Wednesday October 17 2007

END CHILD POVERTY CONFERENCE CALLS FOR CHILD POVERTY IN WALES TO BE MADE "A THING OF THE PAST"

Organisers of a key conference in Cardiff, South Wales to mark United Nations Eradication of Poverty Day (October 17) and Parents Week (16 – 20 October) have called on the Welsh Assembly Government to make the fight against child poverty in Wales its number one priority.

The conference, "Much Work Still to be Done", the result of an alliance between the End Child Poverty Network Cymru, and the Parenting Forum, Fforwm Magu Plant (networks of the umbrella organisation, Children In Wales), will bring together academics, social policy specialists, representatives from children's charities and social care professionals.

Key speakers include Dr Brian Gibbons AM, Minister for Social Justice and Local Government; Vivienne Sugar, Welsh Adviser to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation; Donald Hirsch, Special Adviser to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation; Nancy Platts, Head of Policy & Research at Child Poverty Action Group; Dr Deborah Ghate, Thomas Coram Research Unit; Professor Jane Barlow, Professor of Public Health in the Early Years, Health Services Research Institute and Keith Towler, Programme Director Wales, Save the Children. The conference will be chaired by Gwyndaf Hughes, Citizens Advice Bureau.

Delegates will call for a clearer focus to be placed on the issue on child poverty by the Welsh Assembly Government and for an increase in the pace of implementation of measures to combat child poverty in Wales.  They will also be asking the Welsh Assembly Government to ensure that families are at the centre of policy development and made a priority.

There will also be calls for a more concerted multi-layered and multi-agency approach to tackling the underlying causes of child poverty bringing together the Westminster and Welsh Assembly governments, local councils, the voluntary sector, schools and providers of housing and health services.

An event is also being organised in Wrexham, North Wales during this week.  The event, "Turning Lives Around: What works for vulnerable families" will explore how parenting services can help families in trouble and highlight examples of good practice.

Sean O’Neill, Policy Director at Children in Wales said:

" There is little doubt that the Welsh Assembly Government has begun to take the issue of child poverty seriously, but there is long way to go and many more resources needed before what has been described by the Children's Commissioner for Wales as 'our national disgrace' is made a thing of the past. To reach the 2010 target to halve child poverty a further 900,000 children in the UK must be lifted above the poverty line."

Lucy Akhtar, of Development Officer for Parenting at Children in Wales said:

"If the Welsh Assembly Government wishes to make its seven core aims a reality in Wales it must ensure that families are at the centre of policy development and made a priority.  The Welsh Assembly Government has a key role to play in ensuring that services are available to mothers and fathers in the antenatal period and at key periods in their child’s life.  Such preventative support for parents can avoid difficulties for children in later life which are costly to the child, the child’s family and the state."

Ends

Contact details for further comment and interviews in English or Welsh:

Sean O’Neill, Policy Director or Lian Williams, Administrator

Children in Wales, 25 Windsor Place, Cardiff CF10 3BZ

Tel: 029 2034 2434, Fax: 029 2034 3134

E-mail: lian.williams@childreninwales.org.uk 

For interviews in Welsh with Sara Reid, Assistant Children's Commissioner for Wales, please contact Lian Williams on the above number