A new shared database will bring together all reports sent to state bodies and child protection agencies. The labour and social policy ministry and the State Agency for Child Protection will run it together. Labour and social policy minister Natalia Efremova announced this at an event marking 25 years since the agency was set up. The ministry's press office released her statement.
The technology will make it possible to track where reports pile up, so problem areas affecting children can be spotted faster, Efremova said. No deadline was given for building the system.
The minister also spoke about the need to do more to prevent violence and aggression among children and against children. Society is growing more sensitive to cases of child-related aggression, and none of it should be kept quiet, she said. "We can't stay silent about these cases. Quite the opposite — we're all required to report them," Efremova said.
Every child should grow up in a safe, caring environment and has the right to have a say on matters that affect their life, she added.
Efremova gave the ministry's award of distinction to Dr Teodora Ivanova, the agency's executive director, for her work on children's rights policy. She pointed to the national "Be brave, be kind" campaign, the national helpline for children and the CyberKidz app as examples of good practice.
Parliament speaker Mihaela Dotsova called the agency's staff the country's "quiet heroes", saying their work is measured not in reports written but in the smiles it brings.
Also attending were deputy labour and social policy ministers Nadya Klisurska and Lilia Stoyanovich, former heads of the child protection agency, representatives from state bodies and other organisations, and members of the Children's Council.