Governance 

The Social Inclusion and poverty Reduction Unit of the Government of the Republic of Serbia (Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva Vlade Republike Srbije) is the main governmental authority responsible for social inclusion in Serbia. The Unit was established by the Government of the Republic of Serbia in 2009 aiming to strengthen Government and public administration capacities to develop and implement social inclusion policies. 

The Unit collaborates with different state, public, private, social stakeholders that are active in the field of social inclusion. 

The main national authorities involved are:

• Government of the Republic of Serbia (Vlada Republike Srbije)
• The Social Inclusion and poverty Reduction Unit of the Government of the Republic of Serbia (Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva Vlade Republike Srbije)
• Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs (Ministarstvo za rad, zapošljavanje, boračka i socijalna pitanja)
• Ministry of Youth and Sport (Ministarstvo omladine i sporta)
• Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development (Ministarstvo prosvete, nauke i tehnološkog razvoja)
• Ministry of Health (Ministarstvo zdravlja)
• Ministry of Finance (Ministarstvo finansija)
• Ministry of Economy (Ministarstvo privrede)
• Ministry of European Integration (Ministarstvo za evropske integracije)

The main national public institutions involved are:

• National Employment Service (Nacionalna služba za zapošljavanje) 
• Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Serbia (Privredna komora Srbije)
• Republic Statistical Office (Republički zavod za statistiku)
• Republic Institute for Social Protection (Republički zavod za socijalnu zaštitu).

Additional actors:

• Office for Inclusion of Roma Men and Women of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (Kancelarija za inkluziju Roma)
• Ombudsman (Pokrajinski zaštitnik građana). The Ombudsman pays special attention to:
  • rights of members of national minorities
  • children’s rights
  • rights of persons with disabilities
  • rights of persons deprived of liberty
  • gender equality
• Commissioner for Protection of Equality (Poverenik za zaštitu ravnopravnosti): aims to eradicate all kinds of discrimination and contribute to building a tolerant society in which all people enjoy equal rights and have equal opportunities.
• Local Social Services: according to the National Youth Strategy 2015-2025, the total number of local social services (at the time when the Strategy was being prepared) in 137 local self-governments was 351, while in 37 local communities in Serbia there were no local social services financed from the local self-government budget.  Activities of the local services are mostly present in the field of education, health and social welfare.

The main non-public actors are:

• Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities
• Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia
• Trade Union Confederation “Nezavisnost”
• The Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions
• Serbian Association of Employers
• Federation of Non-Governmental Organizations of Serbia
• European Movement in Serbia
• Smart Kolektiv – CSR Initiative
• Foundation for the Advancement of Economics
• International Student Organization AIESEC

The Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit is responsible for providing support to the establishment of a monitoring system based on social inclusion indicators as well as for strengthening and developing public administration capacities for monitoring of and reporting on the progress of social inclusion. 

Above listed ministries are responsible for social inclusion in their fields of work. The following ministries are responsible for social inclusion of youth in particular, but in collaboration with the Unit as well: the Ministry of Youth and Sport; the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy; the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development. 



Within the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, the Department for Human and Minority Rights in Education covers the fields of inclusive education and education of vulnerable groups.



The mentioned public institutions are responsible for providing input (statistics, reports, results of different analyses or surveys) to the ministries, the Unit and the public in general. Both public and non-public actors are involved in the development of policies in the field of youth social inclusion.

Cross-sectoral cooperation 

The Social Inclusion and poverty Reduction Unit is the main actor managing social inclusion in Serbia. As such, the Unit initiates and supports collaboration between relevant state, public and private stakeholders. In Serbia, representatives of different sectors (education, health, employment, economy, etc.) of central and local authorities collaborate, but also involve relevant non-public actors in different initiatives and activities.