Okrugli stolovi
ROUND TABLE IN BUJANOVAC
On October 17, 2023, a round-table was organized as part of the "Further Development of CivilDialogue between Serbia and Kosovo" project in the Culture Center of the Bujanovac Municipality. Among others, the representative of the Office for Youth, the head of the cabinet of the municipal president and the representative of the Roma minority community responded to the invitation. The opening presentation was made by the Director of the Center for Regionalism, Aleksandar Popov, who presented the project and explained the genesis of the civil dialogue that has been fostered by this organization together with the Mother Teresa Society from Pristina for the last twenty-one years.
The round-table presented the results of research in the municipality of Bujanovac, which focused on the socio-economic status of the population, the position of young people and women, and inter- ethnic relations. As part of the first stage of project implementation, such research is being conducted in 10 multi-ethnic underdeveloped municipalities in Serbia.
There were no objections to the report, except one regarding the problem of teaching Serbian as a non-native language in schools were classes are conducted in Albanian language, with the explanation that the teaching staff in the previous years was not sufficiently professional.
ROUND TABLE IN PREŠEVO
On October 16, 2023, A round-table titled "Further Development of Civil Dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo" was held in the Presevo Municipal Assembly. The round-table was attended by representatives of the local self-government, together with the mayor, representatives of the civil sector and the Roma community. The Director of the Center for Regionalism, Aleksandar Popov, gave an introductory presentation on the goals of the project, indicating that the dialogue has been going on for almost a decade and a half and that it is the only way to overcome the open issues that exist between Serbia and Kosovo.
Researcher Jelena Perkovic presented the results of the research that was carried out as part of the first stage of the implementation of this three-year project. She emphasized that this research, in which expert Gordana Lazarevic also participated, was conducted on the sample of 10 multi-ethnic less developed municipalities in Serbia. Objections to the research were made in the part where the information of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia discusses women older than 15 years who have a lower level of education (57% have only elementary, incomplete elementary school or unknown education). Those present believed that this information was not correct. By revisiting the official source of this data, its authenticity was confirmed.
Another reaction to the research report and recommendations was related to the high percentage of young people in Presevo and Bujanovac who speak the Serbian language poorly. Considering that this data has no numerical value, the statement and recommendation given by the researchers remained. It was also proposed to add the members of the National Assembly of Serbia in the recommendation that aims to solve the problem regarding the (non)recognition of diplomas obtained at the University of Pristina. When it comes to the recommendation related to migration, it was noted that they are not only of an economic but also of a political nature.
ROUND TABLE IN SJENICA
On October 19, 2023, as part of the implementation of the "Further Development of Civil Dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo" project activities, a round-table was held in Sjenica during which a report was presented on the socio-economic condition of the residents of this municipality, the position of young people and the position of women, as well as on multi-ethnic relations in this area. The round-table was attended by representatives of local self-government, councilors in the Sjenica Municipality Assembly, members of the National Council of the Bosniak National Minority (NVB) and civil sector representatives. The Director of the Center for Regionalism, Aleksandar Popov, gave an introductory presentation about the project, its goals and stages. The report and recommendations presented on this occasion were accepted by the majority. The only two specific remarks made by the participants of the round-table refered to the data on the mortality of children-infants aged up to seven days. The data was taken from the official statistics of the Statistical Office of the Repulic of Serbia (RZS) – Vital Statistics. The problem was in the imprecise definition of the indicators, which was noticed by both the researchers and the participants of the round-table. The clarification came during the day of the session, when the RZS confirmed that the indicator was not precisely determined. There were also objections to the number of reported domestic violence against women, which the researchers will verify by subsequently consulting the data source. The participant who took part in the work of the round-table as a member of the NVB said that the statement of the interlocutor (June 2023), regarding the non-tranparency of budget spending, is not correct and that financial reports for each year can be found on the website of the NVB.
ROUND TABLE IN TUTIN
On October 18, 2023, a round-table was organized as part of the project "Further Development of Civil Dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo" in the Culture Center of the Tutin Municipality, which was attended by the head of the local administration, representatives of the Office for Local Economic Development, members of the Council for Gender Equality, the Office for Youth, civil sector and city protector of citizens. Aleksandar Popov, Director of the Center for Regionalism, the partner organization which is implementing the project together with the Mother Teresa Society from Pristina, gave an introductory presentation on the goals of the project. The data in the report, which dealt with the socio-economic status of the population of the municipality of Tutin, the position of young people, gender equality and multi-ethnic relations, were accepted as valid. Those present pointed to the discriminatory attitude towards members of the Bosniak community, especially when it comes to the employment of Bosniaks in state administration bodies, public enterprises and the judiciary. Objections were made to the relocation of state bodies such as the Basic Court, the Prosecutor's Office, the Misdemeanor Court and the Tax Administration from the territory of Tutin to a larger center north of Novi Pazar. Such a reallocation of the state administration creates additional daily problems for the citizens of Tutin in obtaining various documents, solutions and the like. A remark was also made on the discriminatory attitude of certain ministries that reject documents- reports in Latin script, which is the official script of the Bosniak national community. They especially pointed out the attitude of the Republic Electoral Commission, which rejected the election reports because they were written in the Latin script.
ROUND TABLES IN DIMITROVGRAD AND KNJAŽEVAC
DIMITROVGRAD
The research in the Dimitrovgrad municipality, as in other municipalities, was focused on the position of youth, women and inter-ethnic relations. When it comes to young people, on March 23, 2023, the Dimitrovgrad Municipal Assembly adopted the “Decision on improving the position and quality of life of young people”. The decision is a one-time act that only applies to the year 2023.
In the municipal budget for 2023, on the basis of the Program for the Development of Sports and Youth, 2.23 million RSD have been allocated for the implementation of youth policies. The program is implemented by the Office for Local Economic Development and the Office for Youth. The goal of the program is the active participation of young people in the decision-making process, support for the development of entrepreneurship among young people, starting entrepreneurial activities or employment, as well as support for youth organizations in the implementation of youth policy projects.
At the end of 2022, the Dimitrovgrad municipality adopted the “Plan for achieving and improving gender equality”. The plan describes the legal framework that is applied to achieving gender equality, defines terms used in the field of gender equality, processes all data on employees from the point of view of achieving gender equality and states that there is a gender imbalance gap in municipal administration services because, in terms of the number of service executors, more women are employed than men, but it is not stated that out of eleven officials, 7 are men and only 4 are women.
The national composition of the population of the Dimitrovgrad municipality makes it a multi-ethnic environment. The majority are members of two ethnic communities: members of the Bulgarian national community (45.42%) and members of the Serb community (24.95%), while members of the other ethnic communities individually do not exceed the number of fifty. However, it is interesting that more than 2000 inhabitants (25%) of the Dimitrovgrad municipality did not declare their nationality, or it is unknown. Even in the earlier censuses, there was a high share of the category of ethnically undeclared persons or persons of unknown ethnical origin.
In the municipality of Dimitrovgrad, there are classes in elementary and high school that are taught in the Bulgarian language.
No inter-ethnic conflicts were recorded in this local community.
KNJAŽEVAC
The municipality of Knjazevac continues to lead an active policy of supporting young people in education and approves between 285 and 300 scholarships for schooling on an annual basis, as well as free preparation for entrance exams to high schools and colleges. Scholarships are paid during 10 months of the school year. Through financial support to civil society organizations, the municipality co-finances the holding of the Serbian Youth Culture Festival, which has existed since 1965. In the Development Plan of the Municipality of Knjazevac 2021-2027, it was stated that young people in Knjazevac still face difficulties when entering the labor market. In the total structure of the registered unemployed, 19% are young people. For those who have completed secondary vocational school, but do not want or do not have the conditions to study, continuing education can also be retraining in another occupation of the same level of vocational education. In addition to these measures, the municipality of Knjazevac has introduced a new innovative measure, which is the transfer of abandoned houses and homesteads on the territory of the municipality. In the course of 2022 and 2023, the municipality signed 23 contracts with the competent ministry on the assignment of empty residential buildings and land to young married couples.
Although the position of women in Knjazevac is not significantly different from the position of women in most cities in Serbia, the municipality of Knjazevac has adopted a plan and program of special measures aimed at achieving and improving gender equality in their municipal administration for the period 2023-2026. The representation of employees in the municipal administration by gender is accessible and shows a fairly balanced relationship between employed women and men. The second part of this document defines the general goal as the introduction of measures to achieve gender equality and expresses the commitment of the municipal administration to the development of gender equality at all levels and in all areas of business.
The municipality of Knjazevac does not belong to the group of multi-ethnic municipalities. However, in the overall structure of its population, there are unofficially over two thousand members of the Roma community even though, according to the last official census, there are half as many. Until 2010, there was an Office for Roma Inclusion in this municipality, but it stopped working. Activities on the special care of the Roma population have not stopped. Electricity, water and sewerage were introduced in three Roma settlements. The opportunity for employment of Roma men and women exists, but the majority of this population does not use it.
ROUND TABLES IN BAČ I ŽABALJ
BAČ
In the last two years, the municipality of Bac has implemented two projects aimed at young people and groups that are less employable: “Innovative and Sustainable Access to the Labor Market for Vulnerable groups in the municipality of Bac” and “Encouraging youth employment in the Danube region of South Backa”. The target groups of both projects were young unemployed people in the rural areas of southern Backa, to whom the project provides various youth activities, improvement of skills and competences, entrepreneurial knowledge, support for employment and self-employment. As part of the last project, the Danube Resource Center was formed with offices in Bac and Bački Petrovac that support young people in creating preconditions for their social integration.
The municipality of Bac has not yet formed the Office for Youth. According to the Municipal Development Plan 2022-2028, it should be “formed as a separate organizational unit of the municipal administration with one systematized workplace”.[1] Additionally, in 2021, the “Program for Improving the Employability and Employment of young people in the Municipality of Bac in the period 2021-2023” was adopted.
The Commission for Gender Equality was appointed by the Bac Municipality Assembly in 2020, and at the beginning of 2023, it grew into the Council for Gender Equality. In the Draft Local Action Plan for Gender Equality 2023-2025, an analysis of the current situation was made, from which the goals can be seen, as well as the measures listed in order for the institutional framework to give the expected effects in the policy of equal opportunities at decision-making points in the public, economic and political life of the municipality. The first step was taken by the implementation of the Law on Local Elections. In the Bac Municipality Assembly, which has 25 councilors, eight are women. There are also two women in the five-member Municipal Council, and 22 are women in the parliamentary working bodies out of a total of 77 members. The representation of the gender structure of appointed persons in the municipal administration is reciprocal.
The municipality of Bac is a distinct multi-ethnic local community where Serbs, Slovaks, Croats, Hungarians, Roma as well as Romanians, Slovenians and a significant percentage of undeclared or unknown ethnic origins live. The Serbian language and the Cyrillic alphabet are in official use throughout the territory of the municipality, as well as the Slovak and Hungarian languages and alphabets, in the manner established by the Law.
In the settlements of Bodjani and Plavno, in addition to the Serbian language, the language and script of the Croatian minority is in official use, and in the populated community of Vajska, alongside Serbian, the language and script of the Roma minority is in official use.
In the ethnic structure of the population of these local communities, there are significant numbers of minorities whose countries of origin are members of the EU and who support their compatriots. The support that the members of the Slovak, Hungarian and Croatian communities have from their maternal states is primarily reflected in the preservation of the cultural heritage and the preservation of the language.
ŽABALJ
Young people (15-29 years old) in the municipality of Zabalj make up about 18% of the total population. In the last two years, a depopulation trend has been observed in that population structure. Thus, according to the estimate in 2021, this population category amounted to about 4,700, and the 2022 census determined that there are 4,277, which is 430 less.[2] In one generation, there are about 450 high school students who attend classes in three high schools in Zabalj, and it is realistic to assume that a certain number are educated in the educational centers of Novi Sad or Zrenjanin. In the total registered unemployment, young people in the municipality of Zabalj make up about 18%, which is about 2% lower than the Serbian average.
In 2010, the Municipality of Zabalj created the Office for Youth, however, its work was undefined and only in 2013 was the Local Action Plan for Youth adopted. Understanding that the priority goals of young people, as stated in the survey conducted by the Office, that employment, quality informal education and quality free time of young people are the most important domain of their interest, the reduction of the number of young people with addiction problems was also prioritized.
The Zabalj Municipal Assembly should accept the Local Action Plan for Gender Equality, the goal of which is to increase the understanding of the principles of gender equality and balance the participation of women in public affairs, establish a functional and responsible gender-sensitive budget and improve the overall quality of life for women.
According to the data of the labor market in the municipality of Zabalj, almost half of the working-age population is employed, but the total registered unemployment is still growing. Women are at the forefront of job searching, accounting for 56% of total unemployment in 2022, while the number of men looking for work in the period 2020-2022 decreased. The reasons for such a trend are not visible at first glance. It is possible that a greater number of women left their jobs due to Covid 19, when in Serbia, in general, more women were fired than men, or it is a consequence of greater activation of able-bodied women on the labor market. Statistical data on women’s health care are also unfavorable compared to the national average, while women’s health care coverage in the first three months of pregnancy is higher than the Serbian average. The mortality rate of infants and children up to one year is above the Serbian average.
In 2022, 59 cases of violence against women and 11 against children were reported.
The majority of the population in the municipality of Zabalj consists of members of the Serb community (over 82%) and the rest of the population consists of various ethnic minorities. The most dominant group are members of the Ruthenian and Roma communities.
In the municipality of Zabalj, the Serbian and Cyrillic languages and the Ruthenian language and script are in official use by the members of this minority as an acquired right.[3] The names of local government bodies, institutions and public companies are bilingual in Serbian and Ruthenian languages, personal documents can be issued bilingually in Serbian and Ruthenian language and script, but there are no inquiries for them. In Djurdjevo, where there is a large Ruthenian community, there is a class in school that takes place in the Ruthenian language. By decision of the Municipal Assembly in 2009, the Council for Interethnic Relations was formed.
According to the president of the Council, there are no interethnic conflicts in the municipality of Zabalj. Members of minority communities participate in all activities of the local community. The Council for Interethnic Relations cooperates with the national councils of minorities that have their representatives in this parliamentary body.
PRIJEPOLJE
On November 30, 2023, a round-table in Prijepolje was organized in the cities’ library hall. The round-table was preceded by research in which representatives of competent authorities participated in answering questions regarding the position of youth, women and inter-ethnic relations in the municipality.
Regarding the organization of the round-table, the office of the president of the municipality was contacted, but the project team was told that they were occupied with the upcoming elections and that, therefore, they would not be able to rent out the municipal hall for organizing the round-table. Also, they stated that it would not be possible for representatives of the local self-government to participate either (Prijepolje is one of 60 municipalities where local authorities have resigned and where extraordinary local elections have been called). Thus, several representatives of local non-governmental organizations and local institutions participated in the work of the round-table, who had previously participated in the research conducted in this municipality. The participants of the round-table confirmed the views and recommendations from the research report. They agreed that complex measures of economic and social development should be continuously invested in agricultural production and tourism along with measures that prevent the devastation of the natural environment. They also concluded that real employment should be increased in agricultural production, where only 1% of the total employed residents of the municipality of Prijepolje work, while in accommodation and food services, employment has varied from 3.6% to 3.8% in the last three years. Special emphasis was placed on conservation of the natural environment, in which the accident with the overflow of the river Lim was mentioned, whereby the part of the landfill located on the coast ended up in the river. Only after that, this landfill was closed, covered with soil, and prevented from becoming a natural devastation that everyone can see while passing by in vehicles, due to the fact that it is located right next to the main road that leads to the sea.
Along with these suggestions, the research itself was positively evaluated and it was said that it had a sobering effect on the local actors.