In April 2016, Praxis held two two-day workshops for Roma women and men in Leskovac and Kostolac, aimed at prevention and elimination of child, early and forced marriages. The workshops were organized as part of the activities on the project “Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia”, funded by UNHCR.

A total of 52 women and girls and 40 men and boys took part in the workshops. The goal of the workshops to open a discussion and jointly name the causes and consequences of this harmful traditional practice through a discussion, and to come up with proposal of mechanisms that would lead to prevention and elimination of child, early and forced marriages. We discussed about the importance of the healthy early child development, respect for children’s needs and wishes, necessity of regular health protection, with special reference to sexual and reproductive health, but also about the key importance of timely education. In this way, we incited the participants to further discuss about the role of a woman and a man in the Roma community, causes and consequences of child, early and forced marriages and how to prevent them. The participants identified poverty, low risk of education of families living in informal settlements, high unemployment rate among the Roma and patriarchal cultural tradition, as the main causes of child, early and forced marriages in the Roma community.

For more information, see: Praxis Held Workshops on Prevention and Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriages

In the period from 19-21 April 2016, the 8th Children Rights Coalitions Forum in Europe 2016 took place in Tallinn, Estonia. The Network of Organizations for the Children of Serbia - MODS was represented by Jasmina Mikovic from Praxis, member of the MODS Steering Committee, and Sasa Stefanovic, MODS Director. The Forum brought together 75 representatives of national, regional and European coalitions and networks working towards the implementation of children’s rights and the well-being of children.  

The Forum provided a unified voice and coordinated focus in addressing issues on child rights advocacy, monitoring and networking. In addition, an accompanying one-day training provided participants with practical skills in children’s rights advocacy, and with advice on how to work effectively with internal and external stakeholders and generate additional resources that can be of benefit to both national and EU policy-making process.

In order to increase public awareness on children’s rights issues, the event particularly encouraged engagement with country specific stakeholders in children’s rights coalitions, as well as external stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, academia and media. 

The outcomes of the Forum will promote further understanding of the UNCRC principles and will advocate for sustained implementation of children’s rights in the current socio-economic climate, having in mind that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach and taking into account the changing environments and situations and specific needs that attendees came with.

For more information, see: Praxis and MODS at the 8th Children Rights Coalitions Forum in Europe 2016

No child chooses to be born as legally invisible, go into exile, become a victim of exploitation and live without being able to exercise his/her rights. Children do not choose poverty, violence, abuse, discrimination.

On the International Day for Protection of Children, we remind that in Serbia...

...  children without a name and an address are still being born,

 ... children with disabilities and developmental delays, especially Roma children, are facing discriminatory behavior and segregation in the education system!

That...

... child, early and forced marriages are the reality for many Roma children, the reality that deprives them of the normal development and the possibility of growing up in an environment where there is a choice.

… children on the move during migration are exposed to multiple risks. 

Children do not choose the environment in which they will be born and protection of their rights is the exclusive responsibility of us - the adults, who by our daily choices create possibilities and opportunities that the environment offers to them.

On the International Day for Protection of Children, we point out that the improvement of the circumstances in which children live and grow, especially children belonging to vulnerable groups, requires a daily commitment, and therefore we call upon the authorities to respect national and international laws and treaties and ensure that every child equally enjoys the rights he/she is entitled to by birth. 

For more information, see: Children Do Not Choose Poverty, Violence, Abuse, Discrimination

In May 2016, Praxis held municipal meetings in Leksovac and Pozarevac, aimed at prevention and elimination of child, early and forced marriages. The meetings were organized as part of the activities on the project “Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia”, funded by UNHCR.

The goal of the meetings was to gather all the relevant actors in this topic at the local level, so that together we can try to identify possible solutions to the problem of child, early and forced marriages. A total of 78 representatives of social welfare centre, police, prosecution, judiciary, educational and health institutions, as well as Roma health mediators, teaching assistants and activists, took part in the meetings. The meetings were organized in a way to provide an overview of the problem of child, early and forced marriages in Serbia, the region and the world, with special reference to local and international regulations governing the rights of the child, marriage and family relations, as well as the roles and responsibilities of the authorities to prevent the neglect of children and violence against children, on the one hand, as well as through an interactive approach to the subject, and examples of good practice, to come up with the policy proposal that would lead to the prevention and elimination of children, early and forced marriages.

Interactive discussion imposed the conclusion on the necessity of intersectoral cooperation, which formally could be realized by concluding agreements on cooperation at local level among all the actors needed to effectively provide protection to children from abuse and neglect. Preventive work with parents in the form of educational and councelling sessions, as the key decision makers, a greater visibility of the problem of child, early and forced marriages, among the Roma population as well as among the general public and decision makers, are just some of the recommendations that arose as a result of municipal meetings. 

For more information, see: Praxis Held Community Meetings on Prevention and Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriages

The majority of Europe’s stateless kids were born in Europe; many of them would not remain stateless today if all European countries had in place legal safeguards against childhood statelessness as required by international law. The shocking reality is that more than half the countries in Europe are failing to meet these obligations, thereby denying a nationality to thousands of children across the continent.

We urge all European states to: 

• Accede to the UN 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness;
• Address gaps in their laws and practice in order to implement comprehensive safeguards to identify and grant nationality to children born on their territory who would otherwise be stateless, as soon as possible after birth; 
• Ensure access to free and universal birth registration in order to prevent statelessness.

No child should be left without nationality. It is a problem that is entirely solvable. UN conventions provide a clear legal framework to define and tackle the issue. By establishing safeguards in nationality laws to ensure that any child born on the territory of a country will be entitled to nationality if they would otherwise be left stateless, we could end childhood statelessness within a generation!  

For more information, see: Help Us End Childhood Statelessness in Europe

In December 2015, in partnership with the Norwegian Refugee Council, Praxis began implementing the Project “Emergency Protection, Shelter and Assistance for Refugees & Asylum Seekers in Serbia” funded by ECHO, as a response to the refugee crisis in Serbia. The project aims to provide emergency humanitarian aid and protection to vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers transiting through or seeking asylum in Serbia.

NRC and Praxis provide protection through provision of timely, accurate and reliable information to refugees and asylum seekers in Serbia relating to their legal status, registration procedure, the right to seek asylum, other rights and available services, as well as referrals to other organizations for targeted assistance. NRC and Praxis also provide protection through presence in order to better assist and respond to refugees’ needs and mitigate the risk of trafficking and smuggling. The activities within the Project also include the provision of emergency humanitarian aid through shelter assistance and distribution of food and non-food items (NFIs) to refugees transiting through, or seeking asylum in Serbia. The Project mainly focuses on the field locations along the Eastern border, primarily Dimitrovgrad, but with a possibility to include other locations depending on the needs and situation in the field.

Within the Project, NRC and Praxis also cooperate closely with all the actors in the field, including Serbian authorities and local and international organizations for the purpose of better coordination of activities and improvement of protection of refugees and asylum seekers in Serbia.

Around 150 refugees arrive daily to Belgrade. Some of them continue their journey within a few hours, others decide to stay in Serbia for several days. Most come from Macedonia, a lot of them have already spent several months in Idomeni, Greece. Some still come through Bulgaria.

They usually arrive in Belgrade with smugglers, sometimes by bus or taxi, and often on foot, walking for hours through Macedonia/Bulgaria and Serbia.

Upon arrival in Belgrade, in the Asylum Centre Krnjača, they can get accommodation, food and medical help. If they express the intention to seek asylum, they can stay in Krnjača during  the asylum procedure.

Among the groups coming to Belgrade, there are families with small children, single mothers with infants, the elderly and sick. Those who are particularly exposed to various risks are unaccompanied minors who often come in groups formed on route.

Their stories, life experiences and the difficulties they face are different. However, they all have one thing in common – they have all left their homes in search of a new, safe place to live.

On the eve of June 20^th, the World Refugee Day, in the coming days we want to share with you who are the people we meet, what they did, what they were thinking about and who they were "before", but also to share where they go, what they hope for and what is the desired “after” for them. How similar we are and how different; how much and what we have learned about each other and from each other.

For more information, see: On the Eve of the World Refugee Day