Children in B-H Parliament: Take better care of us

„From this place, we want to ask you to take better care of us, the children of this country. We are not only the future, we also are the present. And what are we looking for? We do not know by heart what the millennium goals, we do not know by heart action plans that you are making for us, but we know what we feel, and that is that we need a family, security, fully equipped hospitals, free medicines for those who are vulnerable, vaccines for newborns, house or apartment to live in…,” Melisa Hadzic, pupil of primary school Kreka from Tuzla said in her address in the Parliament of Bosnia and Hercegovina.

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Her speech was part of the program marking the 20th November, anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Children's Day. The program started on November 19 with a series of events, including a thematic session of the Joint Commission for Human Rights, Child Rights, Youth, Immigration, Refugees, Asylum and Ethics in the Parliament of Bosnia and Hercegovina (B-H), which was an opportunity for children to express their own views, concerns and offer possible solutions to challenges they face. The participants of this session were B-H Institution of Ombudsman for Human Rights, students from high school ''Mihailo Petrovic Alas'' from Ugljevik, high school ''Ivo Andric'' from Visegrad, Primary school Kardinala Stepinca from Neum, Cazin Gymnasium, Gymnasium ''Musa Cazim Catic'' from Tesanj, High School Capljina and primary school "Kreka" from Tuzla, and representatives of civil society, children's groups and the Coalition Stronger Voice for Children will participate in this session. 

As a part of marking the International Children's Day, the Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman of B-H promoted special report “Children in conflicting divorces” with recommendations for institutions and experts involved in child protection procedures in cases of divorces. Additionally, Save the Children in North West Balkans also published a translation of Save the Children report Millennium Kid: Fighting to Save Children’s Lives. This is a child friendly report in a form of graphic novel, adapted from Save the Children’s report Lives on the Line: An Agenda to end preventable child deaths.