Children’s rights are an important part of the Ombudsman’s work Much effort and time were also dedicated to the field of children’s rights in 2015. Although we received fewer complaints, the problems in this field remain the same as in previous years. There is a growing need for new family legislation to consistently determine the division of jurisdiction between the executive and judicial branches of power, the obligation to acquire children’s opinions in all legal procedures, the prohibition of corporal punishment of children and, above all, ensure the prompt and effective action of competent authorities upon every violation of children’s rights. It is almost incomprehensible that we have for years been unable to clearly prohibit the corporal punishment of children by means of a law, which has also been required by international human rights organisations. Complications regarding the passage of the new family code must not be the excuse for the state being unable to regulate this field legally for over a decade, when we know that in urgent cases acts can be adopted according to expedited procedures almost over-night. This issue must be stated clearly in the new family code or the amendments to the Family Violence Prevention Act. The tasks of children’s advocates who are now functioning successfully and are organised within the Ombudsman’s institution must also be systematically defined. We dedicate special attention to children with special needs, and continue the practice of accepting one such person for work experience at the Ombudsman’s office. Our experience regarding this measure has been excellent. In 2015, as many years before, I again point to – unfortunately without success – problems when discussing children with emotional and behavioural disorders and children with severe psychiatric problems, because there are still no suitable accommodation facilities for providing suitable expert paedopsychiatric assistance. We discussed complaints from parents of blind and visually impaired children, stating the inaccessibility of adjusted study material, the issue of a permanent assistant for providing physical assistance and the insufficient number of hours of additional expert assistance for blind pre-school children and secondary-school students. The ministries are familiar with these issues, but explain that inter-ministerial cooperation is mandatory when resolving such problems. Unfortunately, the procedure of ‘inter-ministerial cooperation’ in practice frequently means unnecessary delay or even blocking of the procedure of adopting decisions. The supervision of the harmonisation of work of all inter-ministerial groups in all fields should be taken over by the Office of the Prime Minister, and the groups should regularly report to the Government on procedures, solutions and barriers at work. I wish to emphasise the lack of seriousness of the state regarding its international obligations and the unacceptable practice of state representatives who conclude international agreements to gain political support and then refuse to ratify or transpose these policies to the internal legal order. One example is the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure. The Republic of Slovenia was actively involved in drafting it and was one of the first UN countries to strive for prompt signing of the Protocol, which was signed in 2012. Since then we have heard numerous reasons why the Government has not yet submitted the document to the National Assembly for ratification. In May 2015, we organised a consultation with 300 participants, who discussed the situation of children in judicial proceedings. We determined that the judiciary are not always sufficiently friendly to children or young people when they find themselves in the middle of a divorce battle, and also when determining custody, adoption and family violence. We emphasised again that the child’s long-term benefits must be the main guidelines when deciding on the situation of a child. I recommend that all state authorities dedicate more attention and expert efforts to these issues. where representatives of the Government and ministries undertook to do everything possible to realise the conference’s recommendations. I express dissatisfaction with the lack of the anticipated progress, since the recommendations have disappeared in the multitude of other current tasks, which is improper, because the realisation of children’s right to freely express their opinion also means that adults, particularly politicians and decision makers, will consider their opinions and recommendations. As a social group, children do not play at democracy, but they practise it. Social security and health are, and must remain, fundamental goods The Ombudsman received many complaints in which complainants claim that certain services are obtained with difficulty or not at all; that expert errors occur which may even be irreversible; waiting periods for certain health services are too long; corruption in health care is increasing; the construction of the emergency centre network is being planned without the participation of local communities; certain groups of patients faced untenable treatment conditions; the prices of dental services are formed freely, with no supervision; procedures on deciding on the right to medical treatment abroad are not regulated; certain patients are refused rehabilitation and the parental accompaniment of hospitalised adults with special needs is not ensured systemically. There are many more problems which may be resolved only with public participation and integrated work by all social sectors and the Government. The awareness that people’s health is one of the fundamental goods is imperative and society must thus do everything to ensure that qualitative health care is available to all and not only those with enough money. The stratification of population leads quickly to social practices in which certain people have faster access to high-quality health services, while others do not have enough money to pay for supplementary health insurance, for example, and are unable to access certain services. As the Ombudsman, I am concerned that there are groups of people in our country who have no compulsory health insurance due to various personal circumstances and receive health care in pro bono out-patient clinics where doctors and other staff work voluntarily. What would happen if such clinics did not exist? Let us think about our future being paved with pro bono out-patient clinics, daily centres and free meals for the poor, humanitarian fundraising for treatment abroad and helping children and families; or will we remain a social and solidarity-based society which cares about each and every individual? These questions are linked directly with the issues of social security, social justice, equal accessibility and the prevention of social exclusion. Unfortunately, the complaints discussed in the social field reveal that poverty is spreading in Slovenian homes and people lack the tools to tackle it. As many as 300,000 people live below the poverty line, which is 14.5 per cent of the entire population, which comprises 26 per cent of pensioners, 24 per cent of unemployed persons, 19 per cent of minors and 18 per cent of active working persons, and at least 13 per cent of others (unable to work, housewives, students). The inequality of income distribution between households has continued to grow. Comparisons with other countries are important, but it is not necessary to develop a model of society in which we already accept in advance the fact that such a large percentage of people depend on social benefits and other forms of assistance, among which are many pensioners, the unemployed and the young. Although the state provides substantial funds to mitigate social distress and many non-governmental organisations help individuals and families, the Ombudsman believes that social assistance does not ensure survival. Many people remain desperate and disappointed and, when they see no other solution, even commit suicide. Almost 500 people commit suicide every year. This shocking number is a warning for all who take political, economic, social, health and other decisions in the country. Homelessness has become a cruel reality not only for men, but also for women and children, in fact, entire families, who, when they lose the roof over their heads and basic conditions of survival, become individuals with no address, frequently even deprived of certain rights – people with no hope of returning to a decent everyday life. I wonder why many municipalities still do not provide sufficient housing units or other forms of providing temporary housing for them. We are pleased to attend annual municipal, local and national children’s parliaments. At the end of 2014, the Ombudsman organised a conference on the participation of children and adolescents in cooperation with the Slovenian Association of Friends of Youth (ZPMS) and the School Student Organisation of Slovenia, State institutions, ministries, social work centres and other institutions are rigid in their work and take unreasonably long to resolve complaints, contrary to legislation. In 2015, the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities informed us that, due to personnel shortages, complaints involving the right to a family assistant are being resolved within one year. Furthermore, complaints regarding the exemption from 20 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 21 1 INTRODUCTION 1 INTRODUCTION in spite of the efforts, the state has not done enough for facilitating young people’s transfer from education to employment and an independent life without the financial assistance of their parents. We stressed that more effective and friendly housing policy should also be formed and adopted. On Human Rights Day, we also published a special bulletin on exercising labour rights in which we highlighted many issues relating to unemployment and employment and recommended necessary changes that have not been realised yet.