4 minutes agoCOMMF: Children seek alms in the cold streets, institutions silence
Periskopi(8 years ago)
(8 years ago)Children in street situations who work or seek charity are exposed to forms of child rights violations, including neglect, mistreatment, physical and emotional abuse, and in some cases lack of registration, lack of access to education. Children are exposed to a number of health and life risks. There is no [...]
Children are exposed to a number of health and life risks.
Neither children nor babies exposed at low temperatures are exempt. Children seek charity during late hours of the night, putting themselves in the face of the danger of sexual exploitation and/or trafficking.
“Based on index measurements, in terms of actions to protect and provide care for children working on the road, Kosovo has reached 0.18 of the total potential 0.0. This result so far represents the lowest outcome Kosovo has achieved among all other areas measured by the Index for Child Protection 2.0.
On the basis of these results, we understand that Kosovo as a state is not addressing the issue of children working on the street and at the same time is not taking initiatives to protect children.
As for children who work in the streets or seek contributions, the legislation in force does not specify any particular service that the state should provide for children working on the streets; including day care centres, shelters, mobile services, as well as rehabilitation and reintegration services. There are no specific financial standards to address these special services. The result shows that there is a limited approach by relevant institutions to offer protection to children. The establishment and development of basic services is an immediate measure that the government and municipalities must undertake. Also strongly, it is recommended that Kosovo include financial standards within the legal framework to secure the budget and implement the protection services of children working on the street.
It is important to first create mobile teams to identify children so that services can then be provided, as well as individual plans for each of them.
Kosovo has made efforts in creating a co-ordination system for children working hard work. The Kosovo National Committee for Prevention and Eliminating Child Labor is a central co-ordination body and works to co-ordinate with local committees located in all municipalities. But local committees are currently not functional. For this reason the empowerment of local committees is recommended, which allow together to draft policies for relevant actions.
Given Kosovo's low scores regarding the protection of children working on the road, a general and immediate recommendation is issued to intervene and improve this situation. Kosovo should create a Special Grant for Social Services for municipalities and QPS to create services, expand them, and improve child quality service delivery capacities”, the KMSF response reported.
