The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, received today at the National Assembly House, Steve Allen, newly appointed UNICEF Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States.

The UNICEF Regional Director stressed that parliamentary processes, passing laws on children’s rights protection and monitoring their implementation, are of great importance for the improvement of children’s rights. He added that the National Assembly had made considerable progress in the filed, primarily by founding the Children’s Rights Working Group which operates within the recommendations given in the last UNICEF Report.

The National Assembly Speaker briefed Regional Director Allen on the cooperation between the National Assembly and UNICEF Office in Serbia up to date. She emphasised the importance of signing the Memorandum on Cooperation which gave a systemic framework for future activities and resulted in the foundation of the Children’s Rights Working Group at the National Assembly. The Assembly Speaker added that, under the National Assembly Act, a working body will be formed to deal with children’s rights issues. The Assembly Speaker also briefed the UNICEF Regional Director on the specific results achieved by the Working Group, stressing how important it is to further regional cooperation, as well as internationalise the children’s rights issue.

The meeting between the National Assembly Speaker and UNICEF Regional Director was attended by the UNICEF Director for Serbia Judita Reichenberg and Jadranka Milovanovic.