European Network of Ombudspersons for Children 17th ANNUAL CONFERENCE “Children on the move: children first!” Brussels, Belgium Ombudsperson for Children Republic of Croatia EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHILDREN LIVING IN ISOLATED AND REMOTE AREAS

CHILDREN LIVING IN SECLUDED AND REMOTE AREAS over the past four years we have visited 22 out of 68 inhabited islands: kindergartens, schools, social care facilities, dormitories and kids' vacation centers

Traffic isolation Infrequent and quite expensive ferries, depending on weather conditions

EDUCATION The number of school closures is increasing There are schools on islands that have only one student In one of the schools we found an eight-grade student with serious developmental disabilities who had not been previously classified as having one nor had ever received any kind of special education support

Some schools do not offer any type of extracurricular activity because teachers have to leave immediately after class if they want to catch a ferry Children living in remote areas on some islands are unable to get to and from school as there is no public transportation available Most of the schools on islands face a shortage of school professionals, psychologists and special education teachers in particular Most of the school libraries do not have enough books and they have no professional staff EDUCATION

MEDICAL AND SOCIAL CARE islands do not have enough primary care physicians, especially pediatricians the lack of social services particulary in the exercise of proper parental measures some islands lack police protection because only one patrol officer is on duty during the day shift and islands are left with no police officers on duty at night

OMBUDSPERSON’S ACTIONS We organized an expert panel session under the title: „Equal Opportunities for Children Living on Islands“ on the island of Rab We invited representatives of all the ministries and other government agencies, local government representatives and professionals working with children The purpose of the meeting was: -To adress the issues -To offer the solutions -To provide resources giving these children equal opportunites and helping them to develop to their full potential

Recommendations: That funding at a national and regional level takes into account specific needs of island residents, particularly children; That early childhood education programs should be available to all children living on islands; To develop a health care model that would allow children living on islands access to professional psychological services and special education programs and services; To form mobile response teams providing support to school students on islands; to provide affordable transportation for school-aged children and to increase police presence and protection on islands;

Recommendations: to improve the collaboration and the exchange of experiences between island-based institutions and professionals and between units of local government on islands; to increase the involvement of island- based family and social services centers; to encourage libraries, schools and different organizations to apply for project funding from Ministry of Culture; to ensure all children on islands have access to high- speed Internet.

RESULTS Until now, two institutions have responded to our recommendations: the Ministry of Education – which informed us that the new rules and regulations should solve the problem of determining the most appropriate education program for children with developmental disabilities living on islands and the police, which promised to increase their presence and strengthen efforts to protect children on islands