On the occasion of the Universal Children’s Day and celebration of 25 years since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child of the United Nations, Praxis once again draws attention to the promotion of the rights of the child and care of children, which need to be the most important priority for the state.

Praxis reminds that despite the fact that the importance of respecting the rights of the child in Serbia has become more visible over the past years, the state still fails to invest enough efforts in order to improve the legal and institutional framework, so that every child may equally enjoy the rights guaranteed by the Constitution, laws, the Convention of the Rights of the Child, and other international treaties ratified by the Republic of Serbia.

There are still legally invisible children in Serbia today, who have no access to rights, as a consequence of violation of the Article 7 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which envisages that the child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name and the right to acquire a nationality

Even though discrimination is prohibited by the Constitution and the law, it is however widespread, especially against the Roma children and children with disabilities. Children from vulnerable social groups are still facing many problems, especially in access to the rights to education, health care and social protection. The best interest of a child is also fully neglected in media coverage, and the percentage of children who are exposed to some form of abuse is still very high.

To ensure the guarantee and protection of the rights of the child in all spheres of social life for every child, we remind the state of the importance of adoption of the Law on the Rights of the Child, the Law on the Ombudsperson of Children’s Rights and Rules of detailed criteria for identifying of discrimination by an employee, a student or a third party in educational institutions, and the necessity of engaging all levels of the government.