Children in Kosovo plan their own Race for Survival

By Melita Kabashi, Advocacy, Communication, Media Coordinator, Save the Children Kosovo

This was an exciting time for Save the Children in Kosovo, as for the first time, we took part in the Race for Survival, where the children of Kosovo, through the office of Ombudsman, called government authorities to fulfil their hopes by 2030. The Race for Survival was organized slightly differently in the country of only 1.8 million, where children and youth represent 60% of the population. The campaign was led jointly with our local partner organization and the established child led group in Kosovo, Respect our Rights - ROR,  consisting of 24 children throughout the country, ages 14-17.

The running of the campaign was a build-up of many key event and activities in Kosovo, with the initial drafting of a report of recommendations by the child led group ROR, which resulted from a survey held in six municipalities, where more than 600 children voiced their opinions in issues of child participation in decision making and access to quality education.  In June of 2015, the children had the opportunity to meet with the president of Kosovo and present these recommendation and hopes.

When the opportunity came to carry out the Race for Survival in Kosovo, the children from ROR came up with various ideas, where they initially designed and ran an online survey, asking children for their 2030 hopes. Furthermore, the children went out in their own municipalities, talking to them in the streets and capturing their hopes.  Lastly, they were part in carrying out a video, where children themselves were part of the entire process of the development of the video, showcasing children’s hopes.

On 11 September, the children’s hopes were presented to the newly elected Ombudsman, where they presented a framed poster of children’s hopes to be hung in the Ombudsman’s office, and discussed related to the main issues of concern for them in health, wellbeing and education. 

The Ombudsman, Hilmi Jashari, has expressed his support and vowed to work and advocate jointly with Save the Children and the children of Kosovo in holding the government accountable on issues of concern for them in health, wellbeing and education:

  “This is only the beginning of a long work ahead of us and I encourage each one of you to continue working further on what you have started, as this is the only way to be devoted protectors of human rights, and respectively, children’s rights in Kosovo.” 

Watch the video