28 January 2021

Given that the Republic of Kosovo will conduct Extraordinary Parliamentary Elections on February 14, KOMF has addressed today the document “A Prime Minister for Children” to all political parties, reminding them some facts about the situation of children and the need for a good governance to address them.

In Kosovo:

• 22.8% of children live in poverty while 7.2% of them live in extreme poverty.
• 8% of children aged 7-12 are reported to have functional difficulties in at least one area and only 10% of children with disabilities in Kosovo benefit from health and social services. In addition, the inclusion of children in schools remains extremely low.
• 72% of children aged 1 to 14 are reported to be disciplined with violence (psychological pressure and / or physical punishment).
• 5% of children are involved in labour.
• Only 15% of children aged 3-4 attend early childhood education programs.
• Only 38% of children living in communities are fully vaccinated.
• The International Student Assessment Program “PISA” has ranked Kosovo 76th among 78 countries that have undergone assessment, thus resulting in a low level of quality in education.
• Providers of social services for child protection continuously risk to close their services due to lack of sustainable financing.
• Investments in the health sector in Kosovo are among the lowest in the region. Expenditures from the pockets of citizens are high, in the absence of a health insurance fund. The supply of medicines continues to be irregular by seriously endangering the health of children.

For all of the above and other problems, KOMF through this document has addressed to political parties concrete requests and recommendations for emergency solutions!