance child justice reform through mechanisms to divert criminal proceedings,  restorative justice programmes and guarantees that pre-trial and trial detention and all forms of deprivation of liberty are measures of last resort.

We are working closely with the Ministry of Justice to support strengthening the legal and policy framework for children in contact and conflict with the law in the country and the capacity of professionals such as prosecutors, judges and lawyers to provide timely and quality legal aid and protection.  We welcome the plan announced by the Minister of Justice for a new Child Justice Act and will support its development.

You mentioned that the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have made your work more difficult, what are the other challenges UNICEF faces?

Hard-earned gains and future progress for children are at risk because of a global funding crisis in which some donors are decreasing their financial support to development assistance budgets and to international aid more broadly that put children’s lives at risk at a time when they need our support the most.

International aid funding cuts are creating a global child emergency. The unprecedented scale and speed of change is disrupting critical services and putting the lives and wellbeing of millions of children at risk.  These cuts are unprecedented and are having an immediate and severe threat to children’s survival, protection, and education.  We project at least a 20 per cent reduction in all sources of income from 2024 levels for UNICEF’s humanitarian, development, and child rights programmes in 2026.

In particular, UNICEF’s funding for humanitarian response is at risk. Because of these cuts, children will die from entirely preventable causes – not only malnutrition, but also lack of clean water, safe sanitation and essential health services. Countless more will miss out on education and programmes that protect them from harm and abuse.  Children’s lives are at stake, precisely when they need our support the most. Throughout UNICEF’s history, we have worked with our partners to uphold children’s rights, provide life-saving humanitarian aid, and advance children’s development and wellbeing.

And needs are greater than ever: a historic high number of children (nearly one in five) are living in conflict zones; another historic high number of children (nearly 50 million) are displaced; and nearly half the world’s children live in countries that are at extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change. UNICEF estimates that more than 213 million children in 146 counties and territories will require humanitarian assistance in 2025.

UNICEF is determined to stay and deliver for children, but we need help. Without guaranteed, sustained funding, our work to ensure children survive and thrive will be at risk, and the price will be paid in children’s lives and futures. 

You mentioned UNICEF partners several times. In many of your campaigns you include well-known personalities in our country, why is that important, are your causes better promoted?

As the largest children’s organisation, UNICEF attracts and works with many stars around the world. Our ambassadors include Audrey Hepburn, Angelique Kidjo, famous Indian actor like Priyanka Chopra, Roger Federer, Dua Lipa, David Beckham, Liam Neeson. Some of them I met when I worked in Africa for 12 years.

It is beautiful that famous Bulgarian actors or singers like Elena Petrova, Vladimir Ampov – Grapha and Poli Genova are also willing to lend us their voice in support of children. And we work with them in order to familiarise them with our programs in Bulgaria too. Elena Petrova and I met with Bulgarian and Ukrainian children in Varna when we first started helping refugees, and she used her platform, her voice and her popularity to support the cause. She also supported us with our mental health cause and separately for the cause against domestic violence. Violence against women and children is a very serious problem – not only in Bulgaria, but everywhere. This is a key priority issue for UNICEF. We want to change this. More preventive measures are needed.

We are also extremely grateful with our close partnership with BTA and all the media in Bulgaria, and with Academia, we work closely with Medical University Varna, Sofia University, Plovdiv University, etc.

What is the most current campaign?

One of our latest campaigns - “Stand by me” aims to raise public awareness and provoke societal dialogue and discussion about child-parent relationships and to support the most important conversation - the one between children and adolescents and their parents. The campaign is part of UNICEF's mission to support parents and encourage positive parenting because every child and adolescent has the right to grow up in a safe and caring family environment. Part of the campaign was also about children's mental health, on which we recently presented the documentary series “Beyond the Stories” that encourages open conversation about mental health, overcoming stigma and seeking support. In three documentary portraits, we talk about the spiritual quests of three people - athlete and TV presenter - Karin Okolie, artist and graffiti artist - Stanislav Trifonov - Nasimo and stuntman and extreme athlete - Ilko Iliev.

Another alarming topic that we are working on is online violence, where children are extremely vulnerable. UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia recently published a paper - Adolescence in Europe on the complex relationship between harmful online content and children’s experiences of violence.

What we promote the most is teachers, parents, all of us - adults to be as close as possible to the children and support them - by talking to them, giving them the opportunity to express their opinions, emotions and dreams. Only in this way will we know what is worrying them or why they are changing their behavior, and we will be able to help them.