Praxis
Praxis Presented Reports on Statelessness and Child, Early and Forced Marriages
On the occasion of the completion of the project “Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia”, funded by UNHCR, Praxis held a conference on 20 December 2016, with an idea to point at problems and challenges faced by the Roma community in access to status rights, and to present the activities carried out in the field of child, early and forced marriages. Praxis presented also the reports “Analysis of the Procedures for Determining the Date and Place of Birth and for the Exercise of the Rights to Citizenship and Registration of Permanent Residence” and “Child, Early and Forced Marriages are Not a Private Family Matter”.
The presentation of reports was concluded with the discussion of the participants who emphasized the importance of joint and coordinated acting at all levels, which should include the conclusion of formal agreements on joint acting, with the note that holistic approach to the problems is the guarantee of success, regardless of whether it is the exercise or prevention of the violation of rights.
For more information, see the related announcement here.
Children Are Children Every Day
Today, 27 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we are still talking about legally invisible children, children without a name and date of birth, children without identity. "You exist, but as if you were not present in this world.”, legally invisible R. B. from an informal Roma settlement near Belgrade would say.
The violation of the rights of girls and boys to the development and timely education are still justified by the common law of the Roma community, and we tacitly allow that child, early and forced marriages are an everyday life for a significant number of Roma children, denying them thus an opportunity to enjoy their childhood and the freedom of choice. ”You are a child, and then you are a woman. You are never a girl!”, M. A., a young girl from an informal Roma settlement in central Serbia would say. M. A. “got married” when she was 13, and became a mother for the first time when she was 14. Today, she dreams that her daughter has a childhood, finishes the university, becomes a successful woman who had a chance to choose her future.
Thousands of refugee children are still exposed to numerous risks and dangers every day."I do not know what to do now, but I have no choice, I have to try to cross the border.", a sixteen-year-old unaccompanied minor, A. H. from Afghanistan said.
Children are children every day. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
For more information, see the related announcement here.
Say NO – BECAUSE I am a CHILD
In order to raise awareness of professional and wider public about the need for prevention and elimination of child, early and forced marriages (CEFM), throughout this week Praxis will point at various aspects of this phenomenon, ranging from statistical data, over causes and consequences, to the main conclusions and recommendations for further activities, in a form of short messages and charts that will be shared on social media.
The CEFM problem in Serbia is mainly recognized as part of Roma tradition, which also pervades all aspects of child development, is one of the possible causes of statelessness, endangers the mental and physical health of girls, puts them at a greater risk of domestic violence, leads to increased rates of school drop-out, which together lead to a vicious cycle of poverty and economic dependence of women.
The activities performed by Praxis throughout 2016 with the financial support of UNHCR are aimed at raising awareness of children and parents, professional and wider public, about the risks and consequences of CEFM, as well as at advocating for prevention and elimination of this problem.
For more information, see the related announcement here.
Young Ambassadors Combat against Childhood Statelessness
In Brussels, on 11-13 July 2016, #StatelessKids Youth Congress was organized by the European Network on Statelessness. Praxis’ Executive Director, Ivanka Kostic, took part in this congress.
This was the first youth congress on statelessness, which gathered 35 young people and experts in this field from Spain, Portugal, Poland, Albania, Switzerland, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Holland, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Slovenia, Macedonia and Serbia. The congress was held in the premises of the Maastricht University in Brussels.
Two young ambassadors from Serbia - Ivana Radojkovic and Dijana Dackovic took part in the congress.
For more information, see here.
The ERRC and Praxis submitted their comments concerning Serbia for consideration by the Committee on the Rights of the Child
The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and Praxis respectfully submitted their written comments concerning Serbia for consideration by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at its Concluding Observations of the 74th Session, which will be held from 16 January to 3 February 2017.
The ERRC and Praxis have undertaken regular monitoring of the human rights situation of Roma in Serbia and this report reflects the current priorities in our work in Serbia.
For more information, see the related announcement here.
On the Occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Roma girls in Serbia are “getting married” under the pretext that these marriages are a part of the tradition of the Roma community. Child, early and forced marriages represent violation of the girls’ rights, they endanger their mental and physical health, expose them to a greater risk of domestic violence, lead to increased rates of school drop-out, and, later, to poverty and their economic dependence on a husband and the community. As such, they represent severe violation of women’s human rights.
Therefore, we would like to draw attention to the fact that it is necessary to prevent further neglect and abuse of girls who become victims of the emotional, mental and physical violence due to this harmful traditional practice.
For more information, see the related announcement here.
Presentation of Project “Improving the Equality Legal and Policy Framework in Serbia and Monitoring Implementation of Equality Norms and Policies“
The project "Improving the equality legal and policy framework in Serbia and monitoring implementation of equality norms and policies", implemented by Praxis, the Sandžak Committee for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms from Novi Pazar and the Equal Rights Trust from London, was presented in the Multimedia Centre Gallery in Novi Pazar on 8 February 2017. The project is financed by the European Union for the period December 2016 - December 2018.
Semiha Kačar - President of the Sandžak Committee for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, Vuk Raičević - Antidiscrimination and Gender Equality Programme Coordinator in Praxis and Joanna Whiteman - Co-director of the Equal Rights Trust spoke about the project and its objectives.
The overall objective of the project is to provide protection against all forms of discrimination in Serbia through legal and political reforms. The specific objective of the project is to improve the legal framework in the field of anti-discrimination and equality, as well as to support the civil society in Serbia to recognise discrimination and use the available mechanisms for protection against discrimination.
Non-governmental organisations at the local level will have the opportunity to actively participate in the implementation of certain project activities, such as organising advocacy campaigns, monitoring and documenting cases of discrimination, for which certain funds will be allocated.
See the footage of RTV Novi Pazar here.
See the footage of SANA PRESS here.
Vitro Fertilization Enabled to Internally Displaced Persons in Kraljevo
At the session held at the end of September 2016, the Assembly of the City of Kraljevo adopted a decision on exercise of the right to compensation of costs of vitro fertilization, with an intention to determine the wider rights than the compulsory health insurance rights, aimed at including a larger number of couples in the procedure of vitro fertilization. Despite that, the decision envisages that a couple can exercise this right only if they have permanent residence registered at the territory of the City of Kraljevo for at least three years prior to submitting a request, which ruled out the possibility that internally displaced persons residing in the territory of the City of Kraljevo for more than three years, nearly 20,000 of them, also exercise this right.
Praxis has filed a complaint to the Commissioner for Protection of Equality. The Assembly of the City of Kraljevo has, meanwhile, changed the impugned decision and thus expressed its willingness to provide the exercise of the right to reimbursement of costs for vitro fertilization to all citizens under equal conditions.
Even though Praxis has withdrawn the complaint, it is important to point out that the adoption of decision that essentially improve the position of individuals and groups, such as the above stated case, can cause distortion of the principle of equality regardless of the intention of decision makers. They need to pay special attention to it, especially having in mind the position of the vulnerable individuals and groups such as internally displaced persons.
For more information, see the related announcement here.
IDPs still seeking housing solutions and documentation to access their rights
NOTE: In 2008 Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. The United Nations General Assembly subsequently voted to refer the independence declaration to the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion. As of December 2009, 64 countries had recognised Kosovo. For the purpose of this overview references to the situation in “Serbia” since 2008 do not include Kosovo.
In 1999, over 245,000 members of local minorities fled from or within Kosovo in fear of reprisals from the majority Albanian population after NATO air strikes forced the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops and ended years of oppression of ethnic Albanians. Kosovo’s declaration of independence in February 2008 created new uncertainty for those still displaced, but there have been no major incidents targeting minority communities and no further displacement. Serbia has not recognised the independence of Kosovo, continuing to regard it as a United Nations governed entity within its sovereign territory.
Download HERE.
Praxis in the RTS Show Tako stoje stvari (That's the way things are)
Marija Dražović, Praxis Legal Advisor, participated in the RTS show Tako stoje stvari (That's the way things are) and talked about the problems faced by people with expired ID cards.
You can see the show at this link.
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