On Friday, 11 December 2020, NGO Center for Children's Rights of Montenegro organized a panel discussion on the topic of the impact of a crisis caused by the COVID19 on children and socially vulnerable families.
The panel discussion was organized within the project the Center for Children and Family Support - Day Center, supported through the IPA II European Union and Montenegro Programme for Employment, Education and Social Welfare, implemented through the Directorate for Finance and Contracting of the EU Assistance Funds and the Directorate for Programming and Implementation of EU Funds of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. The project is partially supported by the international organization Save the Children.
At the panel discussion, the speakers were: Rajka Perovic, Director of the Center for Children's Rights of Montenegro, dr Nebojsa Kavaric, Director of the public institution Health Care Center Podgorica, Snezana Mijuskovic, Deputy Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms of Montenegro and Dusica Dubljevic, psychologist at Stampar Makarije Elementary School.
According to the director of the Health Care Center (HCC) in Podgorica, dr Nebojsa Kavaric, children are "the silent victims of the COVID pandemic" - Despite the fact that the youngest population is 48% less likely to get infected, it is most susceptible to psychopathological changes.
"Unfortunately, 58% of children in Europe have changed their behavior towards psychopathology." Kavaric said. Referring to a study conducted by the European Academy of Pediatrics, Kavaric stated that children, who were exposed to stress due to the pandemic, have a reduced life expectancy by about 3.3 years.
As he stated, a lot needs to be done to improve the situation but primarily, it is necessary to enable regular school attendance.
As the director of the Center, Rajka Perovic, pointed out, implementation of the project this year faced numerous challenges due to the beginning of the pandemic. "Our professional service has adjusted its activities to the measures of the National Coordination Body. Since January, 120 children and 90 parents have used various program activities," said Perovic.
“Still, the creative workshops we have organized for the children are something they really enjoy, as they are compensation for what they lack when they are not in school. It turned out that we are a good vent and we compensate in a good way the part of social life they are currently deprived of" Perovic pointed out.