Socio-economic inclusion of members of national minorities

Local self-government units represent one of the most important aspects in the implementation of minority sensitive policies because, as pointed out in the training dedicated to socio-economic inclusion of members of national minorities, life is lived in the local environment.

At the training dedicated to improving the position of national minorities in the Republic of Serbia, organized by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, with the support of the project "Strengthening Rule of Law in the Republic of Serbia", jointly funded by the EU and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ), implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, a special focus was placed on improving the integration of minority population in the social and economic life of the communities in which they live, as well as at the national level.

Welcoming the attendees of the training, Assistant Minister from the Sector for National Minorities Ms. Biljana Marković said that the aim of such trainings is to strengthen the capacities of local self-governments to provide support in improving the position of national minorities. GIZ Rule of Law Advisor Mr Petar Antić stressed the importance of raising the awareness of local public servants about the needs of citizens of a different ethnic identity from the citizens of the majority ethnic community in the self-governments where they work.

The training was implemented as part of the project support, led by Dr. Andrea Karstocha from the European Center for Minority Issues from Flensburg (Germany) and Ms. Jelena Perković, associate of the Center for Regionalism from Novi Sad, provided the participants a chance to learn more about ways to overcome problems at the local level. Special attention was paid to the legal and political aspects of the socio-economic inclusion of national minorities in Europe, as well as the recommendations for the effective implementation of the examples of good practice in Serbia.