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EACEA National Policies Platform
Serbia

Serbia

4. Social Inclusion

4.5 Initiatives promoting social inclusion and raising awareness

Last update: 28 November 2023

Intercultural awareness 

The EU-funded projects implemented by top-level authorities in Serbia with the aim of raising intercultural awareness are following:

  1. Implementation of Antidiscrimination Policies in Serbia” (IPA 2011) was implemented in the period 2011-2013 by the Office for Human and Minority Rights (Kancelarija za ljudska i manjinska prava) and professional service of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality (služba Poverenika za zaštitu ravnopravnosti). The project, among other, aimed to promote tolerance, equality and diversity, to prevent discrimination and implement and monitor the anti-discrimination policy generaly targeted to all citizens including youth.
  2. The Office for Human and Minority Rights and the Commissioner for Protection of Equality in cooperation with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights from Austria and the Office for National Minorities of the Republic of Slovenia mutually implemented the twinning project "Support to the advancement of human rights and zero tolerance to discrimination" (“Podrška unapređenju ljudskih prava i nulta tolerancija za diskriminaciju”). The project was funded by the European Union under IPA 2013. The project aimed at improving implementation of human rights and antidiscrimination policies at national and local level through, among others, implementation of preventive and promotional measures against discrimination using the best practices of the abovementioned project “Implementation of antidiscrimination policies”. 

Additionally, the campaign “Together, we are Serbia” (“Zajedno, mi smo Srbija”) was prepared by the Office for Human and Minority Rights (Kancelarija za ljudska i manjinska prava) and was active in 2017. The Campaign aimed at raising the public awareness of the richness of diversity of national minorities, cultural and linguistic diversity, and how important it is to preserve and nurture these differences in Serbia, through digital campaigns published online and on TV. 

Young people's rights

The Ministry of Youth and Sports, as a part of its regular activities, publishes results of different surveys. One of those surveys is the Survey on Position and Needs of Youth in the Republic of Serbia (Pozicija i potrebe mladih u Srbiji). 

As already mentioned in Chapter 1/1.6 Evidence Based Youth Policy/National Statistics and available data source, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has been conducting regular annual surveys since 2008 aiming to analyse the rights, status, challenges, attitudes on social issues that young people in Serbia share. The Ministry’s aim is to incorporate these findings into youth policy-making processes. Therefore, research on the position and needs of young people, realized at the national level, remain one of the basic starting points of the Ministry for the development and monitoring of the implementation of strategic documents in the field of youth policy, as well as for setting priorities in financing programs and projects of public interest in the youth sector.

The last Survey on Position and Needs of Youth in the Republic of Serbia was carried out in November 2016. 

Key initiatives to safeguard democracy and prevent radicalisation leading to violent extremism

In Serbia, at the national level, no initiative was established that would be directed solely to the prevention of radicalization leading to the violent extremism of young people.

However, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development implements numerous activities and campaigns against violence in schools and among peers. Umbrella programme for these activities is the programme “School without Violence” (“Škola bez nasilja”). The programme aims to prevent and reduce violence in schools, with the ultimate goal to support development of the enabling and stimulating school environment and safe surroundings for students. The programme has begun in 2005. and still remains active. 

Another important initiative is the project “Stop Digital Violence” (“Zaustavimo digitalno nasilje”) of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development. Within this project, following activities are being conducted: promotional campaigns, educational trainings and conferences, development of manuals, etc. All these activities target students and pupils active on the internet. One of the important outputs of the project is the manual “Digital Violence – Prevention and Response” (priručnik “Digitalno nasilje – prevencija i reagovanje”).