Lithuania is strengthening its child welfare services through the introduction of an early intervention model and improved tools based on Norwegian practice and experience and with funding from Norway Grants.
Within this project, KS, the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities organised three different study tours, each for 15 Lithuanian (municipal) participants, to share Norwegian practice. The participants visited child welfare centers, the national child welfare institution, ministries and municipalities and are now developing and testing a new early intervention model based on these experiences. Roll out in all Lithuanian municipalities is backed by extensive training in which experts from the Norwegian Centre for Child Behavioural Development contribute content-wise.
Project implementation is overseen by a steering group composed of all project partners, the Lithuanian Ministry of Social Affairs, the Lithuanian National Focal Point for EEA and Norway Grants and the Programme Operator. The project will ended with a final learning event in October 2017.
Learning from Norwegian practice
With its two-tier system of local government, dialogue and partnerships with local authorities and national stakeholders remains an enduring feature of the Norwegian political system. Local democracy is strong, and the local government sector is a well-established institution in Norway. Municipalities and counties offer a wide range of services to citizens and are the primary providers of welfare services in Norway. Local authorities and national stakeholders are therefore important actors and partners in Norway’s national and international efforts to follow up the 2030 Agenda. It is within this framework and under the EEA and Norway Grants 2009-2014 programme for cooperation between public authorities in Lithuania and Norway (LT10) that, the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuanian (ALAL) was granted EUR 883.000 to modernise child welfare services offered by Lithuania’s municipalities. To achieve this goal ALAL is implementing a project in cooperation with several Lithuanian partners Lithuania’s Ombudsman for Children, Save the Children Lithuania, NGO Confederation for Children Lithuania and Vilnius City Sports Centre. KS acts as the project’s Norwegian partner.