Representatives of the Embassies of Sweden and Switzerland, accompanied by UNICEF Representative in BiH, visited Prosecutor’s Office of Zenica-Doboj Canton and Elementary school “9.Maj” in Pazarić

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Director of Primary School "9. maj" Adnan Fejzić underlined that this is a very important process that is inevitable for quality education.

"Our school was involved in this process as a pilot school, back in 2016, and this is one of the activities in which we are a pilot school - from the introduction of e-diaries to the inclusion of children on the move in regular classes. The quality of a school depends on the quality of its employees, and it should be constantly worked on".

As part of the program, prevention programs were developed, and supported training of teachers to identify risk factors to which children are exposed, training of school support service experts to provide support to children at risk, as well as training of a wider network of support experts in the community, and services to provide additional help when the risk cannot be addressed within the school's support network.

School psychologist Arijana Osmanović Štukan pointed out that the role of the staff is particularly important in spotting the risks that a child might find himself in:

"If we recognize risky behavior, we are obliged to act on the risk factors we have identified, then it is the duty of the teaching staff to report it, and we are obliged to provide professional help to every student who finds himself in that situation. The imperative of the program is the best interest of the child, protection of personal data, de-stigmatization and elimination of discrimination.".

Justice for Every Child Project supported development of the prevention programme, training of teachers in identifying risk factors children are exposed to, training of school support-service experts in providing support to children at risk, as well as training wider support network and community-based support services, to provide additional support when the risk cannot be resolved within school support network.

“Switzerland has supported the Justice for Children project over the past 11 years, and we can proudly say that we achieved very tangible results, as we could see it today. All those results could not have been achieved without continuous commitment of all domestic institutions, strongly supported by UNICEF. However, the work is not over, and we count on BiH authorities to now take full ownership over the processes, including through improved public financing for child protection, and notably through annual action and budget plans with appropriate allocation of resources”, stated Haris Lokvančić, Head of Diplomatic Affairs at the Embassy of Switzerland in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Swedish Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina also pointed out their satisfaction with what was achieved:

„Like our Swiss partners, Sweden has supported the J4C programme since its beginning. We are very proud of the results achieved during this time and pleased with the partnerships with the different institutions on different levels in BiH and with UNICEF. The good results have clearly been demonstrated throughout the implementation of the programme. Now, the challenge is to sustain - and develop what has been achieved. BIH institutions need to follow up on such as ensuring minimum standards for child friendly interview rooms, scaling up the secondary prevention in schools, development of municipal referral mechanisms as well as coordinating with civil society to enhance the well-being and protection of children and youth. Our hope is that responsible BiH institutions will allocate the necessary resources to ensure the sustainability of results achieved", said Ms. Eva Smedberg, from Development Cooperation department of the Embassy of Sweden.

The representative of UNICEF in Bosnia and Herzegovina, dr. Rownak Khan emphasized the importance of the achieved results, but also the need for further work on their improvement:

“While we recognise these impressive achievements, we know that significant work remains. And the coming months and years will require efforts to sustain the gains achieved so far, and advance new areas of work. Efforts to strengthen responses to boys and girls as victims and witnesses of crime must be prioritized. More than ever, close cooperation across the justice and social service sectors is required. And we must look to weave modern, well-trained social workers and child psychologists into the fabric of the justice response. We must strengthen the justice sector’s ability to facilitate meaningful child participation in the decision-making process and take steps to ensure that the social and economic situation of the child and the family is systematically and regularly taken into consideration by the judiciary”, said dr. Rownak Khan, UNICEF Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.