Will the new Law protect children from mistreatment and heavy work on the road?

Fatima, is a 14-year-old girl from Fushe Kosova who every day from 6am comes to Pristina, where for 10 hours in a row tries to do different jobs to secure the money needed for herself and the family. She, along with her brother and a group of other children, clean car windows, collect metal items on the streets, and receive a profit of up to 10 euros a day. Forced to work, Fatima stopped schooling.

I work every day and earn up to 10 euros a day. I don't go to school, I don't have a chance. I'm not a kid, too, so I work, and I'm 14 years old,”, says Fatima.

Children like Fatima have a lot of streets in Kosovo's cities, which work in many different ways. These children, they make up only one of the categories that tomorrow can protect the Child Protection Law, adopted these days in the Kosovo Assembly.

The law on child protection is designed to protect children from all forms of violence, abuse, abuse, exploitation, neglect, or any other form that endangers their lives, security, health, education, education, and development.

In addition to jobs that lead to education interruptions in Kosovo, according to official data and those of nongovernmental organisations, many children continue to be victims of violence, whether in the family, school, or on the streets. As a result of domestic violence, the death of a 14-year-old boy was reported during 2018.

Until the general record of violence, four cases were recorded in 2016, and in 2017 five cases of serious domestic murder.

Besides violence, children are violated in many other ways.

According to official data from the Kosovo Statistics Agency, over ten percent of the children in Kosovo are involved in hard work, as close to seven percent work in dangerous conditions.

This week, Kosovo Police identify 58 charitable and street seekers, out of whom 21 Kosovo citizens and 37 Albanian citizens.

“The Directorate for Investigation of Human Being Trafficking, under continued engagements in preventing negative phenomena, in particular the fight against child abuse, has compiled an operational plan dubbed the identity of children in the road situation as possible victims of trafficking, which was implemented in June 2019 and implemented in all of Kosovo's territory, from all units of competent police directorate and other regents”, the police report reported.

In view of this situation, the Law on Child Protection, which was adopted by the Parliament of Kosovo the previous day, aims to ensure and ensure the responsibilities of parents, family, custody, society and state in child care, protection and development based on the child's highest interest, and the establishment of the child's integrated and functional defence system, for prevention and effective response to all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect.

So said Klevis Vajferi, from the Coalition for Child Protection KOMF, who, along with member organisations as part of the task force for drafting the Child Protection Bill, has represented organisations for child protection and provided the expertise and support needed in order to draft an advanced law that protects children's interest and rights.

“The KMF is at the same time working on drafting the social service financing formula and establishing specific grants for social services in order to ensure the minimum financing of child protection services. KOMF as part of the working group for drafting the funding formula will provide the support needed to present the real needs and to share the adequate budget for children”, Vajfer said.

The law on child protection is considered good, but, like many other laws, its effects remain questionable if it fails to implement.

Ombudsman in Kosovo Hilmi Jashari told Radio Free Europe that from their experience, the implementation of laws in Kosovo is flawed. Therefore, as Jashar said, they will start monitoring this law, though the timetable for its implementation is one year.

“Due to current experience it is hard to believe that even this law will find application, as most laws have had the fate of not implementing them”, Jashar said.

This has also been our remarks to the Kosovo Assembly. On the other hand, this law has ruled out a one-year deadline so that responsible institutions can issue sublegal acts for implementing this law, and it remains the timetable, if the deadlines that have been set to be considered by the”, he stressed.

Jashari says there are real concerns about the ability of institutions to implement this law. Protecting children's rights has been described as a challenge for Kosovo and the European Commission's latest Progress Report.