Dolors Montserrat proposes a State Pact for Children based on the promotion, protection and participation of minors in society

The Minister of Health, Social Services and Equality, Dolors Montserrat, has appeared in the new Commission on the Rights of Children and Adolescents created this legislature in the Congress of Deputies, where she has announced her will to launch "a Pact of State for Children "that addresses, from the political and territorial consensus, the necessary protection of children.

For the minister, this pact should be established based on three lines of action, which could be framed in the three categories of children's rights enshrined in the Convention and known as the "three pes": promotion, protection and participation.

Likewise, to work on this Pact, the minister proposes "to constitute a study subcommittee that addresses the state pact for childhood in the" three pess "and analyzes the needs of the different models and family situations to which we have to respond as shared custody and custody, the delimitation of the concept of a single-parent family and aid for large families.

Promotion and support of the family

Minister Dolors Montserrat has begun her intervention defending the role of the family in the protection and promotion of childhood. "This Government is clear that protecting and supporting families is the main way to protect children and provide them with greater present and future well-being." For this reason, he has underlined the need to support families, which each one forms, so that they can fully assume their responsibilities.

"This Government defends and cares about families," said the minister who stressed that families are increasingly changing, and have evolved giving rise to very diverse family models, so that the public powers must be able to give increasingly specific responses to different types of families. In this sense, he added that the Government will continue to decisively support families and has reiterated the commitment to extend the category of special large family from the fourth child and maintain the condition until the youngest of the children meets the requirements. established to maintain social benefits.

Protection of minors

"Ending violence against children is a priority and a commitment of this Government," said Dolors Montserrat, who has announced his will to approve in this legislature 'the Bill against violence against children'.

The minister explained that the work on the preliminary project is underway and that the proposals are being analyzed and debated with the Autonomous Communities, with experts and third sector entities. With this measure, the Ministry intends to find an instrument that allows to improve the coordination of all agencies, improve prevention systems by better coordinating the educational, health and social services systems, and increase social awareness of violence against children.

Regarding the protection of minors who are in situations of vulnerability, such as minors in distress, the minister has stated that the child has the right to grow up in a family environment, because the family is the best protection resource and the best natural ecosystem in which to grow.

In this sense, he said that "the Government is working to provide minors with an opportunity to live as a family. Our aspiration must be that no child should be in a reception center. To do this, it has announced improvements in the foster care processes by designing the inter-territorial mechanism of allocations between Autonomous Communities, when children lack other close relatives in the territory, which will allow a child to have more and better chances of finding a family , regardless of the territory in which the minor or the foster or adoption family is located. As well as an increase in the ministry's campaigns aimed at promoting foster care (one million euros more). It is important, he pointed out, to ensure that families willing to host or adopt,

Likewise, the minister has announced that this year the regulations on international adoption will be approved, working with the Autonomous Communities and collaborating entities, which will unify the criteria and coordinate the system (so far different in each CCAA), which will allow families to adopt in any body in the national territory, that all entities have to meet the same requirements and that the cost is the same throughout Spain.

Regarding gender violence, Dolors Montserrat recalled the eight murdered children who were victims of gender violence and the 24 who have been orphaned by this scourge. In addition, he recalled the work that is being carried out within the framework of the State Pact against Gender Violence, with important measures aimed at improving the protection of minors such as the review of measures related to custody, the promotion of actions in the educational field or the specialization of Family Meeting Points for cases related to gender violence.

Participation in our society

Regarding the participation of minors in society, Dolors Montserrat has expressed the Government's commitment so that "this participation, which is not an option, but is a right, is done with equal opportunities and guaranteeing the well-being of the minor. ".

The minister has stressed that it is the responsibility of this Ministry to protect health and prevent harmful habits such as alcohol consumption and has expressed "zero tolerance" to the consumption of alcohol in minors. For this reason, it has reiterated the commitment announced at the beginning of the legislature to carry out "a law for minors without alcohol" based on the objectives of awareness, prevention and control of alcohol consumption in minors. These three objectives must be developed in measures aimed at families, which are the active protagonists in raising awareness, prevention and control.

The Health Minister explained that "we must be able to empower mothers and fathers to set limits and values ??for their children, which allow them to develop positive parenting through successful programs such as role-play, a simulator for parents and educators where they can interact and learn to make the most appropriate decisions about the health of their children when it comes to preventing alcohol consumption ".

Likewise, he added that all the mechanisms that are necessary to prevent alcohol from reaching minors should also be strengthened, such as that on web pages with content for minors, automatic windows for advertising alcoholic products should not be opened.

In the health field, the minister proposes to improve the information systems and detection of alcohol consumption in minors, for which it would be necessary to apply protocols in the emergencies so that the parents of those minors treated for alcohol are notified, and has even opted implement detection protocols in primary care centers.

For Minister Dolors Montserrat, these and other measures should be considered to meet the objectives of awareness, prevention and control that the law must set out and has added that she is waiting for the report of the parliamentary commission and that this law is achieved with the support of all.

Along with alcohol, another worrying problem is the effects of obesity and overweight in the child population. "Protecting minors is also protecting their health by promoting healthy lifestyles", that is why the Ministry is finalizing the first Collaboration Plan for the improvement of the composition of food and beverages in Spain 2017-2020 in order to gradually reduce sugar, salt and fat, and a plan to reduce addictions to new technologies is being drawn up.

.