The Deputy Protector of Citizens, Jelena Stojanović, said today that the inclusion of children and young people in the work of this institution proved to be effective in the area of protecting children's rights, as guidelines for improving the situation in that area were created based on their opinions and attitudes.
"You are our ears on the ground, and from you we learn in which areas and what the Protector of Citizens should do in the future regarding the protection of children's rights. We receive important information from you about how much and in what way children's rights are respected and which areas need to be improved", Stojanović said in an address to the participants of the Summer School of the Protector of Citizens on children's rights.
At the opening of the Summer School in Novi Sad, Stojanović reminded that the Protector of Citizens established the Youth Advisory Panel of the Protector of Citizens in 2010 as a permanent form of participation of children and young people in the work of this institution.
More than 20 primary and secondary school students from all over Serbia will attend the Summer School of the Protector of Citizens on children's rights, from 12 to 16 September 2022.
Participants of the Summer School of the Protector of Citizens will receive training from experts in the field of human rights protection and from expert associates of the institution of the Protector of Citizens, acquiring knowledge and skills that they will pass on to their peers in the local areas in which they live.
During the Summer School, children and young people will be introduced to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and they will also learn how to recognize violence in schools and sexual violence, as well as about situations in which they can become victims of trafficking in human beings, how to report these forms of violence and how to protect themselves from it.
Also, students will be familiarized with the position of child victims of human trafficking and children on the street, as well as with the position of people with disabilities and the elderly, with special reference to the position of elderly women in the countryside.
Children and young people will also be trained in public speaking, which will make it easier for them to pass on the knowledge they acquire during the Summer School of the Protector of Citizens to their peers in schools at workshops that they will hold together with the Protector of Citizens.
The Summer School of the Protector of Citizens is realized within the project "Children to children – know your rights" which is financed by the Bulgarian Development Aid.