OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVING SOCIAL SERVICES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD RIGHTS PROTECTION PROGRAMME IN LIEPAJA

Since Latvia ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), children's rights have been recognised as a priority and all decisions taken by the state and local authorities must be in the best interests of the child. In order to meet the requirements of Article 66 (1) of the Act on Protection of Children's Rights (1998), i.e. that the municipality shall analyse the situation in the field of respect for children's rights, develop and implement a programme for the protection of children's rights in the administrative territory of the district or republican city, it is necessary to carefully design the programme for the protection of children's rights in order to best meet the needs of children in the city of Liepaja. The study analyses the normative framework at the international and national levels, as well as conducts practical research to identify the most relevant social services for improving the protection of children's rights in Liepaja. The research methods used were document and literature analysis, focus group, expert interview and best practice case study.