On the occasion of April 12, the International Day of Street Children, the Center for Youth Integration presented the results of a survey on the implementation of General Comment No. 21 on street children by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child at a conference at the EU INFO Center. Ms. Leoneta Payer, representative of the EU delegation, Ms. Tanja Srećković, Independent Advisor from the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Ms. Jelena Stojanović, Deputy Protector of Citizens for Children’s Rights and Gender Equality and Mr. Marko Tošić, Executive Director of the Center for youth integration addressed the audience.
The aim of the research was to assess the progress of the Republic of Serbia towards the implementation of the guidelines given in the General Comment No. 21.
The research itself lasted 6 months and included answers from 11 relevant institutions and organizations. Research shows that the main approach to children in a street situation is inaction and lack of services intended only for them. Also, one of the major problems that the research points out is that no domestic law or strategy contains a definition of children in a street situation. The Center for Youth Integration concluded that one of the first steps in the implementation of General Comment No. 21 should be the development of a strategy on children in the street situation, as well as the adoption of the definition of children in the street situation.
The research and conference are being organized within the project “Protection of the rights of children in the street situation in the Republic of Serbia”, which is implemented by the Center for Youth Integration and funded by the European Union.
You can view the research link: A case study of inaction