On Thursday, April 21, a round table “Rights of the Child in the Context of International Migrations” was held in Belgrade. The event was organised within the project “Setting an agenda for Child Oriented Social Reform”, implemented by Atina in cooperation with Save the Children and Group 484.

The Round Table brought together representatives of relevant institutions and civil society organisations involved in the protection of rights and support of children on the move in the Republic of Serbia, as well as representatives of international organisations and the European Union. Their experience and expertise in working with children from this target group were of great importance for the preparation of recommendations that will be submitted to the competent institutions that are, within this mandate, dealing with the protection of children's rights and work with children within the refugee population.

In the introductory session, the participants were addressed by Dr. Nenad Ivanišević, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Issues, with an overview of the current situation regarding the position of refugee children in Serbia, as well as the plan of the Ministry for the coming period on this issue. Also, Nicolas Bisel, Head of Operations I, Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, emphasised that the Union will continue to assist transit countries such as Serbia, especially when it comes to children who make up nearly a third of the refugee population. The Director of Belgrade City Centre for Social Welfare, Vladimir Ilić, also spoke about this, and especially thanked the civil society organisations for their cooperation, which was particularly evident during the refugee crisis. Pjano Ahmed, representative of the partner organisation Save the Children, spoke of the implementation of the project and future steps concerning the needs of children on the move.

The goals of the Round Table were addressing the challenges faced by children on the move in the Republic of Serbia, and the presentation of the proposals to improve the position of children in the context of the refugee crisis, especially unaccompanied children and children on the move as a growing phenomenon of global proportions.

The project “Setting an agenda for Child Oriented Social Reform” is implemented with the financial support of the European Union, with the aim of strengthening the capacities and strengthening cooperation between civil society organisations and institutions with a mandate to protect children, in order to develop a support system, services and policies based on the best interests of the child.

The photographs from the event can be found on link 

More on the event can be found through the following links: http://www.atina.org.rs/sr/prava-deteta-u-kontekstu-me%C4%91unarodnih-mi...

http://www.minrzs.gov.rs/lat/aktuelno/item/5247-drzavni-sekretar-nenad-ivanisevic-ucestvovao-na-okruglom-stolu-o-pravima-deteta-u-kontekstu-medjunarodnih-migracija

http://aktuelno.net/vesti/beograd/Prava-deteta-u-kontekstu-medjunarodnih-migracija-satus-i-perspektive/c/1307123

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5NzWWQzlBU