Situation of children living in post-conflict zones in the Balkans

Doc. 11353

12 July 2007

Situation of children living in post-conflict zones in the Balkans

Report

Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee

Rapporteur: Mrs Carina OHLSSON, Sweden, Socialist Group

Summary

The political, social and economic situation in the Balkans is still a cause for concern and attention should be drawn to the rights of children, and in particular children from minorities and displaced children.

Children’s right to survival and development, the principle of children’s best interests, the principle of non-discrimination should be the guiding principles. Among the main objectives, the Assembly puts forward the fight against poverty for children, the elimination of any form of violence against children, equality in access to education in a school which favours peace and reconciliation and the right of the child to live in a family environment. Children should also be agents for change and actors in the democratic process.

A. Draft resolution

1. The Parliamentary Assembly considers that the situation of children living in post-conflict zones in the Balkans has to be seen in the light of:

1.1. children's right to survival and development, which is not limited to purely physical and material

aspects;

1.2. the principle of children's best interests, on which any action on their behalf must be based;

1.3. the principle of non-discrimination; and

1.4. the principle of children’s participation, that is their right to express their own opinions freely, and to have those opinions given due weight, in accordance with their age and maturity.

2. The Assembly refers in particular to its Recommendation 1561 (2002), adopted in May 2002, on social measures for children of war in South-eastern Europe and the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers' response on 23 June 2003. It also draws attention to the most recent resolutions adopted by the Committee of Ministers setting out its conclusions on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ETS No. 157), in particular its resolution on the situation in Kosovo.

3. It notes that the political, social and economic situation in the Balkans is still a cause for concern, while humanitarian aid, which had allowed great progress to be made, is now being reduced. Infant mortality rates, which are particularly revealing health indicators, are very high in certain parts of the Balkans. Some of the countries of the region are still among the poorest in Europe and often have large numbers of young people, who face the greatest risk of living beneath the poverty line. Ethnic divisions have by no means disappeared and systematic exclusion of, and discrimination against, minorities continue to exist.

4. There are still gaps in implementation of the law reforms concerning the rights and welfare of children. More efforts are needed to bring national laws into accordance with the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which also implies the use of good evaluation mechanisms. It is important to set up independent child rights monitoring and claim procedures and establish a child ombudsman.

5. In recent years the fight against terrorism has intensified, unfortunately to the detriment of the fight against organised crime; trafficking in human beings and in drugs are on the increase and are seriously affecting this part of Europe.

6. The Balkan states have to cooperate more intensively in cross-border cooperation to trace children who have disappeared and help with reintegration in their own environment; this also requires that special attention be given to a comprehensive approach on local, regional and cross-border level.

7. The Assembly notes that children from minority or socially excluded groups such as Roma, Egyptians and Ashkali as well as displaced children are particular victims of trafficking, prostitution or forced labour, or are forced into begging. One consequence of family poverty is an increase in the number of children living in institutions, where again a large number come from minorities.

8. It also appears that children from minorities are very often excluded from the school system, or even deprived of all education, because of the state of poverty of their families, inadequate mastery of the majority’s language and discrimination or harassment at school.

9. The Assembly agrees that the healing and reintegration needs of children are central when developing peace-building programmes following conflicts or periods of political disorder. This involves family reunification, improving existing child-care systems, ensuring regular monitoring of children’s physical and mental health, guaranteeing schooling and/or vocational training, as well as psychosocial support and community-based reintegration. Such programmes must take account of children's best interests and aspirations, and be long-term.

10. In countries emerging from conflict, school curricula often reflect or even reinforce the oppositions that gave rise to hostilities and the conflicts of the past. The Assembly considers it essential that schools promote peace and reconciliation and invites the countries concerned to:

10.1. incorporate peace education, tolerance and peaceful conflict resolution into primary and secondary school curricula and organising teacher training in conflict prevention and education for peace;

10.2. ensure that all children receive free pre-school and primary education;

10.3. ensure that children from minorities and displaced children are admitted to normal education systems and provided with special assistance, and ban the practice of directing them automatically into so-called special classes;

10.4. prohibit schools from operating on an ethnic basis;

10.5. provide teachers with training on children's rights and make them more aware of cultural diversity as a way of changing attitudes by removing stereotypes and prejudices;

10.6. train nursery assistants and teachers from minority groups.

11. The Assembly invites all the countries concerned in the region to impose a legal ban on all forms of violence against children, including corporal punishment within and outside the family, in schools, in the penal system, institutions and other child-care settings, make infringements of children's rights such as their sale, forced labour, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse criminal offences under their domestic law and enforce these laws vigorously and effectively. Crimes committed against children in periods of conflict and political disorder must not remain unpunished.

12. It urges the countries concerned to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS No. 197), adopted in May 2005 without further delay.

13. It invites the countries of the region to combat poverty and social exclusion in particular through long-term family policies that focus on children and help families to care for them, by providing in particular appropriate social benefits and other services such as training in parenting and the necessary skills for everyday life and giving children access to social and health services.

14. It also stresses that children should only be placed in institutions as a last resort and that alternative approaches such as placement with foster families or adoption are preferable. Children living in institutions are entitled to exercise all their rights and must be able to complain to a mediator or Ombudsperson if those rights are violated in the institution.

15. Finally, the Assembly emphasises that children are also agents for change and should be given the necessary conditions and tools to help establish democracy and peace:

15.1. by encouraging them to take part in decision making (for example in school councils, youth parliaments, children's municipal councils, children's governments, the Ombudsman’s office);

15.2. by developing the ability of children and young persons to express their opinions (in debating societies, municipal planning and developing processes, Internet forums, etc.); and

15.3. by informing them through media designed for them and with them.

B. Explanatory memorandum by Mrs Carina Ohlsson, Rapporteur

I. General comments

1. The memorandum focuses on States in the Balkans affected by the Bosnian War and the Kosovo Conflict, namely: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It addresses the situation of children in the region, mainly from a social and a child protection perspective in line with article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child according to which every child has the right to be protected from violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect.

2. In this memorandum, a child is defined according to article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as every person who is younger than 18 years old, unless otherwise specified by the local legislation. The definition is adopted by all States in the region. In this report the research of Mr Bart Van Winsen (Netherlands, EPP/CD) is included. As former rapporteur he visited some Balkan countries, projects described in the report, consulted experts and spoke with members of parliamentary committees. The rapporteur wishes to thank him for his valuable contribution to the final result. (The Committee held an exchange of views with Mr Van Winsen before the final adoption of the report on 26 June 2007).

3. The analysis of the situation of children in post-conflict zones in the Balkans takes also into account the guiding principles related to the Convention on the Rights of the Child:

Ø Child’s right to life, survival and development: The right to life, survival and development principle is in no way limited to a physical perspective; rather, it further emphasizes the need to ensure full and harmonious development of the child, including at the spiritual, moral and social levels, where education plays a key role.

Ø Child’s best interests: Actions that affect children should be based on an assessment of whether those actions are in the child’s best interests. This means that planned and implemented actions should comply with the best interests of the child and not the other way round.

Ø Non-discrimination: States must ensure respect for the rights of all children within their jurisdiction – including children who are illegally in the territory – regardless of race, gender religion, ethnicity, opinions, disability or any other status of the child, the child’s parents or legal guardians

Ø Child Participation: Children should be able to express their own opinions freely, and those opinions should be “given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.

4. The situation of women and children continues to be precarious in many parts of the Central and Eastern Europe. The 2005 UNICEF Humanitarian Action Report notes that “the post-conflict situation in the Balkans remains volatile, while humanitarian assistance, which helped bring significant progress in reforms, is being scaled back. The volatility of the situation in Kosovo is reflected in the explosion of conflict experienced in the March 2004 riots. Kosovo’s status issue is still not resolved and the increasing strength of nationalistic forces in Serbia and Montenegro, have given rise to concern that unilateral actions on Kosovos’ status by either side may spark open conflict, resulting in new waves of displacement […] Many internally displaced persons and refugees remain dependant on international and national assistance […] Displaced children are often left without access to adequate education, health care, support or protection”.¹

5. Kosovo and Albania remain ones of the poorest territories in Europe. Kosovo has one of youngest populations in Europe, with over 50 per cent under the age of 25 years and 40 per cent under 18 years of age. Extreme poverty is disproportionately high among children and the elderly. The Special Rapporteur on the Sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Juan Miguel Petit, notes, during his 2005 mission in Albania, that “the war in Kosovo in 1999 brought more than 500, 000 Kosovars in Albania”² and describes the transition as “complex in a country ravaged by enduring conflict, which made national and international organized criminal networks flourish around trafficking”³. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, more than 10 years since the Bosnian war ended in 1995, children are at the most risk of living below the poverty line; more than 30 per cent of the poor are under 18 years of age. Poverty is closely linked to discrimination, and many poor and vulnerable children are from families who experience discrimination on grounds of ethnicity, political affiliation, status - as internally displaced persons (IDPs) or returnees, their residence in rural areas, gender or disability. ⁴

6. With the reconstruction mostly completed, Bosnia and Herzegovina is grappling with post-war political structures and socio-economic transition. This situation directly affects the wellbeing of children in the country. The realization of children’s and women’s rights is impeded by the legacies of the ’92-‘95 war”⁵.

7. In Central and Eastern Europe, the transition to market economies has also increased the number of children entering residential care for poverty-related reasons⁶.

II. Relevant international legal framework and international guidelines

8. The 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the instrument that offers the highest standards of protection and assistance of children under the age of 18. It is almost universally ratified (192 Parties) and includes civil, economic, social and cultural rights, as well as humanitarian law. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (ratified by all States in the Balkans⁷) outlines the rights of children to be protected from trafficking in articles 11 and 35.

9. The 2000 Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (ratified by all States in the Balkans, except Albania) prohibits the compulsory recruitment of persons under age 18, and restricts voluntary enlistment, in State armed forces, to a minimum age of 16. It declares that armed groups are prohibited from recruiting or using children of any age under any circumstances.

10. The 2000 Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Pornography and Child Prostitution (atified by all States in the Balkans, except Albania) gives special emphasis to the criminalization of serious violations of children’s rights – namely sale of children, illegal adoption, child prostitution and pornography.

11. The 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ratified by all States in the Balkans)

includes the “most serious crimes of international concern”, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, within the jurisdiction of the court. War crimes include rape and other forms of sexual violence, recruitment or use of children under the age of 15 in armed conflict, and attacks against schools.

12. The 1999 ILO Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour prohibits forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict and the sale and trafficking of children, and equates these forms of worst child labour with slavery. All States in the Balkans are parties to the Convention.

13. The 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women also refers to trafficking in its article 6. All States in the Balkans are parties to the Convention.

14. The 2000 UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (known as the Palermo Protocol), supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime entered into force in 2004, with specific provisions on children. According to the Palermo Protocol, child trafficking is the “act of recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving of receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs”⁸. All States in the Balkans are parties to the Protocol.

15. The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS N° 197) was adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 3 May 2005 and opened for signature in Warsaw on 16 May 2005. Not yet into force. The Convention is a comprehensive treaty mainly focused on the protection of victims of trafficking and the safeguard of their rights. It aims at preventing trafficking as well as prosecuting traffickers. The Convention applies to all forms of trafficking; whether national or transnational, whether or not related to organised crime. It applies whoever the victim: women, men or children and whatever the form of exploitation: sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, etc⁹. The Convention outlines specific measures to protect children victim of trafficking in accordance with the best interest of the child.

16. The 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, ratified by Albania only.

17. EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict: Although, not binding, these EU guidelines give a framework to the EU to address the short, medium and long term impact of armed conflict on children in an effective and comprehensive manner. The EU aims to raise the awareness of this issue by giving more prominence to EU actions in this field, both within the EU and towards third parties. In 2006, the Council working group on Human Rights (COHOM) prepared an Implementation Strategy on the EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict, such as EU support for the UN to set up task forces for monitoring and reporting on violations of children's rights in situations of armed conflict¹⁰.

18. In 2003, UNICEF developed Guidelines on Protection of the Rights of Child Victims of Trafficking which were formally endorsed by the member states of the Stability Pact’s Task Force on Trafficking in Human Beings. These Guidelines set out standards for good practice with respect to protection and assistance of child victims of trafficking from initial identification up until the final integration and recovery of the child. They aim to provide guidance to Governments and State actors, international organisations and NGOs, in developing procedures for special protection measures of child victims of trafficking.

III. Long-term reintegration and psycho-social support

19. The healing and reintegration needs of children are central when considering post-conflict peace-building programmes. According to article 39 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychosocial recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of […] armed conflicts. Such recovery and reintegration shall take place in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child”.

20. Reintegration includes family reunification, mobilizing and enabling the child's existing care system, medical screening and health care, schooling and/or vocational training, psychosocial support, social and community-based reintegration. Reintegration programmes need to be sustainable and to take into account children’s aspirations. Reintegration is multi-layered. It includes many aspects, mainly family-related, community-related, socio-economical, psychosocial, cultural, religious, etc. These components are complementary and each of them is necessary to a successful reintegration.

21. Interventions aiming at facilitating the reintegration of children involved in armed conflict are often referred to as psychosocial interventions. The term psychosocial underlines the close relationship between the psychological and social effects of armed conflict and/or violent displacement. The one type of effect continually influences the other. “Psychological effects mean those experiences that affect emotions, behaviour, thoughts, memory and learning ability, and how a situation may be perceived and understood. Social effects mean how the diverse experiences of war alter people's relationships to each others. Social effects can be extended to include an economic dimension. Many individuals and families become destitute through the material and economic devastation of war, thus losing their social status and place in their familiar social network”¹¹.

22. In Serbia, there was a pressing need to help displaced children in the country to overcome their psychological and social distress, especially for those residing in the collection centres. As a response, a local NGO, ALFA, in cooperation with Church World service (CWS) implemented psychosocial recovery and social reintegration programmes primarily designated for displaced children in the region, especially for those residing in the collection centres. The rehabilitation programme included individual, family, and group counselling and psychotherapy. The project continues its focus on non-formal education of vulnerable children, including Roma children. The project pays special attention to schools that enrol both local and displaced children. Such schools are the most convenient milieu for efficient work on the topics of tolerance and diminishing social distance between local and displaced children. Those schools enable the establishment of open communication between local and displaced children and facilitate their social integration¹². Important activities were implemented with the Friends of Children of Serbia and their local branches, the Ministry of Education, the Institute for Mental Health and the Institute for Psychology. The main approach was to cover the highest number of children in their natural environment – through schools and family counselling. Over 14.000 professionals, mainly school psychologists, pedagogues and teachers were enabled to identify stress and trauma in children and to help through group activities within the school. This network could be revitalised and supported to continue supporting children in collective shelters.

IV. Trafficking of children and commercial sexual exploitation

23. Efforts to fight trafficking need to be translated into prevention strategies based on human rights and implemented in the context of democratization. Education and awareness-raising are, for instance, strategies most likely to prevent trafficking in the long-term. Repressive laws alone do not work. Yet, long-term strategies to prevent trafficking by focusing on its root causes, including economic disparities, social exclusion, discrimination and weak protection systems are still too rare.

24. A UNICEF/OHCHR and OSCE/ODIHR report released in 2005, Trafficking in Human Beings in South Eastern Europe 2004 – Focus on Prevention¹³, says that while countries in the region have strict anti-trafficking laws they do not tackle the root causes of the problem. The report looks at trafficking in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania and Serbia-Montenegro.

25. No one knows exactly how many people fall victim to traffickers - it is a secretive and complex business. There is no reliable information on the number of children being trafficked, but it is known that they fall primarily in two groups: (1) adolescent girls aged 15 to 17 who are trafficked for sexual exploitation¹⁴, and (2) children under 13 years old who are trafficked for forced labour or begging. Those at greatest risk of being trafficked are the most vulnerable – children and youth suffering from exploitation and abuse, those without adequate parental care including children from institutions, and those from socially excluded groups including minorities such as the Roma and Egyptians.

26. The report highlights the many efforts being made by governments and civil society to prevent trafficking, raise awareness and assist victims. What is missing, according to the report, are child-focused strategies to prevent trafficking in the long term. In Romania, trafficked children returning from European Union countries are simply sent back to their families by the police, without involving the child protection agency and without investigating the situation of the family concerned. But there are some success stories. The report mentions the example of Moldova, Europe's poorest country, which has set up community services for abused children and introduced family and life-skill classes for those most at risk. In Serbia, following the coordinated effort of the international community and state agencies, the victim referral mechanism which reflects specific needs of children victims of trafficking has been developed and in 2004 the Agency for victim-support coordination has been established. The agency operates under the umbrella of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Policy and coordinates the work of governmental institutions (like police, social sector and judiciary), NGO’s and IO’s. Two shelters for victims of trafficking exist, one for short-term assistance and another, aiming at long-term reintegration assistance of domestic victims (both adults and minors). Both shelters are run by local NGO’s

27. The report also notes that the number of identified and assisted trafficked people in the western Balkans is declining, but NGOs and others who work with them do not believe this means the number of trafficked people is falling. They believe the traffickers are becoming better organized and more hidden.

28. Regarding anti-trafficking programmes, the Special Rapporteur on the Sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Juan Miguel Petit, recommends that “for children who cannot stay with their families, community-based alternatives to residential care, including a foster care system” are developed¹⁵.

29. In 2002, UNICEF, UNOHCHR and, OSCE-ODIHR, in an earlier joint publication, entitled Trafficking in Human Beings in South-eastern Europe, noted that “in Southeast Europe, available evidence suggests that persons under 18 may comprise 10 per cent and 30 per cent of all sex workers, which gives some indication of numbers. In Albania, in particular, however, the proportion of children among trafficked people appears to be particularly high. Trafficking of Albanian children, both girls and boys, is reported to be mainly for forced labour including begging, drug dealing, and small economic initiatives such as car washing in, for example, Greece and Italy”¹⁶.

The Regional Clearing Point for South Eastern Europe collected data on identified victims of trafficking who accepted assistance in a South Eastern European country. In 2003-2004, about one quarter of the assisted persons were children (under 18).(22) However, a general lack of systematic mechanisms for data collection, including data disaggregated by age and gender, makes an assessment of the real extent of the phenomenon and the number of affected children literally impossible”.

30. In Albania, with UNICEF support, the NGO Ndihme per Femjet (“help the Children”) works with children who have been sexually abused or exploited, many of them trafficked to Greece. The NGO helps reintegrate about 400 children annually into schools in four Albanian cities. Their siblings also receive psychosocial counselling and support, bringing help to 2,500 children each year. The social workers associated with the project stay in close contact, visiting schools and the children’s homes, to keep the children in school and off the streets”. ¹⁷

31. In 2002, the same year, Human Rights Watch documented in a 75-page report, “Hopes Betrayed: Trafficking of Women and Girls to Post-Conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina for Forced Prostitution,” how local Bosnian police officers facilitate the trafficking by creating false documents; visiting brothels to partake of free sexual services; and sometimes engaging in trafficking directly. Human Rights Watch also obtained documents from the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) that revealed cases of International Police Task Force (IPTF) officers visiting nightclubs as clients of trafficked women and girls¹⁸.

32. In Albania, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, notes - in its 2005 concluding observations - “the concerns expressed by the State party at the extent of the problem of sexual exploitation of children in Albania. It also welcomes the measures taken by the State party to combat trafficking in children, such as the establishment of an anti-trafficking centre in Vlora. However, the Committee notes with concern that the sale of children is not criminalized in domestic legislation, that children reportedly continue to be trafficked, in particular to Italy and Greece, and considers that additional efforts must be vigorously pursued to combat this persistent phenomenon”¹⁹.

33. According to UNICEF a number of identified internally trafficked cases of trafficking in children in Kosovo are on the rise and a high percentage of victims are girl children. In 2006, 52 cases of child trafficking were reported by the Centres for Social Welfare across Kosovo. Some decrease can be seen in the numbers of non-Kosovo residents into Kosovo. Institutions are increasingly able to detect cases of trafficking, but reintegration remains a challenge. A 2005 UNICEF study calls on the Kosovo police to take urgent and serious measures to stop it in cooperation with Europol and Interpol²⁰.

V. Status of children forced to flee

34. All children, including those who have been forced to flee because of the conflict and who found themselves “displaced” within their country of origin, have the same rights to food, health and education, as well as the right to preserve their identity and other cultural, linguistic and inheritance rights and, to be free from discrimination, exploitation, and abuse.

35. According to UNHCR statistics, “as of May 2005, the number of IDPs living in Serbia and Montenegro (excluding Kosovo) was 226,000. Most of them were in Serbia (208,000), while some18, 000 were living in Montenegro. In addition, Kosovo hosted some 22,000 minority IDPs with the conditions of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians being the most deplorable”²¹.

36. “The overwhelming majority of IDPs and refugees in Serbia and in Montenegro are Serbs. Approximately 10 % are Roma. 50 % of displaced populations are women and girls; 35 % are under 18 years of age” ²² 37

37. In Northern Kosovo, UNMIK, WHO and UNICEF urged in 2006 the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian IDPs to vacate the lead polluted camps in northern Mitrovicë/Mitrovica and Zvečan/Zveçan and move their families to the safer environment offered by UNMIK at Osterode Camp. This was an emergency requirement for the health safety of the IDPs and particularly their children²³.

VI. Roma children facing discrimination and difficult access to education

38. In the Balkans, the situation of Roma children faces persistent discrimination, despite the fundamental principle of non-discrimination of the CRC which underlines that States must respect and ensure the rights of the Convention “to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, regardless of the child’s or his or her parent’s or legal guardian’s race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status”.

39. The Special Rapporteur on the Sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, reported on Albania that : “Many of the children victims of trafficking are from the Roma and Egyptian communities […] Child trafficking hits more severely the Roma and Egyptian communities. Persistent patterns of discrimination and exclusion is coupled with the existence of rooted stereotypes and the denial of the rights of minorities are factors, external to these communities, which contribute to make these communities and its members more vulnerable to trafficking. The NGO Amaro Drom, the Albanian Roma Union, works on the empowerment and integration of Roma in the Albanian society through initiatives of community development that include, in a non-exhaustive list, vocational training, income-generating activities, training of young Roma leaders and registration of children at school” ²⁴. “In Korca, the NGO Ndihmë Për Fëmijët (NPF), Help for Children, provides extra-school assistance to children in difficulty, many of whom are from the Roma communities”²⁵.

40. In its 2005 concluding observations on Albania, the Committee on the Rights of the Child “is concerned that discrimination persists in particular with respect to ethnic minorities, including Roma children, disabled children and children living in remote areas many of whom have reduced access to support and protection […] the Committee regrets the general lack of information related to discrimination against girls. The Committee urges the State party to undertake concerted actions to develop and implement policies aimed at countering the various forms of discrimination in the country. This would include revision of existing legislation, introduction of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation and conducting educational campaigns to address discrimination against the Roma and other minorities, as well as discrimination on grounds such as disability, sex, birth status or others”²⁶.

41. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a 2005 research “Inclusion of Roma children into education system in BIH” supported by UNICEF and the European Commission, conducted by a local NGO named Budimo Aktivni has confirmed that “the lack of education of Roma parents and poverty are the greatest obstacles for their children's education. Yet, around 80% of Roma children in Bosnia and Herzegovina who are not in school do want an education The report reveals the fact that only 1,5% of Roma families were visited by the social workers. This illustrates the level of marginalization of Roma families from the deliverance of regular social services. Around 40% of Roma children do not have access to the basic health care”²⁷.

42. In Bosnia, according to a 2005 report from Human Rights Watch, a field survey by the Bosnian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights has demonstrated that fewer than half of those who registered as returnees actually live in their pre-war places of residence. Some Bosnian officials admit that the official figures grossly exaggerate the actual number of minority returns. Even in the areas in which the population is again mixed, the ethnic divide remains entrenched. The separate schools for children of different nationalities are a particularly disheartening expression of this rift”²⁸.

43. In Kosovo, large numbers of children miss out on school. The school system is underfunded and improvements to school buildings, teacher training and curriculum development have been slow. Because of war damage, classroom space is limited. So many schools have to operate in shifts. Parallel education systems have been created along ethnic lines – Kosovan Serbs, for example, follow Serbia’s school curriculum, Kosovan Albanians and other ethnic groups follow a standard national curriculum. Children with special educational needs are barely catered for and pre-primary school provision is very low. Displacement, poverty, insecurity and lack of culturally sensitive education discourage many Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian children from going to school”²⁹.

44. A 2006 UNICEF study on violence in schools in Kosovo reveals that corporal punishment is still an accepted practice in Kosovo’s homes and schools. In Kosovo, many Roma pupils complain that they are harassed and insulted by their class mates or teachers, which causes some of them to stop going to school altogether³⁰. By those reasons the drop-out rate among Roma students is extremely high. Most Roma students due not survive the first five years to receive a basic education. It is estimated that less than 2% complete secondary school.

45. Access to education is free for the displaced population in Serbia. As a result, the enrolment rate of displaced children is 92 per cent. However, the enrolment rate is much lower among Roma children because of their poverty and discrimination at school. Roma children are to a large extent excluded from preschool and have limited changes to be successful in primary education. The latest Multi Indicative Cluster Survey (UNICEF 2006) shows that the coverage of children with organized early childhood education in Serbia is low: 33.6 %, dropping to 6.4% for the poorest children and a mere 3.9% for Roma children. The official gross enrolment rate in primary education is 94.5%. There are significant disparities: Only 66.2 % of Roma and 86.7% of children in severe poverty enrol the primary education. Only 13% of Roma children who enrol are able to complete primary education. Continuation in secondary education of those who finish primary education is 66.5% among the poorest and only 10.1% of the few Roma children who start secondary education. Roma children are abusively placed in educationally handicapped schools, mainly because their understanding of the Serbian language is not sufficient to pass the standard school admission test. Catch-up classes organized for Roma helped considerably the number who failed the entry test for regular schools³¹. Good quality and inclusive preschools are the best investment for increasing possibilities for these children to be successful in primary education. A person without even primary education will most probably face a life in poverty. There is an urgent need for a child cantered, national strategy on inclusive education based on capacity development of all children with different backgrounds

VII. Youth participation: Children as actors of peace building

46. Adolescents affected by war and displacement are as a group at particular risk for poor adjustment. Many refugee and IDP adolescents are not in schools because secondary school is not compulsory for children who have reached their 15^th birthday […] They are in need of psychosocial support and interventions, educational encouragement, counselling, youth club where they can talk about their animosity and how they can work through it to help in the process of building civil society³²

47. In Kosovo, “Global Motion” is a Social Dance Theatre Youth Group which does dramatic and dance productions to address critical issues for Kosovo youth including: HIV/AIDS, gender equality, ethnic strife, prostitution, human trafficking, abuse, human rights, drugs, poverty, violence, conflict, environment, and more. In Global Motion (GM) youth from different backgrounds are learning how to work together in teams, creating and performing artistic material as well as gaining life skills such as consultative decision-making, creative and critical thinking, self-expression, tolerance, conflict-resolution, and organizational abilities. Through GM young people can become active agents of positive change in their societies. GM currently has 100 young members in 6 regional groups covering over 15 municipalities. Over 300 more young people have gone through the programme since its beginning in the summer of 2002. Before March 2004, Global Motion had a representation of all ethnic groups. Now it is predominantly a Kosovo-Albanian production

48. The Youth Media Radio project “Blah Blah Café” has reached a Kosovo wide coverage with its programme being broadcast in Albanian, Serbian and Roma languages in over 35 radio stations throughout Kosovo. Since its first programme in 2002, Blah Blah Café is providing a vehicle for Kosovo youth to express their views on the development of the society in Kosovo³³.

49. Since October 2004, children in the Balkans have been able to watch their own TV magazine through the TV project called “THIS IS ME! - BALKAN KID’S MOSAIC” which brings them closer together. With the help from their peers, who take part in the programme, the viewers can learn that although they live in various regions and speak different languages, Balkan’s youngest population has a lot in common³⁴.

50. According to a UNICEF Evaluation report from 2005 on youth’s participation in the region, “peer-to-peer approaches in particular were seen by UNICEF Country Offices to have the greatest potential in building young people’s capacity to participate, and were cited as being the most useful in engaging the participation of especially vulnerable young people. In TFYR of Macedonia, peer-to-peer interactive theatre activities were effective in involving young people, building their skills and working with attitudes related to HIV/AIDS prevention^”35.

VIII. Life-skills Education and HIV/AIDS Prevention

51. “Educating youth about HIV/AIDS, and teaching them skills in critical thinking, decision-making, conflict resolution, communication, negotiation, and coping with emotions or stress, can improve their self-confidence and ability to make informed choices. Life skills-based education refers to an interactive process of teaching and learning which enables children and young people to acquire knowledge, attitudes and skills which support the adoption of healthy behaviours” ³⁶2

52. Studies show that in countries affected by armed conflict, the school curriculum often mirrors or even reinforces the dynamics that give rise to hostilities. It is therefore essential that schools in post-war communities promote peace and reconciliation. Peace education, child rights and conflict resolution are most effective when integrated into the regular curriculum of primary and secondary classes. This integration of peace education into formal schooling or life-skills training helps to strengthen and legitimize it.³⁷

53. In Serbia and Montenegro, a recent comprehensive programme for pupils, teachers, parents and entire communities called “School without Violence: towards Safe and Enabling Environment“ has been implemented in 54 primary schools involving 29,000 pupils, and 5,900 teaching and non-teaching staff. The “School without Violence” programme aims to find a way from the existing “culture of violent behaviour”. It includes training and education of children about non-violence and tolerance, with peer support programmes for both perpetrators and victims”³⁸.

54. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, UNICEF supports the Life Skills-Based Education for HIV/AIDS prevention - a programme developed and implemented in cooperation with the NGO “Civitas”. This education helps young people to make informed decisions with regards to protecting themselves from sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, and substance abuse. With the support of UNICEF, voluntary and confidential HIV testing and counselling services have been opened in Albania and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and soon to be opened in the Serb enclaves of Kosovo.

APPENDIX

The specific situation in Serbia

Access to social service and health

1. In Serbia, following the coordinated effort of the international community and state agencies, the victim referral mechanism which reflects specific needs of children victims of trafficking has been developed, and in 2004 the Agency for victim-support coordination has been established. The Agency operates under the umbrella of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Policy and coordinates the work of governmental institutions (police, social sector and judiciary), NGOs and IOs. Two shelters for victims of trafficking exist, one for short-term assistance and another one aimed at long-term reintegration assistance of domestic victims (both adults and minors). Both shelters are run by local NGOs.

2. Roma children are to a large extent excluded from preschool and have limited chances to be successful in primary education The latest Multi Indicative Cluster Survey (UNICEF, 2006) shows that the coverage of children with organized early childhood education in Serbia is low – 33.6 per cent, dropping to 6.4 per cent for the poorest children, and a mere 3.9 per cent for Roma children. The official gross enrolment rate in primary education is 94.5 per cent. There are significant disparities – only 66.2 per cent of Roma and 86.7 per cent of children in severe poverty enrol in primary education. Only 13% of Roma children who enrol are able to complete primary education. Continuation in secondary education of those who finish primary education is 66.5 per cent among the poorest and only 10.1 per cent of the few Roma children who start secondary education. Roma children are also abusively placed in educationally handicapped schools, mainly because their understanding of the Serbian language is not sufficient to pass the standard school admission test. Catch-up classes organized for Roma helped considerably the number who failed the entry test for regular schools. Good quality and inclusive preschools are the best investment for increasing possibilities for these children to be successful in primary school. A person without even primary education will most probably face a life in poverty. There is an urgent need for a child centred, national strategy on inclusive education based on capacity development of all children with different backgrounds.

3. Thousands of children in Serbia are falling through the cracks in the social service reform process. New research (Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 3) showed that Roma children and poorest children are particularly disadvantaged. Close to 10 percent of Roma children are not born with the assistance of a skilled health worker. The prevalence of stunting is three times higher among children from the poorest families, and six times higher among Roma children. In total, one fifth of Roma children under five are stunted. Access to health care for them is far from universal – over 40,000 children were found without immunization, mostly Roma and Internally Displaced children, and most of them without access to health and other social services. In total, the research found that 50% of the poorest and just 23% of Roma children are fully vaccinated by 18 months of age. Care practices for those children are often not optimal, and sometimes can seriously harm the child. For example only each third infant is appropriately fed; approximately 15% of infants are exclusively breastfed, only each third is receiving ORT or increased fluids and continued feeding during the last episode of diarrhoea; more than half of them do not receive antibiotic treatment for suspected pneumonia; and a vast majority experiences aggression or physical punishment by their caregivers. Pregnancy and delivery of Roma mothers is poorly managed and monitored – 15% do not receive any antenatal care. Contraceptive prevalence is very low, 27% (out of which 25% use traditional methods). One of the attempts to escape poverty is early marriage - 46% of Roma marry early, before the age of 18, out of which 67% give birth before the age of 18. The poverty cycle is closing down with too many pregnancies that are too closely spaced.

4. The reform of the health services in Serbia, ongoing and almost completing when it comes to legislative changes, is still to be implemented and effects on the population are still to be shown. Service providers are still not following the reform process in most of the settings. Lot of evidence from the qualitative research showed lack of capacity, motivation, and sometimes the mechanisms to address the needs of the most marginalized women and children. In some settings, even discriminatory attitudes prevail “I have to wait for the doctor to finish with everyone else – then comes the turn of us Gypsies”. Lack of access to Mother and Child Health (MCH) services, lack of knowledge among caregivers on appropriate care and child development, lack of knowledge among health workers about needs of marginalized families have resulted in three times higher than national averages under five mortality among Roma (29 per thousand live births).

Youth participation

5. In Serbia, the generations that are adolescents today have been born in the early nineties and practically have been largely affected by the crises. They do not remember good times but they hear about them and they unfortunately have been developing in the society that has from day to day been reducing the opportunities for them - including the opportunities to participate. On the other hand the whole concept of children participation has been suffering from the "history". Adults tend to criticize modalities of children participation during communist/socialist years but are not finding new modalities for it in the present. Therefore we are faced with on one hand the lack of opportunities and on the other hand the lack of motivation and capacities of children to voice themselves. The programmes for children participation in Serbia have largely focused on both aspects - strengthening children's knowledge about their rights, creating supportive environment and creating alliances among adults to support the same. The development of local plans of action for children in 16 municipalities in Serbia, supported by UNICEF, has identified children participation as one of the critical objectives ensuring involvement of children in the development and implementation of the same. In number of cities children/youth are gathered around institutions of their interest - counselling service for youth, youth clubs, schools, youth NGOs, where supported by adults and older colleagues, they organize local community initiatives addressing issues of interest for them.

6. One rather new initiative that largely focuses on children participation is School without violence. In Serbia and Montenegro, a recent comprehensive programme for pupils, teachers, parents and entire communities called “School without Violence: towards Safe and Enabling Environment“ has been implemented in close to 80 primary schools involving more than 40,000 pupils, and 6,000 teaching and non-teaching staff. The “School without Violence” programme aims to find a way from the existing “culture of violent behaviour”. It includes training and education of children and adults about non-violence and tolerance, with peer support programmes for both children who are behaving violently and those that suffer from that.”. All schools have recognised violent behaviour in their premises, and almost all have developed and begun implementing preventive and intervention measures and actions. The School Forum Theatre is especially successful and has become one of the main means of direct behaviour change in the social context.

7. UNICEF in Serbia supported as well active participation of children in the teaching/learning process. UNICEF supported the training of over 35,000 teachers to apply active learning (AL) methods. The evaluation showed that active participation in the teaching/learning goes hand in hand with pupils’ social participation, critical thinking and decision making skills. Positive results have been achieved with the application of AL in multi-grade classes and multiethnic classes, particularly with the large number of Roma children.^[1]

8. During the years of crisis UNICEF supported various programmes for constructive and non violent conflict resolution. Over 15,000 teachers and more than 100,000 students have participated in programmes aimed at fostering tolerance, democratic citizenship, respect for diversities and human rights. The various programmes that have been initiated by UNICEF and implemented in schools by NGOs have been mainstreamed into the Civic Education which from 2001 became a regular school subject. UNICEF, UNESCO and OSI evaluated the first year of programme implementation and recommended^[2][2] to extend the curriculum of civic education to children and human rights, to integrate elements of civic education as cross curricular content, to increase capacities of teachers to teach apply active learning methodology in teaching civic education and to involve parents and community in the implementation of civic education curricula through regular, cross curricular and extracurricular activities.

Life-skills education

9. In Serbia the new life-skills based health education programme is being initiated in the secondary schools as a co-operative action of the MoES and UNICEF. The programme has started in 27 schools in 2006 with the aim of reaching all by the end of 2008. It is one of the first school programmes that highly recognizes the role of peers (pupils) in education as the workshops organized are run by pupils and teachers jointly. However there is still work to be done in ensuring full integration of the programme within the curricula.

10. Peer education and communication has been recognized as a critical methodology for behaviour change among young people. The network of peer educators is enlarging, however the initiatives are still sporadic and campaign oriented. Y-PEER network (network of peer educators) is present almost in all countries in the region and is working on strengthening the quality of scope of peer education. As result of that action and in partnership between UNICEF, UNFPA and USAID, the standards for peer education has been developed in Serbia. Peer education programmes are also targeting especially vulnerable groups of young people such as Roma and young people living with disabilities.

11. Programmes, peer education and outreach that are focused on reaching especially vulnerable, hard to reach and most at risk adolescents for HIV are just starting. The social exclusion and stigmatisation are rather high which further intensifies the problem. There is just a hand full of initiatives with young Roma, young people living with disabilities, street children, while programmes for those highly in risk are mainly focused for adults. Increase in substance use among young people is important. Recent research finds that the usage of illegal drugs is 23.7% among young male and 12.8% among young female in Serbia (15-24 year of age). The reasons are various but certainly the increased access and lack of alternatives are one of the reasons. Unfortunately service provision in this area remains poor.

12. The concept of youth friendly counselling services for adolescents - as part of the primary health care - has been officially endorsed by the Government in Serbia. In the last 5 years in more than 20 cities counselling services for youth have been established working on, primarily, improving the reproductive health of the young ones.

Reporting committee: Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee

Reference to committee: Doc. 10629, Reference No. 3128 of 1 September 2005

Draft resolution adopted unanimously by the Committee on 26 June 2007

Members of the Committee: Mrs Lajla Pernaska (Présidente), Mrs Christine McCafferty (1^st Vice-chair), Mr Cezar Florin Preda (2^nd Vice-chair), Mr Michael Hancock (3^rd Vice-chair), Mr Farkhad Akhmedov (Alternate: Mrs Tatiana Popova), Mr Vicenç Alay Ferrer, Mrs Sirpa Asko-Seljavaara, Mr Jorodd Asphjell, Mr Zigmantas Balčytis, Mr Miguel Barceló Pérez, Mr Andris Berzinš, Mr Jaime Blanco García, Mrs Raisa Bohatyryova, Mrs Monika Brüning, Mr Igor Chernyshenko, Mr Dessislav Chukolov, Mrs Minodora Cliveti, Mr Imre Czinege, Mrs Helen D’Amato, Mr Dirk Dees, Mr Stepan Demirchyan, Mr Karl Donabauer, Mr Ioannis Dragassakis, Mr Claude Evin, Mrs Daniela Filipiová, Mr Ilja Filipović, Mr Paul Flynn, Mrs Doris Frommelt, Mr Renato Galeazzi, Mr Jean-Marie Geveaux, Mr Stepan Glăvan, Mr Marcel Glesener, Mrs Claude Greff, Mr Tony Gregory, Mr Ali Riza Gülçiçek, Mr Jean-Marie Happart, Mrs Olha Herasym’yuk, Mr Ali Huseynov, Mr Fazail Ibrahimli, Mr Mustafa Ilicali, Mrs Halide Incekara, Mr Denis Jacquat, Mrs Corien W.A. Jonker (Alternate: Mr Tiny Kox), Mrs Krinio Kanellopoulou, Mr Marek Kawa, Mr András Kelemen, Baroness Knight of Collingtree, Mr Slaven Letica, Mr Jan Filip Libicki, Mr Ewald Lindinger, Mr Gadzhy Makhachev, Mr Andrija Mandic, Mr Bernard Marquet, Mr Ruzhdi Matoshi, Mr Philippe Monfils, Mr Donato Mosella, Mrs Maia Nadiradzé, Mrs Carina Ohlsson, Mrs Vera Oskina, Mrs Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin, Mr Adoración Quesada Bravo, Mr Vjerica Radeta, Mr Walter Riester, Mr Andrea Rigoni, Mr Ricardo Rodrigues, Mrs Maria de Belém Roseira, Mr Alessandro Rossi, Mrs Marlene Rupprecht, Mr Indrek Saar, Mr Fidias Sarikas, Mr Walter Schmied (Alternate: Mr John Dupraz), Mr Ellert Schram, Mr Gianpaolo Silvestri, Mr Hans Kristian Skibby, Mrs Michaela Soidrova, Mrs Darinka Stantcheva, Mrs Ewa Tomaszewka, Mr Oleg Tulea, Mr Alexander Ulrich, Mr Milan Urbáni, Mrs Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold, Mrs Nastaša Vučković, Mr Victor Yanukovych (Alternate: Mr Ivan Popescu), Mrs Barbara Žgajner-Tavš.

N.B.: The names of the members who took part in the meeting are printed in bold

Head of the Secretariat: Mr Géza Mezei

Secretaries of the Committee: Mrs Agnès Nollinger, Mrs Christine Meunier

¹ UNICEF Humanitarian Action Report 2005, “Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of independent States and the Baltic States”. The final status of Kosovo is – as of 2006 – still to be defined. See “Cette question albanaise qui hante les Balkans”, in L’Atlas du Monde diplomatique, Hors-Série, 2006.

² Commission on Human Rights, Sixty-second session, Report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the Sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Juan Miguel Petit, Mission to Albania from 31 October to 7 November 2005, E/CN.4/2006/67/Add.2, 27 March 2006.

³ E/CN.4/2006/67/Add.2, page 7.

⁴ See UNICEF website by country : www.unicef.org.

⁵ See UNICEF website on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

⁶ Save the Children, A last Resort. Save the Children’s position on children in residential care, 2004.

⁷ Hereafter, meaning Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro.

⁸ The UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (known as the Palermo Protocol, supplementing the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime), article 3.

⁹ http://www.coe.int/T/E/human_rights/trafficking/PDF_Conv_197_Trafficking_E.pdf.

¹⁰ For more information on the strategy, please see http://ue.eu.int/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/hr/news65.pdf.

¹¹ The definition of 'psychosocial' was agreed at a meeting in Cape Town to discuss issues affecting child soldiers: UNICEF, Symposium on the Prevention of Recruitment of Children into the Armed Forces and Demobilisation and Social Reintegration of Child Soldiers in Africa. Cape Town, South Africa, New York, 1997.

¹² http://www.churchworldservice.org/Balkans/2004/children.html. Church World Service, Balkan Annual Report, 2004.

¹³ The report – the third and last of a series – released in 2005 and entitled Trafficking in Human Beings, 2004 - Focus on Prevention in Albania, BiH, Bulgaria, Croatia, FYRoM, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, The UN Administered Province of Kosovo, is a joint publication of UNICEF, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The report is available online at http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/media_1566.html.

¹⁴ A previous report, from 2001, stated that : “Girls from Eastern Europe are first brought to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo or Albania where they are sold to local gangs to be trafficked to Western Europe for commercial sexual exploitation” (see IOM, Victims of Trafficking in the Balkans, 2001).

¹⁵ E/CN.4/2006/67/Add.2, page 24.

¹⁶ UNICEF, UNOHCHR, OSCE/ODIHR, Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe, 2002, p.11 In 2001/2002, within the framework of the Stability Pact Trafficking Task Force, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) commissioned this joint report. The report presents the situation of and responses to trafficking in human beings in SEE countries.

¹⁷ UNICEF, Children affected by armed conflict: UNICEF actions, May 2002, p. 65.

¹⁸ Human Rights Watch, Hopes Betrayed: Trafficking of Women and Girls to Post-Conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina for Forced Prostitution, 2002, 75 pages.

¹⁹ Concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2005.

²⁰ See UNICEF, Trafficking in Children in Kosovo, July 2004, 88 pages.

²¹ See Special Report from UNHCR : 2005 Global Refugee Trends: Statistical overview of populations of refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons, stateless persons, and other persons of concern to UNHCR, July 2005.

²² http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/doc01/EDOC8942.htm Report submitted to the parliamentary assembly from the Council of Europe, “Situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – recent developments”, Doc. 8942, 23 January 2001.

²³ http://www.unicef.org/kosovo/press_release_roma_IDPs.pdf.

²⁴ E/CN.4/2006/67/Add.2, page 13.

²⁵ E/CN.4/2006/67/Add.2, page 20.

²⁶ Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Albania, adopted at its 1025th meeting (see CRC/C/SR.1025), held on 28 January 2005.

²⁷ Press release, Roma children and about the research “Inclusion of Roma children into education system in BIH“, conducted by NGO „Budimo aktivni“, financially supported by UNICEF and EC, December 2005 http://www.unicef.org/bih/media_4068.html.

²⁸ HRW, Empty Words and Unmet Promises : Dayton and human rights--ten years later, by Bogdan Ivanisevic, Human Rights Watch researcher on the former Yugoslavia, 2005.

²⁹ http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/scuk/jsp/wherewework.

³⁰ See Profile of Internal Displacement: Serbia and Montenegro. Compilation of information available in the Global IDP Database of the Norwegian Refuge Council (as of 27 September, 2005).

³¹ See Profile of Internal Displacement: Serbia and Montenegro. Compilation of information available in the Global IDP Database of the Norwegian Refuge Council (as of 27 September, 2005).

³² See Report from Women’s Commission, Refugees and Internally Displaced Women and Children in Serbia and Montenegro, September 2001, pp 16-17.

³³ UNICEF in action, http://www.unicef.org/kosovo/adolescence_3484.html.

³⁴ See http://www.dtv.co.yu/bdm.htm.

³⁵ See “Evaluation report in CEE/CIS: Young People's Participation in the CEE/CIS Region”, UNICEF, 2005 at http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/index_29603.html.

³⁶ http://www.unicef.org/lifeskills/.

³⁷ See UNICEF, Children affected by armed conflict: UNICEF actions, May 2002, p. 79.

³⁸ UNICEF press release, UNICEF and Belgrade marathon for school without violence, 4 April 2006.

^[1] Evaluative Review of Active Learning in Serbia and Montenegro 1994-2004, UNICEF 2004.

^[2] Civic Education in Primary and Secondary Education Schools in the Republic of Serbia, UNICEF,UNESCO, Fund for an Open Society and OSI, 2002.