On the occasion of the United Nations Week and the 20^th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Children’s Rights Working Group and the UNICEF Office in Serbia organised a meeting at the National Assembly House with children from five Serbian towns, part of the teams of local action plans for children and School Without Violence programme.

Addressing the young people, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and the Chairperson of the Working Group, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic expressed a belief that, after the new National Assembly Act is passed, the Working Group shall grow into a working body in charge of children’s rights.

Assembly Speaker Djukic-Dejanovic said that the meeting was organised so that the members of the Children’s Rights Working Group could hear what children and young people are doing in their environments, what problems they face and what kind of help they need.

The Head of the UNICEF Belgrade Office, Judita Reichenberg, stressed that the Convention on the Rights of the Child obligates the adults to care for children, above all for their development and education, but it also obligates the state to protect children from anything that might hinder their development.

It is every child’s right to be heard and taken seriously, Judita Reichenberg stressed, and this right is deeply connected with the democratic concept of family, school, local community and society as a whole. Struggling to allow more room for children, adults themselves learn to accept children as partners in the creation of a democratic community, which presents significant potential for further social democratisation, the UNICEF Representative in Serbia said.

The young people from Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Becej, Pirot and Prokuplje outlined the activities and projects they have implemented in their communities so as to decrease violence in schools. They stressed that the programmes and actions were mostly devised by themselves, with the support of their peers, teachers and parents.

It was estimated that the abilities and experiences of children and young people, including children with developmental problems and poor children, are often underestimated. Therefore, the adults must change their ideas about children and the young and learn to listen to what they have to say, as well as appreciate their opinion.