Committee on the Rights of the Child

List of issues in relation to the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Serbia *

1.The State Party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information, of 10,700 words maximum, by 15 February 2026. The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights set out in the Convention during the dialogue with the State Party.

Part I

2.With reference to the recommendations contained in the Committee’s concluding observations on the combined second and third periodic reports of the State Party, please provide information on the obstacles to the adoption of a comprehensive law on children’s rights in line with the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto.

3.Please provide updated information on:

(a)The progress made and challenges remaining with regard to the adoption of a national action plan for children;

(b)The obstacles to the re-establishment and subsequent strengthening of the multisectoral Council for the Rights of the Child;

(c)Child-friendly complaints and remedy procedures that are accessible to children in all settings, including in the context of education, health and child protection services, and the role of national human rights institutions in that regard;

(d)Steps taken to ensure a children’s rights-based approach to budgeting, including at the municipal level;

(e)Challenges and measures envisaged with regard to improving the collection of data on children, in particular Roma children and children with disabilities;

(f)Measures taken to ensure a safe environment for civil society and the protection of human rights defenders, including those working on children’s rights;

(g)The legal framework protecting children’s rights in the business sector.

4.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)The progress made under the anti-discrimination strategy 2022–2030 to address the root causes of structural discrimination and other prevalent forms of discrimination, including hate speech;

(b)The measures taken to prevent discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children;

(c)The steps envisaged to consolidate the existing mechanisms of child participation to guarantee children’s rights to express their views and to be heard in all matters affecting them, including judicial and administrative procedures;

(d)The concrete steps taken to ensure that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration in all legislation and policies affecting children directly or indirectly;

(e)The progress made in addressing child mortality in the most affected regions.

5.Please provide updated information on:

(a)Specific measures taken to ensure birth registration and documentation among Roma children and asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children;

(b)Measures taken to guarantee the safe exercise of children’s right to peaceful assembly, especially in the light of the recent protests by students;

(c)Measures taken to protect children’s right to privacy in the digital environment in the light of the Law on Public Information of 1998;

(d)The status of the draft code on children and the media and other measures envisaged to ensure children’s rights to access safe and appropriate information.

6.Please provide information on:

(a)Steps taken to assess and renew the Strategy for Prevention and Protection of Children from Violence 2020–2023, in particular regarding violence in the digital environment, domestic violence, violence in schools, mass shootings in schools and gender‑based violence against children;

(b)Measures taken to ensure child-friendly justice and multisectoral intervention in cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation, including forensic interviewing, medical evaluation and trauma-focused recovery for child victims;

(c)Measures taken to address the 2023 allegations of ill-treatment at the Kruševac educational and correctional institution;

(d)Steps taken to prohibit corporal punishment in all settings under domestic law, including in the family and alternative care settings, and the status of the amendments proposed to the Family Law to this end;

(e)Measures taken to prevent harmful practices, in particular child marriage, including legislative reforms.

7.Please provide information on:

(a)The implementation of the deinstitutionalization strategy of 2022, including action plans and allocation of resources;

(b)The reasons for the continued placement of a significant number of children aged up to 3 and children with disabilities in institutions;

(c)Measures in place to ensure regular reviews of placements and monitoring of residential care facilities and to strengthen the centres for social work across the country;

(d)Measures taken to prevent Roma family separation in cases of forced evictions or legal resettlements under the Law on Housing and Building Maintenance;

(e)Measures envisaged to expand the availability of and capacity for foster care, including for children with disabilities;

(f)The implementation of the law on missing babies adopted in 2020 and the resolution of pending cases related to illegal intercountry adoptions.

8.Please provide updated information on:

(a)Measures envisaged to ensure equal access to basic health services, vaccinations and social health insurance in all regions;

(b)The results of the National Programme for the Support of Breastfeeding, in particular for children under 6 months of age;

(c)Progress made under the National Mental Health Protection Programme for 2019–2026 regarding children’s mental health and related stigmatization;

(d)The obstacles to the adoption of a comprehensive policy on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and the measures envisaged to overcome them.

9.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)The impact of the Social Card Registry and any other measures taken to address the situation of children living in poverty, in particular Roma children, as well as children living in rural areas and in the southern and eastern regions;

(b)The measures envisaged to remove the accessibility criteria for the parental allowance, in particular regarding vaccinations and school attendance, that may have a negative impact on Roma communities and children;

(c)The measures taken and challenges remaining with regard to protecting children from the adverse impact of climate change and environmental degradation, including air and water pollution, toxic waste and food contamination.

10.Please provide detailed and updated information on:

(a)Progress made to eliminate school segregation and dropout, which primarily affect Roma children and children with disabilities;

(b)Results achieved under the Action Plan for Inclusive Education;

(c)Measures taken to improve the quality of education to ensure strong learning outcomes across the country;

(d)Allegations of administrative scrutiny and threats of disciplinary action against high-school children participating in and supporting recent social demonstrations.

11.Please provide updated information on:

(a)Measures envisaged to further improve the protection of asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children, in particular regarding the age assessment procedure, the asylum procedure, the guardianship system and access to healthcare and accommodation;

(b)Progress achieved under the Strategy for the Social Inclusion of Roma Men and Women 2022–2030, specifically regarding Roma children’s rights;

(c)Measures to ensure the rights of children belonging to ethnic or national minorities, in particular regarding teaching their language and culture;

(d)The protection of children in street situations from violence, neglect and exploitation;

(e)Steps taken to protect children from economic exploitation, including prevention measures and support for victims;

(f)Progress made under the Programme for Combating Trafficking in Persons 2024–2029 with regard to children who are victims or at risk.

12.Please provide updated information on:

(a)The status of the proposed amendments to the law on the protection of persons with mental health disabilities, which allows for the imprisonment of children under 14 years of age;

(b)The measures taken to ensure that children’s rights are fully respected in the context of pretrial detention;

(c)The steps taken to ensure children’s access to free legal aid, diversion measures and the availability of non-custodial sentences;

(d)The progress made under the National Strategy for the Realization of the Rights of Victims and Witnesses of Criminal Offences for 2020–2025 and remaining challenges;

(e)The current status of the proposed amendments to the Law on Juvenile Delinquents and the Criminal Protection of Juveniles.

13.Please provide further information about the measures taken to implement the recommendations contained in the Committee’s concluding observations on the reports submitted by the State Party under the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

Part II

14.The Committee invites the State Party to provide a brief update, of no more than three pages, on the information set out in its report with regard to the following:

(a)New bills or laws, and their respective regulations;

(b)New institutions and their mandates or institutional reforms;

(c)Recently introduced policies, programmes and action plans and their scope and financing;

(d)Recent ratifications of human rights instruments.

Part III

Data, statistics and other information

15.Please provide consolidated information for the past three years on the budget lines regarding children and social sectors, indicating the percentage of each budget line in terms of the total national budget and the gross national product. Please also provide information on the geographical allocation of those resources.

16.Please provide updated statistical data, if available, for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, ethnic origin, national origin, geographical location and socioeconomic status, on the following:

(a)The number of children who have participated in peaceful assemblies since 2024, including the number of arbitrary arrests and prolonged detentions of persons under 18 and the number of complaints of excessive use of force against children who were exercising their right to peaceful assembly;

(b)Children who are victims of violence at school, at home and in the digital environment;

(c)Complaints, investigations, prosecutions and sentences related to gender-based violence, sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of children and child sexual abuse material;

(d)Forced evictions and resettlements of Roma children;

(e)Children in street situations and/or involved in hazardous labour.

17.Please provide data, for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, socioeconomic background, ethnic origin and geographical location, regarding the situation of children deprived of a family environment, showing the number of children:

(a)In alternative care facilities;

(b)In foster families;

(c)In adoptive families.

18.Please provide data, for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, type of disability, ethnic origin and geographical location, on the number of children with disabilities:

(a)Living with their families;

(b)Living in institutions;

(c)Attending regular primary schools;

(d)Attending regular secondary schools;

(e)Attending special schools;

(f)Out of school;

(g)Abandoned by their families.

19.Please provide updated statistical data, if available, for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, type of offence, ethnic and national origin, geographical location and socioeconomic status, on children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the criminal law who have been:

(a)In the child justice system;

(b)Arrested;

(c)Referred to diversion programmes;

(d)In pretrial detention;

(e)Serving a sentence in detention, indicating the length of the sentence.

20.Please provide information on how a children’s rights-based approach is integrated into the planning, implementation and monitoring of measures for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, including with regard to the participation of children and data collection, and on how those measures promote the realization of children’s rights under the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto.

21.Please provide the Committee with an update of any data in the report that may have become outdated by more recent data collected or other new developments.

22.In addition, the State Party may list areas affecting children that it considers to be of priority with regard to the implementation of the Convention.