knjiga eng web.indd - Astra

AN OVERVIEW OF GENERAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION IN SERBIA
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Serbia”, produced by a NGO coalition
was presented in the same years 92 . Initial state report and NGO shadow reports 93 on the
compliance with the Optional Protocols on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and
Child Pornography and on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts were presented
to the Committee in 2010. Council of Europe’s Convention on the Protection of Children
against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse 94 was ratified in 2010. The legislation of
the Republic of Serbia does not have a law that would regulate children’s rights in a
comprehensive manner nor does it have a general definition of the child. This applies to
the Family Act, too, which is one of the essential legislative sources in this area. Although
the 2006 Constitution of Serbia contains a provision titled “Rights of the Child”, which
is for the first time in the history of Serbia, the opportunity to set out the best interest
of the child as a constitutional principle has been missed. The best interest of the child
is mentioned in the Constitution, but only in terms of court’s right to limit all or some
parent’s rights and duties towards their children if this is in the best interest of the child 95 .
§ 57. According to the 2002 census, there are 1,470,000 children (19.6% of the total
population) living in Serbia, of whom 342,000 children under five. The position of children
in Serbia should not be observed independently from the overall political, economic and
social situation of the country. What is notable is that the issue of children’s rights in
practice is always in the background of still predominant political questions.
§ 58. One of the hardest consequences of social stratification in the period of transition
is that children in Serbia are faced with pronounced poverty. According to the EU criteria,
one third of all children in Serbia live in poverty 96 . A large number of children in Serbia
are poor, without elementary health and social care. The Poverty Reduction Strategy
Paper (PRSP) recognizes children as one of the vulnerable groups in terms of poverty.
According to the 2002 and 2003 Living Standard Measurement Surveys, around 155,000
children in Serbia are poor, while another 155,000 children have insufficient material
resources. Particularly vulnerable are children of school age, children living in big families,
children living in rural areas, as well as Roma children and children with disabilities.
What is especially worrying is that children’s poverty has been decreasing too slowly 97 .
Although the number of those who lived under the poverty line reduced by half in 2007
compared with 2003, poverty has grown again due to global economic crisis and today
nearly every tenth citizen is poor, the most vulnerable being families with children. 98
According to the Statistical Office of Serbia, 9.5% children in Serbia are in social need,
92
Stevanović I. (ed.), Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Serbia, Child Rights Center, Belgrade, 2008.
93
Stevanović I. (ed.), Monitoring and Reporting on Rights of the Child in Serbia, Child Rights Center, Belgrade, 2010.
94
Official Gazette of RS - International Treaties, no. 1/10.
95
Petrović M., Vučković-Šahović N., Stevanović I., Prava deteta u Srbiji 2006. godine, Centar za prava deteta, Beograd, 2007.
96
Data from a press conference, where the findings of Belgrade-based Institute for Social Medicine on the position of children in Serbia were
presented; published in Danas daily on 21 November 2006.
97
The State of Children in Serbia 2006. Poor and Excluded Children, UNICEF, Belgrade, 2007.
98
Survey for the needs of the conference “Children and Poverty”, 19 November 2009 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.
php?yyyy=2009&mm=11&dd=15&nav_category=206&nav_id=392756
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA - Report for the period 2000-2010 29