For more than 17 years the Roma, mainly the internally displaced persons from Kosovo, have been living in the informal settlement “Čukarička šuma“ in the makeshift dwellings with no infrastructure and in extremely adverse conditions. According to the records of the Secretariat for Social Protection there are 81 families or 467 persons residing in this settlement. Almost all of them are unemployed. They usually live exclusively from the collection of recyclable materials.

After more than 17 years there are still no indications of finding a lasting and sustainable housing solution for these persons.

In November 2014, Praxis, supported by SKRUG that gathers 75 civil society organisations and the Network of Organisations for Children of Serbia that gathers 95 civil society organisations, addressed the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration with a request to provide emergency help to the residents of the informal settlement "Čukarička šuma" in the form of the provision of firewood.

The motive for addressing the Commissariat was the protest organised by the residents of Čukarička padina settlement against the residents of the nearby informal settlement "Čukarička šuma" due to the carcinogenic smoke which, according to the citizens, was the result of burning tires, cables and other recyclable materials in that settlement. Although the protesting citizens emphasised that the carcinogenic smoke produced by the ignition of secondary raw materials endangered their health and the health of their children, the fact is that the residents of the informal settlement "Čukarička šuma" are the ones most exposed to health risks. 

Two years ago, we expressed concern for the residents of "Čukarička šuma" and, taking into consideration the widespread discrimination against Roma, pointed to the protests as a serious threat to the peace and security of the settlement residents. Aware of the fact that finding solutions to the problems of the residents of the informal settlement "Čukarička šuma", including a lasting and sustainable housing solution, requires the involvement of all relevant actors, we then addressed to the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration with a request to urgently take measures and activities within the scope of its competence and, in cooperation with relevant institutions and public authorities, ensure solving the housing issue for the settlement residents and providing aid in the form of firewood. On that occasion, we received an answer that the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration had initiated a meeting of the competent services of the Municipality of Čukarica and the City of Belgrade, which was held on 21 November 2014 when it was agreed that the City of Belgrade would adopt a plan for the closure of informal centres in the territory of the City, and take appropriate actions accordingly.

Since September the citizens of the Municipality of Čukarica have been protesting again. Media has reported about it under the headlines Čukarička padina in the smoke of burned tires and PEOPLE, THEY ARE GOING TO POISON US! Residents of Čukarička padina concerned about everyday burning of tires and cables. The city authorities have thought of a way to solve the problem of burning secondary raw materials – by introducing a full-day duty in this part of Čukarička padina, in order to respond quickly to citizen complaints, in cooperation with the Communal Police, if secondary raw materials are burned again.

Despite the Praxis’ initiative, request and pointing to the necessity of providing urgent assistance to the residents of this settlement, the situation has not changed significantly. With the winter approaching, we do not see an adequate response of the authorities to the problems encountered by the residents of the informal settlement "Čukarička šuma", and therefore we once again call for taking measures aimed at improving the living conditions in this settlement.

After the completion of the ECHO-funded project that we implemented in partnership with Norwegian Refugee Council at the end of July 2016, on 15 August 2016, Praxis started implementing the Project “Protection Monitoring and Assistance to Refugees and Asylum seekers in Belgrade”, funded by the Save the Children International in Serbia. We have been back in the field in Belgrade since 22 August 2016, providing information to refugees in Belgrade, protection by presence, identification of vulnerable cases and referrals to other agencies for targeted assistance. We are also doing protection monitoring of the situation in the field and advocating for addressing identified protection gaps. 

The number of refugees and migrants present daily in Belgrade parks near the Bus Station ranged from 400 to over 700 persons and was constantly rising. Given the fact that the capacities of the asylum centres (AC), refugee aid points (RAP) and one-stop centres in Serbia have nearly reached their maximum, what is concerning is the fact that around 300 people sleep out in the open, at parking lots, ruined barracks, on the streets, which might pose a serious humanitarian concern given the upcoming winter.

In the reporting period, Praxis provided a total of 2,396 refugees with timely and adequate information. Out of this number, 1284 persons, nearly 54% of all informed refugees, were from Afghanistan (701 adults and 583 children), with an increase of Afghan families arriving. A total of 299 beneficiaries we served (12.5%) were from Syria, 134 from Iraq (5.6%), 167 from Pakistan (nearly 7%), while 135 beneficiaries (5.6%) from other countries, including Iran, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Uzbekistan, etc. Out of the total number of served beneficiaries, Praxis provided information to a total of 120 unaccompanied and separated children (UASC), 84% of them being from Afghanistan, and the rest from Pakistan, Morocco, Algeria, etc. In the same period, Praxis identified 618 vulnerable refugees and referred them to other organizations for targeted assistance, mainly for food, NFIs, accommodation, transportation, medical assistance, registration, legal assistance, AVR, and followed up on the cases when possible.

Download the Report here.

As part of the activities for marking the International Peace Day around the world, the international conference entitled “What are Young Children Telling Us” was held in Belgrade on 20 and 21 September. The conference participants had the opportunity to hear eminent experts in the field of early childhood development and preschool education, leading European anti-discrimination experts, representatives of UNICEF and the ministries of education from the countries of the region, as well as representatives of international networks and non-governmental organisations involved in building peace, developing respect for diversity since early childhood and fighting discrimination and violence among and against children around the world.

The conference was organised by the non-governmental organisation Pomoć deci, as part of the programme Partnership for Reconciliation through Early Childhood Education and Development in Europe (PRECEDE). The aim of this programme is the application of best practices for raising young children and finding effective ways for their education as future citizens of a democratic society. According to Professor Paul Connolly, one of the guest lecturers, a large number of studies in the field of early childhood development in the United States since 1920 have indicated that children in the second year of life are already able to recognise differences in the skin colour. Moreover, from the third year onwards, these differences can become a source of negative attitudes or prejudices.

In this regard, early childhood is highlighted as the most important period for the formation of social competences and healthy personality, while the education that takes this into account is crucial for eliminating prejudice, developing respect for diversity for peaceful life in multiethnic and multicultural communities, respect for human rights, inclusion and development of active citizens of a democratic world.

The International Conference on Child Rights was held on 12 September in the Media Centre. It was organised by the Centre for the Advancement of Legal Studies (CUPS) and the AIRE Centre from London. 

The conference, which was dedicated to further promotion of the rights of the child, and to the resolution of open issues related to domestic legislation and practice of implementing regulations, was divided into three panels.

After the first and second panels, which provided an overview of general legal standards for respecting and protecting the rights of the child, and of the findings of research on the situation of the child in the context of criminal justice, the third panel focused on the legal position of the child regarding the exercise of a set of special rights.

In this panel, in which some of the topics were the situation of children with mental disabilities, the protection of children's interests in family matters and the situation of migrant children, Praxis presented the problems of illegally invisible children.

In fact, the analysis of the problem of legally invisible persons in Serbia unfortunately shows a long-term violation and neglect of the principle of the best interests of the child. A special procedure for determining the date and place of birth was introduced with major delays. For years, the principle of the best interests of the child had no meaning for any of the children who were prevented from being registered in birth registry books. The basic rights of these children were violated every day of their life without documents, while the state was refusing to take responsibility for solving the problem. Such a situation still exists in cases of birth notification, although it is clear that the inability to register the child’s birth and the lack of protection in the most vulnerable period of life, immediately after birth, cannot be in accordance with the principle of the best interests of the child.

Having in mind the particularly vulnerable situation of children, as well as the fact that the rights guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child should be available to every child, it is essential to implement effective measures that will ensure the registration at birth, regardless of whether the parents possess personal documents or not. Moreover, it is necessary that these measures be urgently adopted and promoted, because only by resolving the problem of birth registration, the state will finally solve the problem of the legally invisible persons in Serbia, thereby ensuring compliance with the Convention and respecting the principles of the best interests of the child.

On the occasion of the upcoming review of the Second and Third Periodic Report on the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child of the Republic of Serbia, Praxis, in cooperation with the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and European Network on Statelessness, delivered Submission of Civil Society Organizations on the Implementation of the Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Even though Praxis had an opportunity to participate in the process of preparation of the state report, some of crucial comments and notes were not included in the report. Therefore, in addition to recognizing all the efforts in exercise of the right to citizenship, the submission of CSOs focuses also on the analysis of remaining problems important for complete understanding of the situation of child’s rights. An additional reason for submitting a special report was the importance of exercising the right to citizenship and impact which the exercise of this right has on the set of other status and socioeconomic rights, especially having in mind the permeating principles of the prohibition of discrimination and the best interest of the child.

The submission provides a general overview of the issues related to the problem of statelessness in Serbia, and in that respect also to the remaining challenges in the implementation of the Article 7 of the Convention which guarantees that every child will be registered immediately after birth and have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents. The problems in exercise of the rights are primarily related to impossibility of children to be registered immediately after birth, discrimination on that basis and the need for additional improvement of the legal framework and practice of competent bodies. The report is structured in a way to provide the delegation of the Republic of Serbia, which will present the report, with a proposed set of questions related to each problem. Finally, the report includes the recommendations as additional guidelines for the Committee on the direction and possibilities for improvement of the exercise of the rights from the Article 7 of the Convention.  

In April 2016, Praxis held two two-day workshops for Roma women and men in Leskovac and Kostolac, aimed at prevention and elimination of child, early and forced marriages. The workshops were organized as part of the activities on the project “Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia”, funded by UNHCR.

A total of 52 women and girls and 40 men and boys took part in the workshops. The goal of the workshops to open a discussion and jointly name the causes and consequences of this harmful traditional practice through a discussion, and to come up with proposal of mechanisms that would lead to prevention and elimination of child, early and forced marriages. We discussed about the importance of the healthy early child development, respect for children’s needs and wishes, necessity of regular health protection, with special reference to sexual and reproductive health, but also about the key importance of timely education. In this way, we incited the participants to further discuss about the role of a woman and a man in the Roma community, causes and consequences of child, early and forced marriages and how to prevent them. The participants identified poverty, low risk of education of families living in informal settlements, high unemployment rate among the Roma and patriarchal cultural tradition, as the main causes of child, early and forced marriages in the Roma community.

For more information, see: Praxis Held Workshops on Prevention and Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriages

In the period from 19-21 April 2016, the 8th Children Rights Coalitions Forum in Europe 2016 took place in Tallinn, Estonia. The Network of Organizations for the Children of Serbia - MODS was represented by Jasmina Mikovic from Praxis, member of the MODS Steering Committee, and Sasa Stefanovic, MODS Director. The Forum brought together 75 representatives of national, regional and European coalitions and networks working towards the implementation of children’s rights and the well-being of children.  

The Forum provided a unified voice and coordinated focus in addressing issues on child rights advocacy, monitoring and networking. In addition, an accompanying one-day training provided participants with practical skills in children’s rights advocacy, and with advice on how to work effectively with internal and external stakeholders and generate additional resources that can be of benefit to both national and EU policy-making process.

In order to increase public awareness on children’s rights issues, the event particularly encouraged engagement with country specific stakeholders in children’s rights coalitions, as well as external stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, academia and media. 

The outcomes of the Forum will promote further understanding of the UNCRC principles and will advocate for sustained implementation of children’s rights in the current socio-economic climate, having in mind that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach and taking into account the changing environments and situations and specific needs that attendees came with.

For more information, see: Praxis and MODS at the 8th Children Rights Coalitions Forum in Europe 2016