The Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted Concluding observations on the Second and third periodic report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Republic of Serbia and made recommendations for further improvement of the situation of children and the fulfillment of obligations undertaken by ratifying the Convention and the Optional Protocols.

The Committee considered the Second and third periodic report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Republic of Serbia at its sessions held on 24 January 2017 and adopted Concluding observations on 3 February 2017. The Committee’s Concluding observations welcomed the progress of Serbia in various areas relevant to the realisation of the rights of the child and instructed the state to continue work on the implementation of recommendations delivered to Serbia in 2008.

Concluding observations covered issues accented in Alternative periodic report prepared by the Coalition for monitoring child rights in Serbia, as well as those to which the representatives of the Coalition pointed at the preparatory meeting of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Some of the recommendations related to the necessity of adopting the state policy towards children as the National Action Plan ceased to apply in 2015, are:

• strengthening the role of the Council for Child Rights of the Government of the Republic of Serbia in coordinating cross-sectoral cooperation;
• establishment of the budget with a clearly visible allocations intended for children;
• adoption of the Law on the Protector of the Rights of the Child;
• the prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings including the family.

The Committee urged Serbia to submit its Fourth and fifth periodic report by 24 May 2022.