Chairperson of the Committee on Human Rights and Freedoms Mr Halil Duković participated in the event organised by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and UNICEF Office to Montenegro within continuation of the campaign “Every Child Needs a Family”, held on 28 September 2015 in the Montenegrin National Theatre.

The campaign “Every Child Needs a Family” was launched by the Government of Montenegro, UNICEF and EU Delegation to Montenegro in September 2013, and it was joined by the Committee on Human Rights and Freedoms which, in cooperation with UNICEF Office, organised a public debate “Rights of the Child - Foster Care” in Herceg Novi on 2 March 2015.   

Following the streaming of a new TV video on foster care, Ms Zorica Kovačević, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, and Mr Benjamin Perks, Head of UNICEF Office to Montenegro, gave their speeches on development of foster care in Montenegro, and the participants were also addressed by Mr Nicholas Lyndhurst, actor famous for his role as Rodney Trotter in BBC’s TV series “Only Fools and Horses”, who has already stayed in Montenegro in 2013, on the occasion of launching of the campaign.

Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Ms Zorica Kovačević pointed out that Montenegro was dedicated to the issue of decreasing placement of children in institutions, as well as the issues of social and child protection. In accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, it is necessary to enable children to grow up in their biological families whenever possible, and when it is in their best interest, and children up to the age of three should be provided with housing in institutions only when all other options have been exhausted. Presenting the statistical data, she pointed out the improvement of the situation in this field in Montenegro. She said that the number of children placed with foster families in the period 2008-2015 in Montenegro was increased for 38%, while the number of children placed in the Children’s Home “Mladost” in Bijela in the same period was decreased for 46%. The goal of this campaign undertaken by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare in cooperation with UNICEF is to have no children up to the age of three be placed in the institutions.

The Minister of Labour and Social Welfare reminded of the results of research on knowledge, views, and behaviour of citizens of Montenegro regarding children without parental care, conducted in February 2014, which have shown that, under the influence of campaign “Every Child Needs a Family” awareness among the citizens was raised on the basic human right and the need of every child to grow up in a warm family environment. The most significant result of this campaign is that the number of children placed in non-kinship foster families has increased for 200% in relation to the period before the campaign, which is supported by the fact that before the campaign fourteen children were in non-kinship foster families, and 42 children in the beginning of 2015.

The Minister of Labour and Social Welfare pointed out that, during the campaign, all centres for social work in Montenegro organised events called “Open Doors Day” where the interested citizens and potential foster parents could get detailed information on foster care.  In order to promote the protection of children, improve the living conditions, and support development of children and youth in foster families, in accordance with their potential, the following was defined: structural and functional standards for foster care, training programme, and preparation of potential foster parents; training of professionals was conducted for application of foster care standards, as well as for assessment of needs of children, their best interest, and planning of their protection.

The Minister concluded that the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare will continue, in the following period as well, with activities on raising awareness of the public about the significance of children’s growing up in a family.

Mr Benjamin Perks, Head of UNICEF Office to Montenegro, said that when he talked about foster care he usually talked about human rights and social justice, but that is was also necessary to talk about love that children without parental care lacked and their hope that they would become a part of a family.  Parental love is essential for children, just as water and air are essential to them. He cited a fact that in Central and East Europe about a million of children are placed in institutions, half of which are children with disabilities. He emphasised that the staff in institutions, regardless of how well they did their jobs, were not able to give the children love that would be given by family members. In that respect, he presented the image of a scanned brain of a child growing up in a family, and of a child aged 3 growing up in an institution, where differences in development of the emotional region of the brain could be easily seen. He pointed out that since 2008, the number of children placed in the Children’s Home “Mladost” nearly halved, and he hoped that by 2017 no child aged 0-3 would be placed in institutions. Having in mind the significance of family in Montenegrin society, he is convinced that precisely Montenegro could become the first country in the region in which no child up to three years of age would be placed in institutions. He concluded that the basic human right of every child is to live and grow up in a family.

Mr Nicholas Lyndhurst, English actor and promoter of the campaign “Every Child Needs a Family” pointed out that it was not enough to say that every child needs a family but also that every family needs a child, pointing out that his role as a parent had been his favourite role he ever had. He invited all people who were capable of becoming foster parents to do so, and pointed out that all that is required for that was a big heart. He previously met the foster parents from Montenegro and he was delighted with joy and smiles on their faces when they spoke of their foster children.

Within the programme, there was also a drama-dance performance “I am Hope” by Ms Sanja Garić and ballet to the song of Ms Ana Štefor “To you, Mom” with choreography by Ms Viktorija Strugar.