The National Assembly hosted a celebration of Universal Children’s Day, co-organized by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Mayor of Belgrade and UNICEF, attended by schoolchildren.
National Assembly Deputy Speaker and member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child Veroljub Arsic reminded the attending that Serbia was among the first to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989 and from that day Serbia has been fully dedicated to the protection of the rights of the child as the most vulnerable and sensitive member of our community. Arsic said that the National Assembly is, through its legislative activity, aiming to protect and improve children’s rights and has since 2012 been the home of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Still we are aware that we have a long way to go and many challenges to tackle on the road to improving the position of children in our society, Deputy Speaker Arsic concluded.
Minister without portfolio responsible for demography and population policy and head of the Council on the Rights of the Child Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic Dejanovic congratulated the children on the Universal Children’s Day stressing that it is essential to ensure every child’s right to carefree development, education and playtime. She said that Serbia does not have enough children and the country’s measures to boost the birth rate are a priority, but it is also important to protect the child and its interests after it is born and to make sure its parents have a decent living.
The Mayor of Belgrade Prof. Dr Zoran Radojicic said that Belgrade is a big city that needs to take care of its children, especially the ones who need help and support – children without parental care, children from poor families and children with developmental issues. The Mayor said that Belgrade is about to open a home for children with no accommodation to house 600 children.
The Director of UNICEF Serbia Regina De Dominicis was very grateful that Belgrade today was “painted” UNICEF blue like other cities in the world from Sydney to New York. Today we should celebrate all we have achieved in the protection of children’s rights, as well as draw attention to the challenges we are yet to face, both globally and here in Serbia, said Regina De Dominicis.
The newly-appointed UNICEF youth promoter Biljana Stojkovic also spoke at the gathering, stressing that she would try to use her social networks as a platform to encourage young people to both ask questions and try to find answers to them, make positive choices and bring about positive changes for the children and community they live in.
The slogan of this year’s Universal Children’s Day is Go Blue for Every Child so the National Assembly House and other buildings in Belgrade shone UNICEF blue lights.
