National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia / Activities / Activity details
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.
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
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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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11.00 - the Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee meets with the Armenian Ambassador to Serbia (National Assembly Building, 14 Kralja Milana Street, hall 53, 2nd floor)
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12.00 - visit of the students of the Cacak Grammar School to the National Assembly House (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square)
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12.00 - sitting of the Committee on Administrative, Budgetary, Mandate and Immunity Issues (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, hall 2)
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12.30 - press conference of the MPs of the Ecological Uprising Parliamentary Group (National Assembly House 13, Nikola Pasic Square, Central Hall)