CRC: No Progress in Child Protection

There was no significant progress or changes in protection of children rights in Serbia, concludes the Children Rights Centre in its Report on Status of Children Rights for 2006.

Ivana Stevanovic, the author of the Report, invited the media and the general public in Serbia to improve their observance of children right to privacy, especially the privacy rights of victims of child abuse and neglect and juvenile delinquents involved in criminal offences. Stevanovic believes that the fact that the media may publish only the initials of such children is not enough, but that more care should be paid to preserve the integrity of the child in general.

She also appealed to the media and NGOs to join forces and efforts to prepare a �reporting code of conduct�, to provide for the practical implementation of such principles and approaches �not covered fully and entirely in the legislation�.

Marija Petrovic, the co-author of the Report, said that last year, there were registered instances of mass violations of children�s right to privacy and increased frequency of abuse of children in public.

�On the other hand�, she said, �the healthcare system didn�t observe the right to information in terms of the legal obligation for medical practitioners to inform the patients about the procedures of treatment and diagnosis.

Last year, there were improvements in the system of criminal justice protection for children, as well as the introduction of mandatory pre-school education, added Petrovic. However, she didn�t fail noting that the Law on Child Ombudsman remained in procedure, now lasting for over three years, and is yet to be adopted.