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Working together all of us can bring a prosperous world
to the children! "HELP
THE CHILDREN"
Electronic
Newsletter of
The Children's Human Rights Centre of Albania - (CRCA) Financed by UK Department for International Development
Humanitarian Office (DFID) This Electronic Newsletter is received by more than 350
Albanian and Foreign NGO's, international organisations and agencies,
state bodies, donors individuals and other partners of CRCA. If you
would like to publish your news, reports, announcements, invitations or
other documents concerning children's rights or issues, please contact
with CRCA. # 83 - 10/04/2000
#1 - 19/05/1999 IN
THIS ISSUE: ************************************************************************************************************** - DRAFT LAW ON CHILDREN'S RIGHTS IN ALBANIA Parliament to start soon the discussion process ************************************************************************************************************** - CRCA OFFERS ITS LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO CHILDRE ************************************************************************************************************** - UNICEF UPDATE – BALKANS ************************************************************************************************************** - NEW REPORT ON CHILD LABOUR ALBANIA ISSUED ************************************************************************************************************** - OVERVIEW OF
CRCA ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER ************************************************************************************************************** DRAFT LAW ON CHILDREN'S RIGHTS IN ALBANIA Tirana
- On 5th of April after a meeting of the representatives and lawyers of
the Children's Human Rights Centre of Albania - CRCA with the Ms. Natasha
Paço, Chairlady of the sub Commission for Youth and Women of the Albanian
Parliament, both parties agreed to go ahead for the proposal to the the
Parliament for the approval of the draft law "For children's rights
in Albania". Within
a month CRCA and the Chairlady of the sub Commission for Youth and Women
will organise an open meeting with the participation of all
Parliamentarians, civil society in order to lobby and discuss on the draft
law and on the procedures of the approval. After this open meeting the Sub
Commission will pass the draft law for disscussion at the other
Parliamentary Commissions. The
draft law was sent in November 1999 to the Parliament, but since than
little was done by the Parliamentary Commissions to starts discussions on
the draft presented by CRCA. The draft law has been passing a long process
of discusions within the Albanian civil society, state bodies and
international organisations. At the end of such a processe CRCA prepared a
second draft of the law, that was sent to the Parliament. However the
NGO's in Albania do not have the right to propose a law for approval to
the Parliament and for that reason was agreed with the Parliamentary Lobby
for Children's Rights (in the Albanian Parliament) that they will be the
one to pass the draft for approval. Members of this Lobby are well known
Parliamentarians from different Commissions. The
law "For Children's Rights in Albania" is very important because
it offers to the children all over the country methods and means for the
protection of their rights and also takes into consideration the
application of principals of CRC and many other conventions such as 138
and 182 of ILO, Beijing rules etc. The
law, when approved by the Parliament, will establish the institution of
Albanian Children's Commissioner (Ombudsman) who is judged as very
important for the protection and development of children's rights in the
country. For this reasons CRCA lawyers are working on another draft law on
Children's Commissioner that will accompany the establishment of the
institution when the draft law "For children's rights in
Albania". The
preparation of the draft law "For children's rights in Albania"
has been financed by the European Commission of the European Union. For
more on the current issue please contact: Information
Centre for Children's Rights in Albania - ICCRA Address:
Kutia Postare 1738, Tirana / Albania Phone
/ Fax: ++ 355 42 30760 E-mail:
albchild@albaniaonline.net CRCA OFFERS ITS LEGAL ASSISTANCEFREE OF CHARGE TO CHILDREN The
Children's Human Rights Centre of Albania - CRCA is pleased to announce to
all NGO's and other persons all over Albania that since March 2000 is
offering its legal assistance to children from three specialised lawyers
on CRC in three Albanian cities: Tirana, Shkodra and Gjirokastra. The
lawyers will offer their legal assistance to the children also in Permet,
Tepelena, Saranda, Elbasan, Durres, Lezhe, Malesi e Madhe etc. All lawyers
offer their legal assistance to children and their families free of
charge. By legal assistance we mean the legal advising and legal
protection in the court of every child or parent that will request for
lawyers assistance. The
legal assistance is a project of CRCA in partnership with Save the
Children in Albania (SCiA). All
the NGO's or persons that are currently working with children who are in
conflict with the law or need the legal assistance / advise may contact
with CRCA at any time to ask for the assistance of the three lawyers in
Tirana, Shkodra and Gjirokastra. By the other side CRCA is thinking to
offer the lagal its work at other Albanian cities such as Korça, Vlora,
Kukes. The objective of this project is to offer
legal assistance to children below 18 and also to establish a network of
lawyers who can protect children all over Albania from violence and crime. For more please contact Qendra
per Mbrojtjen e te Drejtave te Femijeve ne Shqiperi - CRCA Adresa:
Kutia Postare 1738, Tirane Tel
/ Fax: 042 30760 E-mail:
crca@adanet.com.al E-mail:
albchild@albaniaonline.net E-mail:
crca@albaniaonline.net UNICEF UPDATE - BALKANS Background
A year has passed since the start of NATO
action in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and the massive
humanitarian relief effort that followed. The ancient hostilities which
generated last year's intense violence have not abated. Today the struggle
to achieve normalcy and restore hope, particularly for the region's
children, continues. And for UNICEF, which was there at the start of the
emergency, it remains a compelling priority. UNICEF operates from seven major offices in
the Balkan region, including Belgrade, Podgorica, Pristina, Sarajevo,
Skopje, Tirana and Zagreb. Its programmes focus on the health,
development, protection and general welfare of children and women
throughout the region. Following is a summary of UNICEF activities during
the past year. Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (excluding Kosovo)
The UNICEF Office remained operational during
the NATO campaign. After the NATO campaign, faced with massive internal
displacement, UNICEF worked to meet the basic needs of internally
displaced persons, as well as affected local children, by providing
disinfectant, clothes, shoes and hygiene items. Special attention was paid
to education. UNICEF funded the repair of more than 45 schools, provided
classroom furniture, teaching aids, school kits and textbooks for some
55,000 internally displaced primary school children. Both during the NATO action and in its
aftermath, in response to the influx of displaced people, UNICEF assumed
responsibilities when childcare institutions were largely paralysed. Child
care professionals were assisted in coping with burn-out symptoms, while
teachers were trained to cope with the demanding post-crisis school
environment and provide psychosocial support to some 20,000 children. Full
immunisation of all internally displaced children was undertaken. UN-administered province of Kosovo One million Kosovars were affected by the
upheaval, half of them children. Children and women who were exposed to
direct violence suffered severe trauma and stress. As part of its assistance, UNICEF has
increased its material and training support for immunization, mother and
child healthcare and safe motherhood. The agency has delivered some 60
metric tonnes of medical supplies, including basic health emergency kits,
generators and essential drugs. UNICEF also established a Social Welfare
team to counsel at-risk pregnant women in five key hospitals. Disrupted primary education services have been
reactivated through emergency rehabilitation of schools. Some 385 school
buildings - more than a third of those damaged - have been repaired so far
and 97 per cent of children returned to school in time for the new school
year in September 1999. UNICEF managed the caseload of abandoned
babies in Pristina Hospital in cooperation with Save the Children. The
agency also helped rehabilitate kindergartens, established monitoring
systems for disabled children, trained facilitators and care providers,
and delivered clothes and toys. UNICEF also counsels child casualties of mine accidents in
Pristina hospital. Albania Some 3,000 refugees from Kosovo remain in the
country. Although there are signs that Albania's economy has improved
since last year's conflict, health and social indicators remain relatively
poor. An estimated 30,000 young Albanian women are working as prostitutes
in Western Europe, many having been forcibly trafficked. Up to 6,000
children may be in hiding as a result of traditional Albanian blood feuds. No separate criminal
justice system serves young offenders and 270 minors are currently held in
adult jails. Widespread poverty, crime, violence,
environmental degradation and community lethargy all affect children.
Nonetheless, UNICEF has helped to carefully re-craft informal children's
community services in some of the most vulnerable areas of the country.
Timely mobilization of hitherto poorly organized civil society has helped
avert epidemics and potential nutritional problems. UNICEF has also helped re-establish a secure, normalized
environment for children in a number of primary schools and kindergartens.
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Refugee camps were closed in December 1999 but
there remain some 20,000 refugees (of the 250,000 at the height of the
crisis) who are living with host families and in ten collective centres. UNICEF has made normalization a priority in
its work with children. In one important and highly effective move, mobile
playgroups were established in all camps. Also, 95 per cent of refugee
children in camps and 63 per cent in host families were vaccinated. UNICEF
set up the largest primary school in Europe in Cegrane camp, enrolling
almost 5,000 children. The headmaster and 164 teachers were recruited from
among the refugee population. Today 85 per cent of refugee children of
primary school age are enrolled and infrastructure assistance has been
provided to numerous education facilities. Some 1 million mine awareness
posters and leaflets have been produced and distributed. And 26,000
refugee children and women have received psychosocial support in the form
of counselling and group work aimed at helping trauma victims get on with
their lives. Bosnia and Herzegovina This area's own recovery was complicated by
the influx of refugees from the Kosovo crisis. The new flood strained
already weak infrastructures, and child services in Bosnia and Herzegovina
are still struggling to accommodate the older caseload of IDPs, refugees
and socially vulnerable groups. The problem has been exacerbated by a
reduction in international aid. In addition, some 24,000 Kosovar refugees
remain. In response to this difficult situation,
UNICEF very quickly established immunisation for children, provided
necessary basic drugs and hygiene items and addressed education and
psychosocial needs of refugee children. UNICEF worked closely with its
government counterparts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, both at the local and
central level, and with local and international NGOs to provide targeted assistance to the most needy.
UNICEF also organized Schools for Pregnant
Women in five centres in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where
teams of paediatricians, gynaecologists and nurses provided health
information and medical assistance to pregnant women and distributed
valuable hygiene items. Croatia Most of the 6,000 Kosovar refugees hosted by
Croatia have returned to Kosovo. UNICEF programmes continue to focus on
the plight of children and families in areas of Croatia affected by the
1991-95 wars. With mines littering 11 per cent of the country, landmines
awareness among children remains a priority. High levels of stress and
trauma among war-affected children are addressed through education and
psychosocial programmes. Some 98 per cent of children are enrolled in
school. Other key UNICEF programmes focus on promoting healthy lifestyles
and children's rights. Recent progress towards democratization offers
promising signs of development for children. UNICEF Plans for Coming Months Below is a selected list of intended
initiatives in the region: - Programmes for the prevention, control and
eradication of measles; - Surveys relating to the prevention of
HIV/AIDS; UNICEF will also run awareness activities for adolescents on the
prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS; - Continued provision of psychosocial
assistance to children; - Continued child media projects to promote
child rights issues and provide adequate educational and survival
messages; - Continued work to rehabilitate school
buildings and improve the quality of education services; continued
distribution of school furniture, teaching aids and school kits, and
support to local authorities in the provision of textbooks; - Continued support of health care services,
provision of vaccines, essential drugs and disposable and basic medical
supplies, and restoration of the vaccine cold chain; provision of health
and hygiene education; - Support the capacity of social welfare
centres to provide social assistance; - Access to health care services for all.
Working in close cooperation with other agencies and partners, UNICEF is
strengthening the operational capacity of primary health care facilities
and maternity wards to make them baby and mother friendly. REPORT ON CHILD LABOUR ALBANIA On Friday 7th of April CRCA had the pleasure
to announce to all of you that are interested about the situation of
children who work in Albania that a new report has just been compiled and
published in both languages English and Albanian. The report is the first one prepared in
Albania for the situation of child labourers and involves all the new
forms of child labour that have been discovered during a one week
fact-finding mission all over Albania. The Child Labour Report - Albania (April 2000)
is another new work from the partnership between the Children's Human
Rights Centre of Albania - CRCA and Save the Children in Albania. Soon the Child Labour Report will be available "on line", but at the present all of you who are interested in receiving a copy of this report we will be pleased to send to you via e-mail. Please send your e-mail request to the Information Centre for Children's Rights in Albania - ICCRA, which is a unit managed by CRCA.
Overview
of Electronic Newsletter
This Electronic
Newsletter is prepared by S.Thornton Barkley and Altin Hazizaj
of The Children's Human Rights Centre of Albania - CRCA. The opinions
expressed in this electronic publication do not necessarily represent the
policies or opinions of the CRCA.
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