Chairperson of the Committee on Human Rights and Freedoms Mr Halil Duković will participate in the gathering on the topic “Supporting children and young people to live independently after leaving state care”, organised by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and UNICEF Office to Montenegro.

The gathering will be held in hotel “Ramada”, Podgorica, on 13 May 2016, starting at 11.00h.

The gathering will present results of the study: “Leaving institutional care: Analysis of policies, institutional framework and practices”, conducted by the NGO “Juventas” with the support of the UNICEF. The aim of this study, conducted in 2014, was drafting recommendations for improving the support services available to children and the youth after leaving state care system. The main findings of the study confirmed the findings of similar studies conducted globally, Montenegrin youth who leave formal care face a number of challenges, including loneliness, unemployment, poverty, lack of support or access to services for psycho-social protection.

In addition, during the gathering, the experience and best practice of Northern Ireland in protecting rights of youth who aged out of state care will be presented, as well as experience of young organisation “Nikad sami - uvijek svoji, which brings together the youth of Montenegro that aged out of state care.