Claude Meisch, Minister of National Education, Children and Youth; Credit: MENEJ

On Friday 10 June 2022, Luxembourg's Minister of National Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, the ministerial officials for child and family assistance (l’aide à l’enfance et à la famille - AEF) and nearly 200 actors in the sector participated in a national conference.

On the agenda, a retrospective on the key dates of the AEF since the vote of the AEF law of 2008, the presentation of the new visual identity of the National Office for Children (l’Office national de l’enfance - ONE) and its new website www.officenationalenfance.lu, the point of view of professionals on the evolution and future of child and family assistance.

This event was in line with the bill tabled in April fundamentally reforming youth protection and which focuses on assistance, support and protection for minors, young adults and families. It follows the launch in May of the child rights strategy and national action plan 2022-2026: “Together for the rights of the child”.

Equipped with a new visual identity, the National Office for Children is entering a new era, marked by services more accessible to families and missions extended to prevention, as underlined by Minister Meisch, during his speech: "With the bill on the protection of young people, we have confirmed our ambitions, namely that the well-being of children, young people and families must be our top priority. We are developing ONE so that the aid offered is quick, simple and effective. Together with our partners, we put prevention, the rights of the child and the welfare of the child at the center of ONE's work.”

For Gilles Dhamen, Head of the Directorate General for Child and Family Assistance and Director of the National Office for Children, the well-being of children, young people and families requires the implementation of five fundamental principles:

  • Partnership, based on dialogue and the participation of all those concerned, at all levels;
  • The obligation to ensure the good of the child, at all times, professionals having to show empathy, reliability and transparency;
  • Responsibility: the actors must take the necessary decisions on a day-to-day basis;
  • The continuous strengthening of professional skills and the quality of interventions;
  • Openness to change and the spirit of innovation.

These are the conditions for modern, open, efficient and solution-oriented child and youth care.

The new logo, the new colors of the National Office for Children intend to embody in a visible and attractive way its three main missions: support, cohesion and protection. The motto remains unchanged: every child counts (all Kand zielt).

Various stakeholders from the childcare sector shared their vision for the future of the sector: Charel Schmit, Ombudsman fir Kanner a Jugendlecher (OKaJu); Petra Böwen, from the National Association of Educational and Social Communities (l’Association nationale des communautés éducatives et sociales - ANCES); Magali De Rocco, of the AEF Social Lab; Mireille Molitor, from Fleegelteren Lëtzebuerg ASBL; Jacques Schloesser, from the Federation of Social Sector Actors in Luxembourg (Fédération des acteurs du secteur social au Luxembourg - FEDAS).