Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

The Director of the Office of Human and Minority Rights Suzana Paunović stated on 24 August that the UN Committee for the Rights of the Child adopted General Comment no. 21 on Children in Street Situations, drafted after a process of regional consultation with the participation of 327 children and youth from 32 countries.

Paunović noted that our country, as a member of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, took active part in drafting General Comment 21.

Under the General Comment, she states, the Committee for the Rights of the Child provides states with guidelines for drafting comprehensive long-term national strategies for children in street situations, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

This comment, as she explained, in addition to providing guidelines, resolves the terminological uncertanties regarding these children. Terminology was not uniform, and was thus used differently in various countries, varying from the terms children on the street, children of the street, abandoned children, children living and working in the street, to homeless children, etc.

By way of the comment the Committee for the Rights of the Child recommended the use of the term “children in a street situation”. The term involves, primarily, children whose life and/or work depends on the street, whether they are alone, with peers or with family, as well as the broader population of children who formed firm ties to public areas and for whom the street plays an important role in their daily life and identity.

The phenomenon of children in a street situation is approached by Serbia in a systematic and organized way, Paunović assessed, stating that an initiative by the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs and the Government Council for the Rights of the Child lead to the formation of 115 mobile teams in social work centres across Serbia.

The text of General Comment no. 21 in the Serbian and English language is available at the website of the Office for Human and Minority Rights.

Source: www.srbija.gov.rs