SERBIA
According to the UNHCR, in October 2017
some 85% of refugee, asylum-seeking and
migrant children between the ages of seven
and 14 attended school. Of this number, 430
attended public primary schools and around 70
were schooled inside transit centres in Sombor,
Subotica and Kikinda. According to the UN
agency, efforts are being made to enrol children
over 14 into secondary schools 7 .
International organisations and NGOs provide
essential humanitarian assistance, care, and
support services to migrants and refugees com-
plementing state services and filling protection
gaps. Serbia’s Ministry of Labour, Employment,
Veteran and Social Affairs has developed
standard operating procedures 8 to coordinate
the work of all actors in the identification and
protection of refugee and migrant children.
THE PRACTICE
SOS Children’s Villages Serbia’s emergency
response programme was launched in 2015 with
the main goal of providing humanitarian assis-
tance to unaccompanied children and migrant
and refugee families, improving their living
conditions in the often understaffed state-run
facilities and promoting their rights. In some
facilities, SOS Children’s Villages Serbia is the
only organisation offering such services on a
daily basis.
The programme provides a range of services
from food and material assistance to mediation,
psychosocial services and educational and
recreational activities.
To protect children from violence and abuse,
SOS Children’s Villages Serbia has formed
child protection teams in six locations. Child
protection teams focus on identifying particu-
larly vulnerable children and referring them
to specialised service providers. The teams
undertake case management 9 and follow
standard operating procedures developed by the
authorities. Child protection officers work with
multidisciplinary teams made up of teachers,
nurses and ICT experts in order to carry out
assessments. They collect information about
children and families in three areas: children’s
developmental needs, parenting capacity and
family and environmental factors. Based on
the assessment, family development plans
are prepared, outlining objectives, activities,
success indicators and timelines. The plans
7 _ “UNHCR Serbia Update, 09 – 15 October 2017”, ReliefWeb, 17 October 2017.
8 _ Lidija Milanović, Miroslava Perišić, Marija Milić, “Standard Operating Procedures: Protection of Refugee and Migrant Children”, 2016,
https://www.unicef.org/serbia/Standard_Operating_Procedures_Protection_of_Refugee_and_Migrant_Children.pdf.
9 _ “Case management is a way of organising and carrying out work to address an individual child’s (and their family’s) needs in an appropriate,
systematic and timely manner, through direct support and/or referrals, and in accordance with a project or programme’s objectives”. Case
management “should focus on the needs of an individual child and their family, ensuring that concerns are addressed systematically in
consideration of the best interests of the child and building upon the child and family’s natural resilience. [It] should be provided in accordance
with the established case management process, with each case through a series of steps (…) involving children’s meaningful participation
and family empowerment throughout. [It] involve[s] the coordination of services and supports within an interlinked or referral system. [It]
require[s] systems for ensuring the accountability of case management agencies. [It is] provided by one key worker (referred to as a caseworker
or case manager) who is responsible for ensuring that decisions are taken in best interests of the child, the case is managed in accordance with
the established process, and who takes responsibility for coordinating the actions of all actors”. Core steps in the case management procedure
include: “identify[ing] and register[ing] vulnerable children, including raising awareness among affected communities; assess[ing] the needs
of individual children and families; develop[ing] an individual case plan for each child addressing the needs identified; sett[ing] time-bound,
measureable objectives; start[ing] the case plan, include[ing] direct support and referral services; follow[ing] up and reviewing; clos[ing] the
case”. Child Protection Working Group, Inter Agency Guidelines for Case Management and Child Protection (January 2014), 13-14,
http://www.cpcnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/CM_guidelines_ENG_.pdf.
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