The EU as a global player. Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 – Investment in Children

Save the Children believes that insufficient budget allocations for sectors that impact children the most remain one of the biggest barriers to achieving children’s rights as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Furthermore, the lack of accountability, transparency and data is an important obstacle to assessing how much actually is invested in children and what the impact of the expenditure is on children’s lives. These barriers to fulfilling children’s rights can only be broken down if governments
and donor organisations have the political will and are able to create the fiscal space to invest in children and to establish structures to monitor expenditure. The EU, in its role as a global player, can help to secure fiscal space for investment in children and addressing financial barriers to fulfilling children’s rights in partner countries.
This policy brief outlines Save the Children’s calls on the EU to:
– Translate its commitments towards children’s rights into financial commitments under Heading 4, “EU as a Global Player”, of the MFF 2014-2020, bridging the gap between commitment, policy and funding;
– Implement and support expenditure monitoring mechanisms;
– Support data collection and research;
– Allocate adequate funding to child rights organizations;
– Support tax reforms to create fiscal space for investment in children;
– Support the development and implementation of social protection strategies in partner countries