Week against violence against children

Press release

Pristina, December 21- The non-governmental organization Syri i Vizioni from Peja in partnership with the organization Save the Children, on Friday held a joint conference on the topic “What should the state do in the protection of children”, with the institutions mandated to protect children from violence and improving the situation of children in Kosovo.
Those present at this conference agreed that in Kosovo there is sufficient legislation and there are mechanisms created to protect children, but there is a delay in their implementation and implementation in practice and this is due to the lack of appropriate monitoring mechanisms on the part of to the government.

It was also assessed by those present that there is a lack of coordination of joint actions and communication between the institutions responsible for the protection of children at the local and national level, as well as between these two levels.
Habit Hajredini from the Office for Good Governance said: “Progress has been made in respecting children’s rights, there is a reduction in violence against children, we need to mobilize all of us, institutions, civil society, the media, etc., since violence against children is a big challenge for all of us, which together we will eliminate very quickly”.

On the other hand, the Deputy Minister for Labor and Social Welfare, Rita Hajzeraj, said that “we as institutions must do more in the implementation of laws, not only to create mechanisms, but to make them functional and eliminate violence against children” .
She further expressed her disappointment for the lack of work of the municipal directorates for health and social welfare. “The Directorates for Health and Social Welfare do nothing to respect children’s rights or provide appropriate services,” she said.
While he praised the work and commitment that the Centers for Work and Social Welfare are doing and asked the civil society and others to cooperate and help these centers.
The Kosovo Police has also confirmed that there is a decrease in cases of violence against children near and inside schools. According to their statistics, if the cases presented in this institution are compared with the period of the previous year, there is a decrease in violence.

From the statistics presented by civil society and international organizations on their research regarding the exercise of violence against children, it is clearly observed that there is a great need to work on the awareness of children and parents to denounce violence, as well as to work more on the awareness of institutions, which should do more in the early prevention of violence against children and the provision of appropriate services for child victims of violence.
All those present agreed that there should be more campaigns such as the “Week against violence against children”, and have many more joint tables and conferences with all the responsible actors, since in this way it is possible to create mechanisms appropriate and to take concrete actions to protect children from violence.

Present at this conference were the Office for Good Governance, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the People’s Advocate Institution, civil society organizations dealing with child protection, Save the Children, UNICEF, KOMF, Grupi ROR Children’s Monitor and the media.

Today’s conference “What should the state do to protect children from violence” was held in the framework of the “Week against violence against children” campaign, which the organization “Syri i Vizioni” in partnership with Save the Children in Kosovo, develops in of the program “Together for the rights and protection of children”.

Pristina, October 21, 2016

NGO “Eye of Vision”

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