To all Political parties in B&H

Respected,

In this moment, before the most intensive pre-election campaigns of all political parties which will take part at the forthcoming elections in BiH, network of non-governmental organisations „Stronger Voice for Children“ [1], working in the field of child rights protection in BiH, would like to address to leaders, boards and members of political parties, as well as voting body in BiH, and underline several issues, very important for us.

The country we live in is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. By this act, it made a commitment to continuously work on advancement of conditions for children living in the country, in accordance with its possibilities and with the help of international community. Organisations gathered in the network „Stronger Voice for Children“, after many years of monitoring of the situation of child rights in the country, trough monitoring reports and various research (which can be found on our web sites), have recognised that children , as population group, have been marginalised and that not all possibilities have been directed on increase of the quality of children’s lives. Also, international support was not used to the full potential with the same objective.

More detailed overview of the political programmes and important documents trough which their public is informed on the values and platforms of the vast majority of political parties in BiH is telling us that there are no children there, except in sporadic and very general mentioning. The same overview revealed to us that in those documents we cannot find actual problems with which children are facing with today, not to mention the absence of solutions for these problems. This situation is not filling us with hope that any of the election results will advance the situation for children here.

We, as organisations which are working with children, ask from political parties to inevitably address problems with which children are living and to propose solutions in their written strategic and programme documents and public presentations.

To make this easier for you, we have worked for decades, and in all our, and many others, materials and products, you can find analyses, identified problems, good-practices examples, and they are all at your disposal.

Also, at your disposal are all strategic and directional documents created at all levels of authority organisation, from local strategies and action plans, to the strategies on the level of the country, dealing with special areas of advancement of children’s protection. These documents have been adopted and waiting for their full realisation.

We remind you that this will be very important part of the information that simple citizens will take into account when making an election decision, and remind you that you also have an obligation to do so because children are equal citizen as well.

We remind you that children make about one fourth of population in BiH. Children deserve a place in your planes, not only in plans of their parents. Children deserve and have guaranteed rights, and authorities have obligations to create conditions for realisation of these rights.

We will not, on purpose, be mentioning most important problems with which children in BiH are facing with, we will not mention most vulnerable groups, nor most flagrant violations of child rights, because if you don’t know about these already then you are not essentially interested in children, and citizens of this country should know that.

There are a lot of problems that need addressing in this country, and many are related to children. Members of the network „Stronger Voice for Children“ demand from political parties to recognise children’s problems as equal, and to address them in their planning and working programs, in accordance with best practices and in the best interest of children.

The least we expect from all political parties which will take part at the elections, is that all decisions, all solutions and all proposed programmes must prove that they are:

– favourable for life, survival and development of children,

– favourable for all children, without any form of discrimination,

– in the best interest of children,

– made after considering children’s opinions and their own experiences of their own lives

We must remind you that children are living in this country as well!

We would like to draw your attention to the fact that, as actors in political life, you have the same obligation towards all citizens, both voters and non-votes, and also towards those without the right to vote, such as children.

There is the same obligation to respect and advance human and children’s rights and to implement laws.

Finally, we would like to remind you, that if you would have activities in your pre-election campaign that involve children in any way, you need to inform your selves well about the right of children to be protected from abuse with political purposes.

This is a good moment and a challenge for change, for new politics which will be favourable for children, to make their future safer, and risks reduced to minimal possible measure.

To all participants in the elections, we wish successful elections and honesty in future work, and for children in BiH, we expect better days and a happier future.