Physical Address
Indirizzo: Via Mario Greco 60, Buttigliera Alta, 10090, Torino, Italy
As an extension of the efforts undertaken by the State to consolidate the national child protection system and guarantee rapid management of risk situations, the Minister of National Solidarity, Family and the Status of Women, Soraya Mouloudji, made a working visit last Thursday to the headquarters of the National Authority for the Promotion and Protection of Children, at the invitation of its national commissioner, Meriem Chorfi.
This meeting, placed under the sign of cooperation and prevention, made it possible to reaffirm the government’s desire to place child protection at the heart of national social policy, while consolidating links between institutions and actors on the ground.
Ms. Mouloudji immediately affirmed that “child protection constitutes a national priority and a central axis of the State’s social policy”, underlining the importance of “moving from a classic care model to an integrated preventive approach, based on reinforcement, support and rapid response to risk situations”. This visit is part of the Minister’s approach aimed at consolidating institutional partnerships and strengthening complementarity between specialized national organizations, with a view to developing the child protection system. It also made it possible to examine ways of intensifying cooperation between the ministry and the Authority, particularly in the areas of prevention, monitoring, support and early intervention.
The meeting began with a working session in the presence of members of the Legal Affairs Committee and heads of national working groups for children. A detailed presentation was presented on the missions of the Authority and on the draft national action plan for children.
The minister then visited the unit for receiving reports relating to violations of children’s rights, where she was able to inquire about the mechanisms for processing alerts and the methods of coordination with the sectors concerned. She also discovered the digital report management system, which allows for better traceability and faster processing of cases.
Ms. Mouloudji underlined, on this occasion, “the importance of strengthening listening and guidance systems within the ministry’s structures”, while ensuring “permanent coordination with the reporting units of other institutions, such as the National Gendarmerie, National Security or even associations active in the field”.
She added that it was essential to “expand reporting channels for the benefit of citizens and civil society, in order to guarantee rapid and effective intervention in all situations likely to undermine the safety or dignity of the child”. She was keen to point out that “child protection is not limited to one-off assistance, but is based on a strategy of prevention, awareness-raising and mobilization of all institutional and social actors”.
Investing in childhood, investing in the future
Ms. Mouloudji specified that her department works “within the framework of a coherent national policy aimed at establishing a comprehensive and sustainable child protection system”. She highlighted “the importance of networking between the different institutional and associative actors”, in order to adapt existing systems to contemporary social changes, while ensuring their compliance with national laws and Algeria’s international commitments relating to the rights of the child.
The minister also praised “the sustained efforts of the National Authority for the Promotion and Protection of Children, which plays an essential role in monitoring, awareness-raising and intersectoral coordination”.
In addition, Ms. Mouloudji declared that “investing in childhood means investing in the wealth of the future and in the builders of tomorrow”, recalling that “child protection is not limited to intervention in the event of a crisis, but presupposes the creation of a healthy, secure and stimulating environment, guaranteeing the right of each child to education, play, participation and development.” The objective is to build a generation aware of its rights, protected and fully integrated into the national development process.
At the end of her visit, the minister gave firm instructions to the services of the ministry responsible for child protection to “participate actively in the development of the national plan for children and in updating the data and statistics requested by the National Authority”. She also ordered “the opening of direct communication channels between the Authority and the open environment services under the ministry, across the entire national territory, in order to accelerate the processing of reports and strengthen emergency social interventions”.
The minister also gave directives for the transmission of regular quarterly reports by the local directorates of the ministry to the central services concerned as well as to the National Authority for the Promotion and Protection of Children, in order to ensure rigorous and continuous monitoring of the national protection system.