Overview
Join us in creating a world fit for children, where all children independently of their background, can grow in a safe, enabling environment, having access to health and good schools. • There is wide and increasing disparities and exclusion of some population in the country (such as Roma children, children from other ethnic minorities, children growing in poverty, children with disabilities). The number of children affected by poverty in Serbia is over 600,000. There are still over 500,000 refugees and internally displaced persons. • UNICEF is supporting the development of policies and programmes required to ensure that the 30% of children who grow in poverty and exclusion get their chance to grow healthy and can develop their potentials despite their situation. Human Development has to go hand in hand with the efforts to strengthen economic development and political stability. Human Development starts with the promotion, protection and fulfilment of children’s rights. • To tackle these challenges, Serbia developed as part of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, National Plan of Action for Children (NPA), with clearly defined goals and targets by the year 2010/2015 to improve the situation of the children. • Based on this Plan of Action, social mobilisation was initiated for children’s and women’s rights in three selected municipalities in Serbia (Kragujevac, Sjenica and Pirot). The municipalities developed Local Plans of Action for Children (LPA). Through these processes, they greatly enhanced their capacities to identify and recognise exclusion and poverty, and subsequently take action for more inclusive policies. • For the first time, poor and excluded groups were included and mobilised together with the authorities. Social and cultural exclusion has become a special concern, and measures have been taken to help children in remote areas to come to school, and help children with disabilities to be included in various social activities. In Sjenica, for example 250 children were identified with disabilities, which had been kept, unregistered in their homes.
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