"Children should grow up in a family, because joy, happiness and a sense of belonging are essential for the normal growth and development of every child," said British actor Nicholas Lundharts, known for his role as Rodney from the BBC series "Men".
He was a guest of the Royal Theater "Zetski dom" in Cetinje as part of the campaign "Every child needs a family", which promotes foster care in Montenegro.
By the way, Lundharts came to Montenegro to support the campaign to raise citizens' awareness of foster care, which is implemented by the UNICEF representative office in cooperation with the Government of Montenegro and the EU.
The famous actor says that the goal of this campaign is extremely significant because it will help connect children without parental care "with caring men and women who will provide them with a safe and warm family environment."
"I have also seen how foster parents provide support, care, love and positively influence these children. That is why I invite the citizens of Montenegro to learn more about foster care and to apply to become foster parents, so that every child can grow in the family and reach their full potential potential", said the actor.
Mija Kovačević spoke about her personal experience, saying that "being a mother does not only mean being a biological mother, but being a mother means giving love and security to a child who knows nothing else."
"A child doesn't know what DNA is, he doesn't know what inheritance is, and the worst of all is if he doesn't know what family and family love are, and that's exactly what happens to children without family care," Kovačević said.
She said that before deciding to become an adoptive parent, she went through various fears and worries.
"Of all that, today I only remember the day when the child from the home stepped into my house, and I don't even remember the time when David was not a member of my family," Kovačević said.
The head of the UNICEF representative office in Montenegro, Benjamin Perks, said that love is necessary for the progress and development of children's development, and that the benefits of foster care for children, families and the community are immeasurable.
"Foster care is also an economically more efficient solution, because it not only meets the needs of children better, but is also generally three times cheaper compared to placing children in an institution, i.e. in a children's home," said Benžamin.
He also called on the citizens of Montenegro to help solve one of the key issues of human rights.
"You have a long way to go in order to provide family care for all children in Montenegro, but along the way, you could become the first country in the region that does not have children under the age of three placed in institutions," Benjamin said.
The Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Predrag Bošković, informed the audience that 320 children are currently placed in foster families in Montenegro, of which only 14 are in unrelated ones.
"This campaign is only part of what UNICEF and the Government of Montenegro will do in the coming period to promote foster care as the exclusive and only form of protection for children without parental care. Our goal is to reduce the placement of children in institutions by 2016 percent by 30." Boskovic said.
As part of the UNICEF campaign, an "Open Day" forum was held in Cetinje, organized by the Capital City of Cetinje in cooperation with the campaign organizers.
The Mayor of Cetinje, Aleksandar Bogdanović, said that the Capital, as a socially responsible city administration, was strongly committed to supporting children and young people without parental care in the past period.
"And that's why today I can say with pleasure that we started a beautiful and humane tradition just last summer, and our city is a good host for children without parental care from all parts of our country," said Bogdanović.
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