On April 12, 2024, a final conference was held at the Meeting Room of the "Roma-Lom" Foundation for project No. BGLD-2.003-0007-C01 "Comprehensive Model for Early Childhood Education and Care in Lom Municipality," funded by Agreement No. BGLD-2.003-0007-C01/18.04.2022, financed under the "Local Development, Poverty Reduction, and Improved Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups" Program, through the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2014-2021, Procedure "Early Childhood Education and Care."
The project was implemented by Lom Municipality in partnership with the "Roma - Lom" Foundation and the "SAVE A CHILD" Foundation from Trondheim, Norway. The project had a budget of 461,642 euros and was completed within 25 months.
The main target groups were 350 children aged 0 to 6 years from isolated and poor urban areas in Lom Municipality, with a focus on issues creating a risk of poverty, social exclusion, and marginalization; 200 parents, guardians, or caregivers.
During the conference, the project implementation team and the service provision team presented the results achieved.
The overall goal of the project was to provide support to young children and families from vulnerable groups in Roma communities in Lom Municipality to improve access to healthcare, develop parenting skills, improve the family environment, enhance children’s school readiness, and reduce the transmission of poverty across generations.
The specific objectives of the project were:
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To create, establish, develop, and enhance 3 functionally linked hubs (one of them mobile, with a focus on the "Humata" neighbourhood) to provide functionally related services for early childhood education and care for children from the target groups and their parents, which would:
- Provide support for young children and access to education;
- Improve access to social and healthcare services for children from vulnerable groups;
- Support the transition from family to formal educational environments;
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To develop a model for integrated measures to improve access to education, protect health, and develop social skills for children aged 0-6 years in the municipality;
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To ensure active involvement of the community in the municipality in planning and implementing the measures;
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To share best practices with organizations working in early childhood development in Bulgaria and Norway.
It was reported that all the set goals were achieved.
During the meeting, certificates were awarded to the pedagogical specialists who participated in the three modules of the training on "Social-Emotional Learning," which took place in February and March 2024 in the town of Varshets.
