U office chief NICEF in Kosovo calls for doubling investment in children

June 1 is a call for all of us to consider our positions, review our investments and policies, and turn to investments for a better life for our children. Children are the catalysts for social change. I thank young people and their potential, whose witness I have witnessed personally since the first day I came to Kosovo”, he says.

Sahin says little progress has been made for the rights of disabled persons, and their integration into society remains a challenge due to limited support, inadequate health services and poor access to existing services.

Kosovo must ensure that disabled children attend public schools, along with their peers. It is simply morally unacceptable that in a Kosovo with the level of resources, knowledge, technology and donor funds available, 20% of children living in poverty still exist. Enrollment in primary and lower middle education is almost overall (95.6%). The number of children aged 0-5 who attend licensed pre-school education institutions remains very low (4.9%), about 19.1% attend pre-school and primary education (0-6 years). Investment in the main social sectors should be an ethical obligation for any country supporting human rights. Moreover, the Convention of Child Rights (which is included in the Constitution of Kosovo) obliges both governments and the international community to contribute to the achievement of children's rights, including provisions related to these rights in national and policy-making frameworks and legal programmes, as well as in spending plans”, Time conveys.

Sahin has also recalled the moments he came to Kosovo and the serious cases he faced in children.

Unfortunately, when I arrived in Kosovo, I saw more than positive things. While Riyadh and his peers from all communities in Kosovo were participating in U activity NICEFs, we activate conversations, a 16-year-old Roma girl was taking care of her child, instead of having fun with her peers. She was standing in the waiting room at a clinic in the village of Magure to vaccinate her first baby. When I first met her, she carried her baby while a nurse was trying to vaccinate her. I thought the baby was her sister, but the nurse told me that she was actually her mother. I watched and saw a child holding her baby in her arms. She also lived under difficult economic conditions. It was very painful to witness all of this. And at the same time, it was an alarming signal for all of us, because it tells us that there's still a lot of work to be done”, he said.

In total, about 35,000 Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians live in Kosovo. Of this number, about 17,000 are children of 0-19, or about 48% of the total number of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities.

U n NICEF is committed to doing more, along with all of you, government, public institutions, civil society, academic class and private businesses. You all have to help us create a better world for children. The Strategy and Action Plan for Child Protection was launched yesterday, which UNICEF has enthusiastically supported.

“We will support implementation of the strategic plan and action that will further advance the realisation of children's rights in Kosovo. I call on them to double our investment for children, especially in their early education and in establishing the quality of education for young people in Kosovo”, the communique is said to end.