20 November 2014 The Committee on the Rights of the Child organises a public hearing

20 November 2014 The Committee on the Rights of the Child organises a public hearing

Thursday, 20 November 2014

Committee on the Rights of the Child Organises Public Hearing

The National Assembly House hosted a public hearing on the “25th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child – addressing the problem of children living and working on the streets”, organised by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, to mark Universal Children’s Day.


The Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Maja Gojkovic, opened the public hearing saying that it marked a step forward in the search for a solution to the problem of children exposed to exploitation, abuse and discrimination. The Committee Chairperson said she was concerned by the data on children living in poverty in Serbia and the region, with “street children” being the most sensitive category among them. Gojkovic said that the public hearing offers the opportunity to analyse the options for the improvement of protection mechanisms for this vulnerable category which can be achieved by a strategic, long-term planning of measures and activities for the society as a whole, the legislative, executive and judiciary power, local self-governments and with the assistance of civil society organisations. She said it was important to recognise these children as victims, not felons and offer them protection rather than sanctions. Chairperson Gojkovic said that the National Assembly was dedicated to creating the legal prerequisites necessary to improve children’s rights via the application of European standards and obligations assumed by the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Maja Gojkovic also drew attention to the need to, within the Government’s scope, examine the possible amendment of the law in order to better define the legal visibility of street children. The Committee Chairperson said that the Committee on the Rights of the Child would continue to mobilise all social resources to work on the development of a healthy and tolerant society where creating equal opportunities for all children would be a priority.

Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Aleksandar Vulin opined that the quality of a society is measured by how it treats its weakest members. He said that the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs has recognised the need to respond to the problem of street children and set up task groups within the social welfare centres. He also said that the laws ensuring child protection would be amended to the beneficiaries’ best interest. Minister Vulin said that 60 children had been taken off the streets in the past year stressing that the Ministry would continue its work to that end. He informed the participants that 154 children had been adopted last year, a number which is expected to rise up to 180 by the end of this year.

Yolanda San Jose, Head of Operations I at the EU Delegation to Serbia, said that the European Union pays special attention to the rights of children, the kind of special attention their best interest deserves. She said that the EU follows the level of children’s rights protection though the stabilisation and accession process.

Michel Saint-Lot, Director of UNICEF Serbia, said that 25 years ago the world took on a special obligation towards children by adopting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Nada Lazic, member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and coordinator of the public hearing, opined that “street children” are one of the biggest social problems in Serbia adding that the communication between all the segments of the society, especially listening to young people, is of paramount importance for the protection of children’s rights.

The participants of the public hearing were also addressed by Deputy Ombudsman for Rights of the Child Gordana Stevanovic, Director of Centre for Youth Integration Milica Djordjevic and Director of Save the Children Belgrade office Andrea Zeravcevic.

The public hearing was attended by MPs, representatives of the Social Welfare City Centre, International Labour Organisation, Republic Institution for Social Welfare, UNICEF, Child Rights Centre, Civic Initiative and the non-governmental sector.

The public hearing was organised with the support of UNICEF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), via project Strengthening the Oversight Role and Transparency of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, realised in cooperation with the National Assembly.


Committees related to this activity


Video (1)

Thursday, 20 November 2014 | javno slušanje: 25 godina od usvajanja Konvencije Ujedinjenih nacija o pravima deteta – rešavanje problema dece čiji se život i rad odvija na ulici 20.11.2014.



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