A Conference on Children and poverty: global context, national priorities and local solutions, organised by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and European Commission’s TAIEX department, in cooperation with the UNICEF Office in Serbia and National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, took place at the National Assembly House today.

The Conference was opened by the Speaker of the National Assembly and Chairperson of the Children’s Rights Working Group, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic who stressed that “children’s rights in Serbia have not yet been sufficiently realised”. The economic crisis, as well as the growth in food and energy prices, has influenced a rise in the number of poor children, children below 14 years of age being among the most endangered. Children from poor families face developmental problems, difficulties in school and social inclusion, the National Assembly Speaker said.

The Assembly’s Children’s Rights Working Group, in cooperation with the competent ministries, launched an initiative to consider the consequences of the Government’s strategies and measures on the position of family and children. “It is our duty to protect children from poverty and social exclusion, particularly in the difficult times of economic crisis”, Speaker Djukic-Dejanovic stressed.

In her opening address, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy Ljiljana Lucic stated that the Serbian Government was dedicated to effect eradication of poverty, adding that in 2007 absolute poverty had dropped from a million to 500 000 poor people. However, at the end of 2008 the number rose due to the economic crisis, adding to it the worrying fact that the number of poor children did not decrease at the same rate as the number of poor people in other endangered social categories.

The Head of the European Commission Delegation in Serbia, Vincent Degert stressed that the Government, as well as all other republic and local authorities, must continue to work on improving children’s social care, particularly on the social inclusion of the youngest members of marginalised groups. He added that the European Commission shall continue to aid the development of social policy for children, inclusion policy and return of refugees.

UNICEF Serbia Office Director Judita Reichenberg estimated that Serbia had made considerable efforts to improve the protection of children, most of all to include children from minority communities in the education and health care systems.

On the behalf of the European Commission, the participants were addressed by Walter Wolf who spoke of the European approach and measures for poverty reduction among children and the efforts undertaken on the level of the European Union to eliminate social exclusion of children. Gordon Alexander spoke on the behalf of the UNICEF Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe about the “Influence of the economic crisis on children and possible solutions”.

The Conference also addressed the following topics: “Poverty reduction among children in the given political and economic conditions”, “National Action Plan for Children – monitoring improvement and setting priorities for the upcoming period” and “Various EU support modalities of poverty reduction – examples of good practice”.

The participants believe that the economic crisis contributed to the increased number of poor people in Serbia and that about 300 000 children live below or on the very edge of the poverty line. It was stressed that, in addition to urgent interventions and social benefits, combating poverty above all necessitates a resolution of the problem of unemployment as soon as possible.

The members of the Poverty Reduction Committee and the Children’s Rights Working Group took part in the Conference.