Save the Children and Municipality of Tirana Round Table:
“Children Street situation - Our common responsibility”
On 19 December 2011, Tirane, Save the Children in partnership with Municipality of Tirana organized a round table in the framework of EU funded project “Protection and integration of Street Children”.
Mrs.Jorida Tabaku, Deputy Mayor, Municipality of Tirana, Mrs. Nora Malaj, Deputy Minister/Ministry of Education and Sciences, Mrs.Denada Seferi, Director of Policies and Social Services/Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Mrs. Veslemoy Naerland, Country Director, Save the Children in Albania and other representatives from relevant public and non public institutions gathered to discuss about the legal framework and social services gaps for the protection and integration of children in street situation.
This round table aimed to promote effective policy making and implementation as well as cooperation among local and central public structures, provision of good practices and positive models which reflect the best interest of the child, raise awareness and motivate commitment of the highest level authorities for the benefit of children in street situation.
“Through this round table Municipality of Tirana intends to consolidate its interventions profile and be able to protect and support children in street situation, in order to contribute in reducing this phenomenon through the prevention, protection and reintegrated policies. We will be looking to participate and collaborate with the central level government also in the process when strategies or action plans are developed in order to consolidate and make our intervention more effective”- said Jorida Tabaku Deputy Mayor, Municipality of Tirana.
During this round table were discussed also the main findings and recommendations of Save the Children supported study report “Legislation and public services for children in street situation”. This study report was conducted by Children's Human Rights Centre of Albania. It focuses mainly on the identification of legislation gaps and difficulties encountered in the implementation of the law and provision of social services.
Main study findings:
- There is no study at national level which provides a full overview of children in street situation in Albania. This makes it difficult to assess the scope of the problem, children’s profile, their background and the reasons for being in the street The existing services are not enough to meet the needs of children in street situation; they are mainly provided by civil society organizations; there is no well-organized and coordinated system of protection services for children in street situation;
- The inclusion of children in street situation in the education system remains at a very low percentage; many of these children never enrol in school or drop out of school at a very early age. They experience open discrimination by their school peers, parents of their peers and even by teachers;
- Public health programs including support to these children are missing. Children in street situation only receive free vaccination, while the rest of the health service is for them inaccessible due to the lack of health insurance;
- Birth registration of children in street situation coming from non-registered families remains an unsolved problem although it is regulated by law; more flexible and applicable mechanisms are needed in order to be able to register these children; Child registration depends on family’s situation; often families are not able to deal with obligations related to registration (such as payment of local taxes, submission of tenancy agreement);
- Although it has been subject to some improvements during the last years, the existing legislation is still not able to protect children from economic exploitation or other forms of child exploitation;
“Save the Children urges all public structures, at local and central level, with responsibility to provide services to children in street situation and children in general, to cooperate more effectively and apply appropriate policies and practices that can help improve the well being and protection of all children” – said Veslemoy Naerland, Country Director, Save the Children in her speech during the round table.
There are many children in the streets of Tirana that lack education, proper nutrition and caring. They live in situations where there is no protection and they are at high risk of exploitation and abuse including trafficking.
In response to these children’s needs for protection, education and social help, Save the Children in partnership with Tirana Municipality and financed by European Union is supporting children in street situation by offering them safe space and services through the center for children in street situation in Tirana. These services mainly consist on recreational, cultural and non formal educational programs and activities, socialization opportunities and integration to public school system. The access to the centre services and interventions has contributed to the reduction of working hours of children working on the street, has helped children to acquire knowledge and develop skills that make them less exposed to the risks of exploitation, violence, abuse and neglect.