The Programme Committee held third meeting to support the programme implementation and activities

On Friday, February 7, 2025, the third regular and first meeting of the year of the Programme Committee was held. This body is responsible for supporting the implementation of the Supporting protection and integration of children and families in migration in Croatia programme. It is a joint programme by Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) and UNICEF, funded by the Swiss Government. 

The Programme Committee, chaired by Martina Tomić Latinac, Child Protection Specialist at UNICEF Croatia, has three main roles:

• Monitoring programme implementation and achievement of results, as well as providing strategic guidance
• Advocacy and support to ensure the sustainability of the programme’s outcomes and objectives
• Promotion of the programme

As this was the first meeting of the Programme Committee in 2025, the Report on Program Implementation in 2024 was presented. Ivana Zadro, Child Protection Officer at the UNICEF Office for Croatia, outlined the progress and initial results achieved in four areas of intervention in 2024 (access to high-quality child protection services, access to mental health and psychosocial support, access to high-quality early childhood development services, access to inclusive and quality early learning and education for children). 

Committee members also shared current updates related to migration, continuing the practice of presenting partners and their activities withing the scope of the Programme. During this meeting, the following partners introduced their activities: Croatian Institute for Social Work, Croatian Association for Early Childhood Intervention, and Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Jasena Knez Radolović, a representative of the association RODA – Parents in Action, introduced the updated website Parenting in Croatia, designed to support parents, caregivers of migrant children, and professionals: https://www.parentingincroatia.eu/. The website is currently available in Croatian, Ukrainian, French, and Arabic.

Through group work, the members of the Committee created a proposal for activities that will be implemented with the aim of promoting the website Parenting in Croatia in order to contribute to a greater number of parents and caregivers of migrant children and professionals. 

Representatives of the following bodies/organizations/institutions participate in the work of the Committee: UNICEF Office for Croatia, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, Ministry of Science, Education and Youth, Ministry of Health, Croatian Institute for Social Work, Education and Teacher Training Agency, Brave Phone, MdM – Doctors of the World, Center for Provision of Community-based Services Zagreb-Dugave, RODA – Parents in Action, Office of the Ombudsperson for Children, Office of the Ombudsperson, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatian Association for Early Childhood Intervention, National Centre for the External Evaluation of Education,  Center for Missing and Exploited Children.