First Balkans Children Parliament to Be Established

26 October 2005

The First Balkans Congress for the establishment of a Balkans Children Parliament will be held in Skopje and Ohrid, Octover 28 and 30, 2005. The Parliament will include representatives of the children parliaments from seven countries in the region, with the aim to promote and facilitate exchange of ideas for improvement of children rights in the Balkan countries.

According to Grozda Danova, the President of the Executive Board of the Macedonian Children Parliament, the idea for this Parliament rose from the need for more efficient joint fight against the frequent violations of children rights, their abuse in the family and society in general.

"The Congress should adopt the Declaration for Cooperation and the Programme of Activities for the coming year. Also, a plenary session will be held, to discuss the past implementation of the Convention on Protection of Children Rights�, said Danova at the press conference held yesterday at the NGO InfoCentre.

The representatives of the Children Parliament of Macedonia emphasized their good cooperation with the state institutions in terms of improved children rights, but that Macedonia�s efforts to fully implement the Convention remain insufficient.

The Children Parliament of Macedonia has over 8,000 members, and it was established in 1998.