Photo: Goran Srdanov

"Woman, life, freedom!"

“Today, we are celebrating girls and young women who are overcoming everything that is, directly or indirectly, set as an obstacle to reshare, reeducate, or literally destroy them. We see them standing bravely at the barricades, fighting against repression, defending human rights, their own integrity and dignity. We are thankful for that!," said Marijana Savić, director of Atina at the conference "How we are creating better opportunities and chances for girls on the move" that took place in Belgrade.

Photo: Goran Srdanov

"Woman, life, freedom!"

“Today, we are celebrating girls and young women who are overcoming everything that is, directly or indirectly, set as an obstacle to reshare, reeducate, or literally destroy them. We see them standing bravely at the barricades, fighting against repression, defending human rights, their own integrity and dignity. We are thankful for that!," said Marijana Savić, director of Atina at the conference "How we are creating better opportunities and chances for girls on the move" that took place in Belgrade.

Photo: Piroshki Photography

How can we support girls on the move?

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Photo: EPA-EFE / Mohammed Saber

3 reasons why “Girls on the move” are not the same as boys

Girls on the move are often not considered separetly in migration policy and programs. Often, they are just lumped together with “unaccompanied minors” or “children migrants”. However, this lack of gender analysis hides the unique situation and experiences of girls migrating, and usually renders their specific problems and needs invisible. Girls on the move are not the same as boys, for three specific reasons:

Photo: Eric Gay/Pool za Reuters

Our “girls on the move” in Serbia: their stories

In Serbia, there are also many “girls on the move” – by which we mean girls and young women who are migrating from their home countries. Girls on the move are not usually the priority for policymakers and their stories often go unheard. However, their experiences are crucial for us to understand what happens at the intersection of women, migrant and child’s rights.

Who are our “girls on the move”?

Photo: Ahmed akacha / 

Citizens’ Association Atina became a member of the International Social Service (ISS)

Representative of NGO Atina, Jelena Hrnjak, was a panelist at the event organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) titled “Strengthening the capacities of actors to improve the level of protection of migrants in everyday practice”. Other speakers at the panel were representative of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, Svetlana Velimirovic, representative of UNHCR, John Andrew Young, Vesna Dejanovic from UNICEF, Emilija Joksic from the Asylum Office of the MoI of Serbia, and Miroslava Jelacic, representative of NGO Group 484.

Sub-regional consultative event on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in the Western Balkans was organized during the month of June in Sarajevo, by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The event was an opportunity to strengthen dialogue and consultative process in this sub-region, with the aim of facilitating the identification of messages which countries could present at the Thematic sessions within GCM, prior to the meeting for assessing the achievements ending with December 2016.