Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: Information about institutions in Macedonia that monitor children's rights.
Children's Ombudsperson The 1991 Constitution of Macedonia provides for the existence of an Ombudsperson's office (http://ombudsman.mk), which was officially established in 1997 under the Law on the Ombudsperson. A Deputy Ombudsperson tasked with protecting children's rights was appointed in 1999, and is empowered to receive complaints of violations from children directly. 2003 amendments to the Law on the Ombudsperson enabled the Ombudsperson to launch independent investigations of violations of children's rights even without having received complaints. The Ombudsperson has since published several reports on children's rights, including on child trafficking, education for children with disabilities, the conditions of juvenile detention, and violence against children in the family and institutional settings. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has expressed regret, however, that the Ombudsperson's children's rights unit “lacks the authority, capacity, human and financial resources, and independence to carry out its mandate effectively.” The Committee has also expressed concern that children and their parents lack the information on their ability to submit complaints, and that very few complaints from or on behalf of children reach the Ombudsperson.