Let's not allow children to suffer in silence, while perpetrators remain unpunished!
Celebrating the Children’s' Week - Public announcement by the Association Vesta
According to the official data by the BiH Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees, by the end of 2012, some 6.000 cases of violence against children were registered in BiH! It is believed that, at the same time, many more children suffer in silence. Violence against children is far more prevalent than we think! Most often, it is hidden behind the closed doors and is inflicted by those to whom the children should be able to trust – parents, family members, teachers, peers. Consequences of violence against children are far reaching for the individual, but also the community and society at large.
To mark this year's Children’s' Week, Association Vesta and Radio Vesta have, from 1 – 5 October 2012, convened a series of informative/educational radio shows on the topic of the position and rights of the child in BiH, with specific focus on the issue of violence against children. Participants in these specially dedicated radio features was taken by a number of representatives from relevant state institutions and services, as well as established civil society organisations active in the field of monitoring, promotion and protection of the rights of the child. The Children's Week is an opportunity to, much louder, highlight the state's obligation to honour and implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in all segments of life.
Let's not allow the children to suffer in silence, while perpetrators remain unpunished and system indifferent to this very important problem!!
We therefore, take this opportunity to remind of the importance of and urgency in adoption of the state Strategy in combating violence against children in BiH 2011-2015 which, with two-year-long delay, should soon find itself before the BiH Council of Ministers.
As part of the wider programme aimed at protection of child rights in BiH, Association Vesta, in partnership with the Association 'Zemlja djece' Tuzla and the state Ministry for Human Rights and refugees implements the project 'Strengthening to role of civil society organisations in monitoring of the state Strategy for combating violence against children in BiH 2011-2015' , financed by the European Union, in the value of 134,730 EUR. Implementation of the project will contribute to strengthening the role of CSOs in promotion, monitoring and identification of problems in protection of the human rights of children, as well as reporting on the situation in this area. The project also strengthens the mechanisms of cooperation between the state MHRR and CSOs. Civil society organisations will, with strengthened capacities, participate in monitoring of the implementation of the said Strategy and preparation of the Shadow Report which will, together with the Report by the responsible Ministry be submitted to the UN Committee for the Rights of the Child.
