Belgrade, Serbia, 5 February 2021 – UNICEF Serbia has been presented with two awards for online excellence by PC Press Magazine, as part of its annual Top 50 Best Things on the Internet Awards, the only official awards for the best websites, social media accounts and mobile applications in Serbia. The website Children and the Internet – Smart from the Beginning was the winner in the Education and Culture category, while the Halo Beba website won in the Home and Entertainment category.
The Halo Beba website is an interactive guide to parenting and development of young children, which offers a range of content and new learning experiences for parents. On the Halo Beba website, parents have access to updated content related to early growth and development, breastfeeding, nutrition, immunization, planning of medical appointments, ideas to encourage development through play, conversation, reading with children, as well as answers to parental concerns and many other topics. The information and advice are based on the latest global knowledge about child development and has been adapted for parents in Serbia. The website was developed by the Belgrade Institute of Public Health and supported through the UNICEF-Nordeus partnership.
The Digital Guide website was created as part of the Safe Internet for the Whole Family project, supported by UNICEF and Telenor, and implemented by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and the Uzice Child Rights Centre. The guide is intended for parents, caregivers and teachers of children aged four to eight, and all those involved in children’s education, as well as children themselves, in order to inform them about ways they can contribute to the safe and constructive use of digital devices and the internet by children of preschool and early school age. The guide explains how to use digital technologies wisely and safely. This digital guide is being used in schools and preschools, as well as by associations of parents and teachers across Serbia.
“We are grateful for the awards we received for the Halo Beba and Children and the Internet – Smart from the Beginning websites. It’s a great incentive to continue expanding partnerships that enable the strengthening of all systemic solutions that provide more efficient, reliable services and real-time information, for the benefit of children and families. We are especially pleased that these are recognitions for cooperation encompassing the public and private sectors and involving the creation of technological solutions that are reliable, inclusive and sustainable. We would like to thank Nordeus and Telenor, our strategic corporate partners, without whose financial support and expertise these solutions would not have been possible,” said Vesna Savic Djukic, UNICEF Serbia Fundraising Specialist.
Members of this year’s jury were Andjelka Ducic, CEO of Symbiotica, Istok Pavlovic, internet marketing expert, Sanja Lalević, Facebook Lead for Serbia for Httpool and Uroš Bogdanović, radio consultant and host.