Mr Benjamin Perks, Head of the UNICEF Office to Montenegro, also took part in the meeting, and he had an introductory speech on the “Stop Violence” campaign, started by the UNICEF and the Government of Montenegro last year. Mr Perks said that the campaign would be also conducted during the following months across Montenegro.

Dr Burke Harris expressed pleasure with the opportunity to have an interactive meeting with Montenegrin parliamentarians, believing that today’s sharing of knowledge and experiences would be useful for everybody.

Representatives of all four committees agreed that Montenegro recognised the problem of domestic violence, considering social stigma related to domestic violence to be even bigger problem.

They jointly concluded that the path towards solving the problem of violence against children implied raising public awareness at national and global level. They noted that, in accordance with this belief, happy child means a happy adult.

It was pointed out that good and successful, continuous cooperation of the UNICEF and Parliament of Montenegro gave a significant contribution to fighting family violence, with particular reference to addressing domestic violence against children.

After the meeting in the Parliament of Montenegro, Dr Burke Harris will also meet with representatives of the Government of Montenegro, Association of Paediatricians, professors, and students of the Medical Faculty, as well as representatives of the media, for sharing knowledge and experiences relating to quality development of children.