Pristina, October 22, 2022 – The Ombudsperson, Mr. Naim Qelaj participated in the conference “Today I speak” organized by the Coalition of NGOs for the Protection of Children in Kosovo (KOMF).

In this conference, the discussion was about the beneficiaries of social services and it was emphasized that the difficult situation for social services continues due to the lack of more financial means.

For sustainable and high-quality social services, two draft laws have been requested to be approved by the Assembly of Kosovo, the one on social services and the draft law on local government finances.

The Ombudsperson Qelaj emphasized that it is worrying that these two important laws continue to not being approved by the Assembly, which would bring quality services to citizens, especially children.

“The approval of these laws, especially the Law on Social and Family Services, would fully regulate the mandate, role, powers, responsibilities and structure of social work centers, which are also recommendations of the Ombudsperson in the last two years,” he said.

He added that the provision of social services is closely related to human rights. In 2019 report, the Ombudsperson assessed that the provision of social services did not comply with the standards for the protection of human rights.

Mr. Qelaj said at the end that he will continue to put pressure on the authorities to improve social services as a prerequisite for well-being and respect for human rights.