Round Table about the Healthy Nutrition of Children from 0 to 3 years among the Roma Community

Karin Dom participated in a round table, on the topic: “Healthy Nutrition of Children from 0 to 3 years  among the Roma Community” under the advocacy initiative “Good Nutrition for a Good Future”.

The initiative is part of a project to improve maternal and child health among the Roma community “With Care from 0 to 3”, which was implemented with the financial support of the “Trust for a Social Alternative”, “Open Society” and “Porticus”, Association “Future for the Children” – the city of Kazanlak, “Knowledge” association – the city of Lovech and the “Health and Social Development” Foundation – the city of Sofia.

During the event, we were introduced to the project, the results of the analysis of the needs of children and families. After the greetings and the presentation of the projects, a brief overview of the available research on the nutrition of children 0-3 years old was made. The conclusion is that every sixth child in Bulgaria lives in extreme poverty – goes to bed hungry, sleeps in cold, parents cannot buy medicines. In the villages, in the Sliven region, there is a high mortality of children at birth – 19 per 1000. Again, the topics of intersectoral cooperation, coordination of health centers with community centers were touched upon. For the lack of data on children 0-3 years – development, need for support in the direction of nutrition, health care, the number of children who suffered violence, children without documents – birth certificate, about 120,000.

The goal is that by 2030 every child will have an equal start and access to food, education, health care, and shelter.

A discussion was held: Feeding children from 0 to 3 years. – What do we want? How are we going to do it? First steps towards change.

Karin Dom was represented by Svetla Angelova, speech therapist and special pedagogue at the “Early Intervention” Center, Methodist and Manager of the “Early Intervention” team, who spoke on the topic of informing and empowering parents. Developing a strategy for using the strengths of the family, drawing up a map for sources of support and resources. The leading role of the family, for the Early Intervention service, for the intersectoral cooperation, as well as what Karin Dom achieved with the “Baby Box” project.

The organizers invited Karin Dom to participate in an expert group to work on creating a program to support parents – to be able to feed and raise their children healthily. The idea of ​​the initiative is to present the program to the government and make it a standard for Bulgaria.