Children

Child participation is an effective tool to advocate for the rights of children residing in unrecognised or de facto states. In acknowledging the importance of meaningful child participation, it is worth calling for further endeavour for research on the rights of children in de facto states.

Surrogacy is becoming a more and more popular way of having offspring. The lack of proper standards of children’s rights in national law raises the risk of their violation. It is worth looking at how relevant monitoring bodies have addressed such a challenge.

The European Court of Human Rights recently delivered two important judgments ruling that overrepresentation of Roma pupils in schools in North Macedonia and Albania was prejudicial, subtly lowering the threshold for finding this type of segregation discriminatory.

The state is responsible for ensuring the wellbeing and rights of children placed in alternative care. Any misconduct by caregivers must be immediately identified and responded to promptly and appropriately. It is crucial that children have a voice in decision-making.

From January 2023 all children in primary schools in Croatia have the right to a free school meal following the government’s decision to introduce it from the second semester of 2022-2023 academic year, thanks to the Initiative ‘Every Child's Right to a School Meal’.

Kosovo Roma children and their right to education during times of emerging crisis represent the black swan of COVID-19 and distance learning. There is a disparity between the theory and the practice of the Kosovar government to provide equal learning opportunities to Roma children.

In the context of migration, especially irregular and forced, the risk of children being exposed to the abuse of child labour is high. Migration itself contains all the elements that are otherwise defined as risks of children being exposed to this type of abuse: poverty, irregular school attendance, parental unemployment, etc.

Bullying through electronic means, specifically mobile phones or the internet, has emerged and is often collectively labelled cyberbullying. With youth using digital technologies for educational and recreational purposes, there has been an increase in social problems in the cyberspace, exposing them to different forms of cyber violence.

Children are tracked and monitored in their daily lives and are also targeted on the basis of their location. This is a form of real-world behavioural targeting. How marketing to children in the digital era works and what impact may it have on their rights?

In Croatia corporal punishment is regulated and prohibited by law, but some gaps do exist and, due to other factors, such negative practice persists. A review of the legal framework is needed along with measures to prevent this practice and protect children from such a form of abuse.