The State Counselor in the Department for the Protection of the Rights of Children and Persons with Disabilities of the Ombudsman, MA Vaska Bajramovska Mustafa, held a working meeting today with Irena Dodevska, Policy Advisor, and Aleksandra Gjorgjioska Marchevski, Program Development Advisor, at SOS Children's Village.

At the meeting, experiences and knowledge were exchanged on the situation with the rights of children placed in alternative care, biological families and youth at risk, as well as the protection of the rights of these children and the need for greater information for children and youth about the ways and mechanisms for protecting their rights.

The representatives of SOS Children's Village informed the State Advisor to the Ombudsman about the policies for ensuring the safety of children and youth in foster families and Small Group Homes (SGH), for supported living, as housing units for youth at SOS Children's Village, and in that context, they discussed future joint activities for promoting the rights of the child, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Ombudsman as a mechanism for the protection of children's rights, to bring the institution closer to this target group, as well as joint activities for the prevention of children and youth from all types of abuse and violence, including peer violence.