Tuesday, 21 September 2010
THE PARLIAMENT IS THE CENTRAL INSTITUTION WHICH CAN SHAPE AND IMPLEMENT THE LAWS WHICH PROMOTE THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
The Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, in cooperation with UNICEF, have organized an international consultative meeting on the role of the parliaments in the promotion and monitoring of the rights of the child as a continuation of the previously ratifies two years Agreement on Cooperation in the Area of Strengthening the Role of the Parliaments in the Promotion of the Rights of the Child in the Country between the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia and UNICEF in November 2009.
This Agreement established two informal parliamentary bodies on the rights of the child: the Board on the Rights of the Child and Working group in the framework of the Committee on Labour and Social Policy.
Mr. Trajko Veljanoski, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Kirsy Mady- Deputy Director of UNICEF for South – Eastern Europe, Mr. Nikola Novakovic Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and Member of the Serbian Parliamentary Committee on Chuildren and Mr. Eckhard Pols Member of the Parliament and Chairman of the Committee on Children Issues provided introductory addresses.
The aim of this meeting was to raise the awareness for the rights of the child and the importance of the institutions for children to assist the MPs to review of the possibility for establishing this kind of committee in the Assembly and better information of the children rights which can be applied in the everyday work.
The Macedonian experience was elaborated by Mr. Ilija Kitanovski Chairman of the Committee on Labour and Social Policy and Ms. Liljana Popovska, Chairperson of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men.
The participants debated on the issues for the role of the parliaments in the promotion and monitoring of the rights of the children and concluded that the idea for establishing separate committee is very important. The political consensus among all political parties for this issue was welcomed.