Speaking of the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, Committee Chairman Dr Nebojsa Stefanovic said that it provides special protection to children without parental care. He added that, according to the Convention, it is the country of origin and adopting country’s inviolable duty to respect the rights of the child and abide by the principle of the child’s best interest.

The Bill on the Confirmation of the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption was presented by Dragan Vulevic, chief at the Child and Family Care Sector at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Policy. He said that Serbia has been strictly following intercountry adoption procedures since 2006, and the Convention guarantees that the adoption procedures would be in the child’s best interest and allows Serbian social welfare centres to follow the child’s growth and development after the adoption.

Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic said that he endorses the Bill, but he believes that before attempting intercountry adoption, the state should use all of its own capacities to attempt to keep its citizens in the home country.

The Committee members unanimously endorsed the Bill on the Confirmation of the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.

The Bill on the Confirmation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence was presented by Dragan Knezevic, representative of the Gender Equality Directorate, who stressed that violence against women and domestic violence is a global phenomenon with grave consequences. He added that in the course of 2012, out of the 9,325 reported victims of violence 96% were victims of domestic violence.

Committee Chairman Dr Nebojsa Stefanovic stressed that the topic is a serious problem in Serbia, and the confirmation of the Convention is an important step toward eliminating violence against women and domestic violence in particular.

Following a short debate, the Committee members endorsed the Bill on the Confirmation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, by a majority of votes.

The Committee went on to consider the proposal to organise a public hearing in order to present the special report of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality on discrimination against children. The Committee members decided to hold the public hearing on 19 November 2013, starting at 10 am.

The sitting was chaired by Dr Nebojsa Stefanovic, Committee Chairman.