On 9 May 2019 the Members of the Croatian Parliament discussed the Work Report of the Ombudsman for Children for 2018. Children’s ombudswoman Helenca Pirnat Dragicevic stressed out in parliament that inequality was one of the key challenges in the exercise of children’s rights, that their quality of life depended on the place of residence or birth, and that Roma children were the most deprived group.
The Ombudsman for Children is required by law to submit a work report to the Croatian Parliament, which gives the mandate to the Ombudsman. A work report of the Ombudsman for Children summarises the activities related to individual complaints about the violations of children’s rights and other activities in the monitoring, advocating and promoting the rights of all children in every area of life over a period of one year. The aim of these reports is to point out the deficiencies in the functioning of the system for the protection of children’s rights and encourage public authorities to make improvements in some segments and ensure the rights of all children.
In 2018 the Office of the Ombudsman for Children received 1588 new complaints about the violations of children’s rights, conducted 1125 general initiatives, issued 76 general recommendations for the protection of children’s rights and issued opinions on 41 regulations and documents on the protection of children’s rights. The Ombudsperson and her associates also visited 71 child care institutions, met and cooperated with children in their communities, in the regional Offices in Split, Osijek and Rijeka as well as in the Little House of Children’s Rights in the main Office in Zagreb. These activities provided a basis for the Ombudsperson to call attention to the areas in which children’s rights were most often violated in 2018, including the children’s right to live with their parents and enjoy parental care, educational rights, health care rights and the right to protection from violence.
After the discussion the Work Report of the Ombudsman for Children for 2018 was accepted by the Croatian Parliament, as out of 123 Members of the Parliament, 122 voted in favour of the proposal, and one abstained from the vote.