Children and youth should be a priority during the next National Security Council, according to Flemish Minister for Youth Benjamin Dalle.
The next step of Belgium's exit plan out of the lockdown should focus more on children and youth, Dalle said. On Wednesday, the National Security Council decided to allow open-air training sessions for sports clubs with a maximum of 20 people from Monday.
This measure applies to adults as well as children, Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès clarified during the press conference.
Additionally, museums and zoos will be allowed to reopen, under strict conditions. Steps in the right direction have been taken, according to Dalle, "but children who are not in sports clubs or do not have the money to visit a zoo, for example, are in danger of being excluded," he told Het Nieuwsblad.
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Earlier this month, children's rights commissioner Caroline Vrijens also said that she "missed perspective" for children, and that they should become more visible in the exit strategy.
Playgrounds, skateparks and football fields should reopen again, according to Dalle, who called on the National Security Council to make children a priority in the next exit phase. "A lot has been done in recent weeks for the economy, and rightly so. The shopping streets are open, but now the playgrounds have to reopen as well," he added.
More clarity about if and how summer camps will be allowed to be organised is expected around the end of May.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
