The Children’s Rights Working Group, chaired by Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, National Assembly Speaker, held its tenth sitting on 26 October. At the sitting, the Working Group considered the reports on the study visits to Macedonia and Germany and discussed the remaining activities on the 2010 Activity Plan. Judita Reichenberg, Director of the UNICEF Serbia Office took part in the sitting.

The Report on the consultative meeting on the role of deputies in the improvement and monitoring of children rights, organised by the Macedonian National Assembly and held on 20 and 21 September, was presented by Milica Vojic-Markovic, and Nikola Novakovic spoke of the Working Group members’ visit to the German Bundestag’s Commission for Children’s Concerns, from 27 to 30 September. Both visits were organised with the support of the UNICEF Serbia Office.

The Committee members declared the visits useful as they enabled the exchange of experiences with foreign parliamentarians and better insight into international practices in the sphere of children’s rights protection. In addition, the Serbian parliamentarians briefed the hosts on the experiences of the National Assembly’s Children’s Rights Working Group.

The Chair, Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic informed the Working Group members that a comprehensive law on children is currently being drafted, but that the provisions of the law need to be adjusted to the new laws on social protection, strikes, labour and youth. She stressed that organising seminars on social inclusion of children with developmental problems is a priority, so as to consider the experiences from the implementation of the Law on the Basis of the System of Education and Upbringing which introduced inclusion into the education system for the first time. The seminar should assist the search for best solutions to be integrated into the new social protection law. Also, a public hearing should be organised on the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography in cooperation with the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights.

In order to strengthen the National Assembly’s monitoring role, a public hearing should be organised on child abuse in Serbia by the end of the year, a topic on which there already is a report, as well as on the implementation of health education programme in elementary schools.

Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic said that of the activities planned for this year, a visit to a local self-government will be realised as will a visit to the National Assembly by children included in the School Without Violence program.