Cluster for Children Demands Local Action Plan for Belgrade

18 December 2007

The Cluster for Children, a group of nongovernmental organizations woking on improvement of status of children, demands from the Belgrade City Assembly, the Mayor and the City Council to urgently prepare and adopt a Local Action Plan for children of Belgrade, to secure the institutional framefork and budget suppot for its implementation.

The request was submitted uner the Belgrade Aligned to Children Needs initiative, started at the regional meeting held on November 14, in Belgrade, under the programme of the Team of the Vice-President fo the Government for implemeantion of Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.

- Having in mind that childre are hardest hit by poverty, we believe that local action plans are the instrument to secure integration of child poverty reduction as a goal of teh regular activities of local self-government units, says the letter sent by the Cluster to city institutions.

The letter adds that, in view of the size and importance of Belgrade for Serbia and the indisputable fact that child care is of extreme importance for any forward looking society, the Cluster belives that the City administration ought to prove that they didn\'t neglect the children of Belgrade and their guaranteed rights.

The Cluster reminds the administration that three years ago, Serbia adopted the National Children Action Plan by year 2015, and that Belgrade has the obligation to get actively involved in the implementation, through a Local Action Plan.

The LAP � already prepared or under preparation in 21 municipalities in Serbia with supporty by UNICEF and the Government Children Righrts Council, will provide for definition of measures and actions in the poverty reduction, healthcare, education, children with special needs, victims of abuse and neglected children.