KOMF held the roundtable discussion “Child Protection Law – Progress in its Implementation” KOMF throughout September – December 2022, in cooperation with the Office for Good Governance within the Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, and with support from the Unicef Kosovo Programmein order to sensitize the institutions, has held a series of workshops in the municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo with over 400 professionals working in the protection of children.

The purpose of this round table is to present the main challenges in the implementation of the Child Protection Law identified during the workshops and to discuss concrete recommendations for the efficient implementation of the Child Protection Law.

Despite the fact that the Child Protection Law entered into force on July 19, 2020, this Law is not yet being implemented. The vast majority of child protection professionals did not have knowledge of the responsibilities arising from the Child Protection Law, nor of the innovations brought by this Law, such as new definitions, institutional mechanisms, measures and sanctions, etc.

Out of the 16 Administrative Instructions provided within the Child Protection Law, only 5 of them have been approved. The main institutional mechanism envisaged in the Child Protection Law at the municipal level, the Team for Children’s Rights has not yet been established in all municipalities, namely this Team has been established in 11 municipalities of Kosovo.

The new services and programs foreseen in the Child Protection Law have not yet been established. There is a lack of human and financial capacities for implementing the provisions of the Child Protection Law, as a result of non-prioritization and non-allocation of the budget necessary for child protection. Up to date, there has been no process of monitoring or inspection by any institution (Assembly, Government, Municipality) regarding the level of implementation of the Child Protection Law.

This roundatable was made possible within the project “Empowerment of actors of social services to provide quality and sustainable services for vulnerable children and families”, supported by Unicef Kosovo Program in partnership with USAID Kosovo.