ANNUAL WORK REPORT January December 2014 -...
Transcript of ANNUAL WORK REPORT January December 2014 -...
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
2
CONTENT
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................
1. PROJECTS OF THE OFFICE ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.1. “EU Support to the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society” Project ................................................
1.2. “Enabling environment for civil society development” Project ..............................................................
1.3. Internship Program for young members of minorities in state institutions ..................................
2. ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR CIVIL SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT ..................................................
2.1. Initiatives for changing regulations relevant for activities of associations and other CSOs....................
2.2. Participation of the Office in work groups for making legal acts and other work bodies .......................
2.3. Transparent financing of CSOs ...............................................................................................................
2.3.1. Annual collective report about expenditure of budget funds for activities of associations and
other civil society organisations
2.3.2. Guide for potential national and foreign financing sources
2.3.3. Calendar of public administration calls ..........................................................................................
2.4. Guidelines for including civil society organisations in the law-making process ....................................
2.5. National strategy for an enabling environment for civil society development ........................................
2.6. Trainings of civil servants .......................................................................................................................
2.7. Conferences, seminars, workshops and meetings (sector and inter-sector) ............................................
2.8. Cooperation with associations and other CSOs ......................................................................................
3. EU INTEGRATIONS, REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION .......................................
3.1. EU integrations .......................................................................................................................................
3.1.1. Annual progress report ...................................................................................................................
3.1.2. Implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European
communities and their member-states and the Republic of Serbia ................................................
3.1.3. EU accession negotiations ..............................................................................................................
3.2. The Office as the National contact point for EU program “Europe for Citizens” ...................................
3.3. Planning and programming of international development assistance .....................................................
3.4. Co-financing projects of CSOs ...............................................................................................................
3.5. Increasing capacity of CSOs ..................................................................................................................
3.5.1. Training for sectorial CSOs and other CSOs ..................................................................................
3.6. Regional and international cooperation ...................................................................................................
3.6.1. Participation in regional projects ....................................................................................................
3.7. Serbia presiding OSCE in 2015 ..............................................................................................................
3.8. Participation of the Republic of Serbia in the work of the Joint Consultative Committee (ЈСС) ...........
4. MEDIA AND PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES ..............................................................................................
4.1. Media visibility of the Office ..................................................................................................................
4.2. Internet presentation of the Office ..........................................................................................................
4.3. Media activities related to the creation of the National strategy .............................................................
4.4. The Office and social networks ...............................................................................................................
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
3
INTRODUCTION
The Office for Cooperation with Civil Society (hereinafter: the Office) was
established in 2011 with the aim of system inclusion of civil society organisations into a
permanent dialogue with government institutions, which should be based on a transparent and
structured communication and regular exchange of experiences, information and opinions.
The Office was established for the sake of achieving several aims:
1) establishing permanent dialogue between the state and civil society organisations
related to issues of general and common interest;
2) strengthening inter-sectorial cooperation in the spheres where civil society
organisations are important factors in formulating and implementing public policies (human
rights, building a legal state, gender equality, social protection, employment, poverty
reduction, social inclusion, education, culture, amateur sport, sustainable development,
environment protection, good neighbourhood cooperation, Euro-Atlantic integrations etc.);
3) strengthening capacities of civil society organisations as a key factor in creating a
pluralist and democratic society.
This Report refers to the period from January to December 2014 and represents the
overview of realization of chief activities within the scope of the work of the Office.
1. PROJECTS OF THE OFFICE
1.1. “EU Support to the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society” Project
Since November the Office has been the user of technical assistance within IPA
Program of support to civil society 2011–2013 and within the three-year project “Support to
the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society” in the total amount of 1.200.000 EUR. The
program is implemented by The Swedish Institute for Public Administration (SIPU). The
funds for institutional support to the Office were programmed within the multi-user IPA
2011–2013 with the aim of creating a motivating regulatory environment for civil society
development, increasing the capacities of the Office employees for performing activities
within their competence, managing grants designated for civil society organisations,
monitoring approved grants etc.
During 2014 the SIPU project team continued supporting the Office in its activities.
One of the most important activities of the Office supported within the project was the
production of the first National strategy for an enabling environment for civil society
development in the Republic of Serbia for 2014–2018, which began at the conference in the
Sava Centre held on 20–21 February 2014. You will find a detailed overview of production
methodology and overall process in the separate chapter of the Report 2.5 National strategy
for an enabling environment for civil society development.
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
4
During 2014 SIPU also continued its work on establishing the National Council for
development and cooperation with civil society. It was stipulated that the basic tasks of the
Council should be monitoring the Strategy implementation and supporting other processes
relevant to civil society development in Serbia.
According to analyses of the legal framework regulating taxes and finances conducted
in 2013 and 2014, the project team continued indicating the possibility of further
improvement of legal solutions suitable for civil society development in the Republic of
Serbia and proposed initiatives for amendments and supplements to:
the Property Tax Law;
the Corporate Profit Tax Law;
the Rule books derived from the Law on Accounting.
The project supported producing the document “Guidelines for including civil society
organisations in the law-making process”, which was adopted by the Government of the
Republic of Serbia on 26th
August 2014. After its adoption, the Guidelines were printed and
promoted in the Media Centre in Belgrade.
The activities of the SIPU project team also included supporting the promotion of the
Annual collective report of the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society for 2012 about
distributing funds from the national, autonomous province and municipal budgets for
program and project activities of associations and other civil society organisations. Apart
from Belgrade, findings and recommendations of the Report were promoted in other 4
Serbian towns: Novi Sad, Subotica, Kruševac and Užice. The production of the Annual
collective report of the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society for 2013 about distributing
funds from the national, autonomous province and municipal budgets for program and project
activities of associations and other civil society organisations, also supported by the project,
is now in its final stage. In cooperation with the Office, the project ensured the modification
of the Questionnaire, i.e. the e-application for collecting data by state bodies, with the aim of
improving the data processing procedure.
The project also provided support in organising trainings/increasing capacities of civil
society organisations concerning negotiation processes for EU membership of the Republic
of Serbia through Sectorial civil society organisations (SCSO). These trainings were
organised for 236 participants from CSOs from various parts of Serbia. The trainings were
also organised for negotiation Chapter 10 (Information society and media), Chapter 11
(Agriculture and rural development), Chapter 25 (Science and research), 26 (Education and
culture) and Chapter 22 (Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments).
Within activities of supporting the EU Delegation in the Republic of Serbia, the
project offers regular technical assistance to the organisations whose projects were supported
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
5
within EU Support to Civil Society for 2011 and 2012. Moreover, support to the EU
Delegation is also provided through expert assistance of the project and the Office in
preparing and conducting an advertisement for grants within the program of the same name
for 2013. After the completion of the advertisement, the project offered assistance in
evaluation the projects and the preparation of contracts for new grants. The signing of the
contracts was followed by the celebration of promoting new projects and CSOs which
received the grants. Helping a new group of organisations whose projects have been
supported will continue within this project. Training about management and monitoring EU
projects has contributed to strengthening existing capacities of the Office in this domain of
work.
The project also supported the presentation of the Office and its achievements at
regional and European conferences, organised trainings for the Office employees and ensured
their participation in seminars.
The support to the development of capacities of the Office employees included study
tours to Croatia, Poland and Sweden in the first half of 2014. These visits were aimed at
making a comparison between legal and institutional solutions to the cooperation of public
administration and CSOs in these countries as well as evaluating the potential implementation
of certain tested good practices of these countries in Serbia.
1.2. “Enabling environment for civil society development” Project
According to the Assistance Agreement for strengthening the Government activities,
signed by US Agency for International Development (USAID) on behalf of the United States
of America and the Government of the Republic of Serbia on 23rd
September 2010, the funds
were provided for supporting Serbia in strengthening democratic power. USAID directed part
of these funds (214.834,00 US dollars) to the work of the Office for Cooperation with Civil
Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia through the Agreement on
implementing the project “Enabling environment for civil society development” signed on
14th
February 2014. In honour of the new partnership, Director of the Office Ivana Ćirković
received the award of US Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia, H.E. Michael D. Kirby and
Director of US Agency for International Development (USAID) Susan Fritz on 24th
February
2014.
The project “Enabling environment for civil society development” was planned to last
18 months and it represents a number of activities aimed at improving dialogue and
cooperation between public institutions and the civil society as well as strengthening
capacities of all dialogue participants. Therefore the project represents a significant
contribution to the development and regulation of participatory democracy in Serbia.
Since one of the key activities within the Office’s work domain is the production of
the National strategy for an enabling environment for civil society development in the
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
6
Republic of Serbia for 2014–2018 (hereinafter: the Strategy), which will represent the
framework for providing support to further development and sustainability of the civil society
as well as its larger participation in creating and implementing public policies, this project is
conceived to be additional support to this process. Therefore, continuing the participatory
approach to creating the Strategy established at the Sava Centre conference in February this
year, the project also organised 10 consultation meetings with representatives of local self-
governments and CSOs, who were able to improve the text of the first Strategy draft and
propose and develop measures and activities within the defined strategic framework. The
meetings were held in October and November 2014 in 10 Serbian towns (Subotica, Šabac,
Novi Sad, Užice, Novi Pazar, Kruševac, Zaječar, Vranje, Niš and Paraćin) with more than
400 active participants. The long-term aim of this inclusive process of the Strategy adoption
is to accept this model as a future standard in making national documents and legal acts.
After the completion of the consultation process, the Office published a detailed Report on
the process, results and recommendations for local self-governments, the Government and the
civil sector1 while a short overview of the consultations was published in the Sunday edition
of daily “Novosti” on 7th
December 2014.
With the aim of supporting sustainability and strengthening of the civil society, the
project “Enabling environment for civil society development” also began working on the
interactive web portal which should be the place for networking of CSOs as well as for their
representation and communication with the private sector and citizens of Serbia. “Map of the
Civil Society” (the working title of the portal) is an aspect of non-financial support to
activities and projects of CSOs which ensures a more direct communication of citizens with
these organisations and gives a systematic review of activities, fields and territorial coverage
of the civil society in Serbia.
Since the aim of the project is increasing the capacities of the public and civil sectors
and in particular of the Office as a mediator in establishing a more intensive inter-sector
dialogue, specific trainings and seminars have been both held and planned for representatives
of local self-governments, public administration, CSOs as well as the Office employees. In
September a delegation consisting of 8 Office employees went on a study tour to Budapest
(Hungary), where they attended 6 meetings with representatives of public institutions and
CSOs which focus on cooperation of these two sectors in various manners. This exchange of
experiences and knowledge was significant and motivating for further work of the Office in
establishing an enabling environment for the civil society work and development. A series of
trainings for representatives of local self-governments in all Serbian municipalities is planned
for the beginning of 2015 with the topic of transparent financing of CSOs as well as greater
inclusion of the civil society and citizens in the act-making at the local level.
1http://strategija.civilnodrustvo.gov.rs/izrada-strategije/dokumenti
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
7
1.3. Internship Program for young members of minorities in state institutions
For the third consecutive year the Office has participated in project “Internship
Program for young people – members of minorities in state institutions in Serbia”
conducted by the Office for human and minority rights of the Government of the Republic of
Serbia with support of the Embassy of Great Britain and Embassy of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The program lasts six months and it was conducted in two rounds within the report
period. In the first round, which was realized between 4th
November 2013 and 30th
April
2014, the intern was Marija Stanković from Belgrade, with BA in tourism studies, a member
of the Roma minority. In the second round, which is to be realized between 1st December
2014 and 31st May 2015, the intern is Mehdija Medović, with BA in security management,
who is a member of the Bosniak minority.
2. ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR CIVIL SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT
Improving the regulatory framework significant for civil society activities and
development represents part of the overall improvement of the legal framework at the level of
entire reform of the legislation system. In that respect, the largest part of the Office’s
activities is dedicated to proposals for amendments and supplements of acts with the aim of
creating enabling environment for civil society development
2.1. Initiatives for changing regulations relevant for activities of associations
and other CSOs
The Office for Cooperation with Civil Society submitted the following initiatives for
amendments to the regulations to the Ministry of Finance:
In November 2014 the Initiative was submitted for amendments and supplements
to the Corporate Profit Tax Law2 in Article 15, Paragraph 1 and Article 44,
Paragraph 1. The adoption of the Office’s proposal for including the activities listed in
the Law on Associations and the Law on Endowments and Foundations, which are
considered as activities of particular public interest, in Article 15, Paragraph 1 of the
Corporate Profit Tax Law, would have a stimulating effect on the corporate
philanthropy development in the Republic of Serbia.
2 “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 25/01, 80/02, 80/02 – other law, 43/03, 84/04, 18/10, 101/11,
119/12, 47/13, 108/13 and 68/14 - other law
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
8
In November 2014 the Initiative was submitted for amendments and supplements
to the Property Tax Law3 in Article 12, Paragraph 1, by adding a new Item 13. The
stipulated amendments would ensure tax exemptions for property, i.e. real estate to
foundations, endowments and associations which are registered according to the laws
regulating their legal status and which use their real estate solely for multi-beneficial
purposes in line with their statues.
At the beginning of August 2014 the Ministry of Finance addressed the Office with a
request to invite civil society organisations to give their proposals for amendments and
supplements to the rulebooks derived from the Law on Accounting (in the text below) which
refer to the recording of economic changes for other legal entities. One month after the public
invitation no CSOs submitted their comments on the rulebooks. On the other hand, the Office
prepared proposals for amendments to the above-mentioned rulebooks on the basis of the
analysis conducted by Mr. Milan Negovanović, an expert engaged by the project Technical
Support to the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic
of Serbia – IPA 2011.
The Office’s initiatives were forwarded to the Ministry of Finance on 18th September
and reviewed at the session of the National Accounting Committee held on 4th November
2014 as follows:
Initiative for amendments and supplements to the Rule Book on the chart of
accounts and content of accounts for other legal entities4,
Initiative for amendments and supplements to the Rule Book on content and
form of financial statements for other legal entities5,
Initiative for amendments and supplements to the Rule Book on content of
positions in financial statements for other legal entities6.
Having in mind significant and numerous specific aspects in business operations of
non-profit organisations which imply different financing sources and consequently a different
structure of income from business entities, a different property and capital structure, different
goals of business activities etc, the proposed amendments were primarily defined with the
aim of harmonizing accounting and financial operations of CSOs with these specific aspects.
On the other hand, certain issues which were not the subject of previous rule books and are
relevant only for other legal entities were now included and further elaborated in the Office’s
proposals. 3 “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 26/01, “Official Gazette of the Republic of the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia”, No. 42/02 - decision of the Federal Constitutional Court and “Official Gazette of the
Republic of Serbia”, No. 80/02, 80/02 - other law, 135/04, 61/07, 5/09, 101/10, 24/11, 78/11, 57/12 - Decision
of the Constitutional Court, 47/13 and 68/14 - other law 4 “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 24/14
5 “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 8/2012
6 “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 8/2012
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
9
The most important amendments in the Rule book on the chart of accounts and
content of accounts for other legal entities refer to the substantial reduction of the regulations
stipulating the application of the International Accounting Standards/International Financial
Reporting Standards, since other legal entities do not apply these standards which, on the
other hand, was not in full compliance with the Law on Accounting.
Unlike business companies (commercial legal entities in general), the structure of the
CSO profit and loss account is dominated by other sorts of incomes and expenses. In line
with this, a significant change was made in the structure of class 6 – Incomes, in order to
adjust it to the income structure and financing sources of other legal entities. Moreover, some
accounts were deleted and new, formerly missing accounts were formed within other classes,
in compliance with the specific aspects relevant for civil society organisations.
In the Rule books on content and form of financial statements for other legal entities
and on content of positions in financial statements for other legal entities, respective changes
were made in compliance with the changes in the chart of accounts and all other necessary
harmonisations were made.
The above-mentioned amendments to the Rule books as proposed by the Office were
adopted almost entirely while all three Rule books were published in the Official Gazette No.
137/14 of 24th
December 2014.
During November the following initiatives were submitted to the Ministry of Public
Administration and Local Self-Government:
Initiative for supplementing the Law on Public Administration7 which refers to
adding a new Article 75b. By adding this Article 75b to the Law on Public
Administration will define and establish potential levels of cooperation between
public administration bodies and CSOs in the process of preparation, adoption and
implementation of regulations. At the same time, this Article will stipulate that the
Government will define more closely the manner and procedure of realizing that
cooperation. The Initiative is currently in the consideration stage.
As a member of the GIZ Project group for improving the law-making process in the
Republic of Serbia, the Office participated in producing the GIZ initiative for amendments
and supplements to the Working text of the Government Rules of Procedure8, which will
be submitted to the Republic Legislation Secretariat, which is in formal charge of
proposing acts.
7 “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 79/05, 101/07, 95/10 and 99/14
8 “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 61/06 – edited text, 69/08, 88/09, 33/10, 69/10, 20/11, 37/11,
30/13 and 76/14
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
10
The Office’s proposal for amendments referred to the law proponent’s obligation to
produce and make public, apart from the baselines, the Report on conducted consultations
regarding those baselines on its website and e-portal. The Report should contain all
proposals, suggestions and comments collected both in written and electronic forms, which
would improve work transparency and thus increase the quality of the law-making process in
the Republic of Serbia. The Initiative is currently in the consideration stage at the level of the
GIZ Project group for improving the law-making process in Serbia.
2.2. Participation of the Office in work groups for making legal acts and other
work bodies
The Office representatives participate actively in the work of the Technical Work
group for registration in birth registers, which is in charge of implementing the Agreement
on Understanding between the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, the
Ombudsman and the UN High Commissariat for Refugees about carrying out coordinated
activities directed at offering assistance to members of the Roma community who are not
registered in the birth certificate and have no personal documents. The Technical Work group
achieved good results in the previous period, which is proved by a substantial reduction in the
number of legally invisible persons, or Romas who needed personal documents as well as by
a series of training organised for judges about the implementation of the Law on
Amendments to the Law on Non-Contentious Proceedings, the trainings for registrars, deputy
registrars and clerks in charge of first-instance administrative proceedings in the domain of
birth registers in relation to the implementation of the laws and by-laws regulating the
recording of facts and particulars in birth registers. In the course of this year, just as before,
there were 5 meetings with the representatives of Roma and other CSOs dealing with the
problems of Romas, Roma leaders and media representatives about “Novelties in the field of
registration in birth registers and obtaining personal documents”. These meetings were aimed
at informing the participants about the progress achieved in this field as well as to invite them
to intensify their activities in informing Romas about activities within the Cooperation
Agreement and to improve the coordination and cooperation in achieving the goals of the
Agreement. These five meetings were held in the following order: on 30th
October –
Belgrade, on 20th
November – Kragujevac, on 27th
November – Subotica, on 2nd
December –
Niš and on 16th
December – Novi Sad.
Within GIZ project “Support to implementation of legal reforms in the Republic of
Serbia”, the Office has continued participating in the work of the Work group “Improving
the law-making process in the Republic of Serbia”. The aim of the project is to improve
the legal and institutional framework for strengthening rule of law and economic
development in order to facilitate accession of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union.
The Project work group is working on the preparation of the Action plan for implementing
the Strategy of Public Administration reform, the Strategy for regulatory reform as well as on
improving the Government Rules of Procedure.
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
11
The Office also has its member and deputy member in the Committee for
implementing the National Strategy for Judicial Reform, in whose work it has
participated during 2014.
The Office representative is a member of the Work group for writing the text of the
Law on High Judicial Council and the Law on the state prosecutorial council (as of July
2013). The amendments to these laws are aimed at improving transparency and quality of the
electoral procedure as well as ensuring court protection regarding the decisions of these two
bodies During 2014 the activities of the Work group included amendments and supplements
to the Law on High Judicial Council and the Law on the state prosecutorial council, while on
several occasions the Work group considered the necessity for amendments to the
Constitution of the Republic of Serbia with the aim of full harmonisation of the above-
mentioned laws with the Constitution.
The Office actively participates in monitoring the implementation of the “National
Action Plan for implementing Resolution 1325 of the UN Security Council – Women,
peace and security in the Republic of Serbia”. This Resolution refers to the participation of
women in decision-making and peace processes, specific rights, needs and protection of
women in the security sector. The participation of the Office in this process also represents
the assumed obligation within the Action Plan for realizing recommendations by the
European Commission contained in the Annual Progress Report about the Republic of Serbia
in the EU integrations process for 2012, where the role of the Office is defined as to perform
activities regarding the encouragement of cooperation of the public administration bodies
with the associations and civil society organisations. In June 2014 the Office delegated its
member and deputy member to the Political Council and the Multi-sector coordination
body.
In April 2014 the Office representatives as members of the Work group for making
the Strategy of prevention and protection from discrimination for the period from 2013
to 2018, took part in the public discussion on the Action plan draft for implementing the
Strategy of prevention and protection from discrimination in the Republic of Serbia for
the period from 2014 to 2018, as well as the public discussion on the segment of the Action
plan draft for implementing the Strategy of prevention and protection from
discrimination in the Republic of Serbia dedicated to the improvement of the position of
LGBT persons, which was organised by the Office for Human and Minority Rights of the
Government of the Republic of Serbia.
In March 2014 the Office took part in making the initial proposal of the Action plan
draft for implementing the national Strategy about HIV infection and AIDS for the
period from 2014 to 2015, whose production is coordinated by the Republic HIV/AIDS
Office of the Institute for Public Health of Serbia “Dr Milan Jovanović Batut” in compliance
with the decision of the multi-sector Committee for the Fight against HIV/AIDS and
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
12
tuberculosis of the Government of the Republic of Serbia made at the initial meeting of the
Committee on 8th
October 2013.
At the invitation of the Institute for Public Health of Serbia “Dr Milan Jovanović
Batut”, within the twinning project “Implementation of the Strategy for Fight against drugs
(components of reduced offer and demand)” used by the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of
Health and Institute for Public Health of Serbia “Dr Milan Jovanović Batut”, the Office was
involved in the Work group for making the Strategy for Drugs in the Republic of Serbia
2014–2021 and the accompanying draft of the National action plan for fight against drugs
in the period from 2014 to 2017. The Office was also a member of the Special work group
for Chapter “Prevention” within the Action plan of the same name.
In May 2014 the Office delegated its representative to the Work group for making the
National strategy for young for the period from 2015 to 2025 led by the Ministry of Youth
and Sports.
The Office has its representatives in the Board of Directors of the project “European
Support to inclusion of Romas” conducted by the OSCE Mission to Serbia in coordination
with the Office for Human and Minority Rights and with financial support of the European
Union through IPA 2012 program. The main aim of the project is to support the
implementation of the National strategy for improving the position of Romas in the Republic
of Serbia. The Board of Directors is composed of representatives of the Ministries,
institutions and organisations directly in charge of certain fields of the Strategy
implementation so as to have the leading role in monitoring and evaluating the project
progress.
In 2014 the work was completed on the Draft of the Rule Book on minimum
standards for offering specialized SOS telephone service for women as victims of
violence, where the Office representatives participated in the work of the broader Work
group led by the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy. In the
following period the Rule Book is expected to be adopted by the Government of the Republic
of Serbia.
The Office added its comments and activities to the Response of the Republic of
Serbia to the Draft Report of the expert group for combating human trafficking
(GRETA) for the Republic of Serbia, which is submitted to the Secretariat of the
Convention of the Council of Europe about combating human trafficking. The Report was
finalized in February 2014 and it represents the continued activities of GRETA with the aim
of evaluating the application of the Council’s Convention about combating human trafficking
by the Republic of Serbia. The Report was made after the evaluation visit on 15–19th
April
2013.
In the sphere of its cooperation with the business sector, the Office is a member of the
Serbian Philanthropic Forum. The Forum has four Work groups whose members try to
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
13
provide more mechanisms for giving in Serbia, a better legislation framework for developing
philanthropy, minimum standards for transparent reporting and to promote philanthropy as an
inseparable segment of our everyday life. Apart from the Office with Cooperation with Civil
Society, the Forum members are business companies and enterprises, foundations and civil
society organisations.
The Office is a member of the Project group for making the Action Plan for
improving administration openness for the period 2014–2018, whose work is run by the
Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government (in the new Government
convocation, while the previous Project work group was run by the Ministry of Justice and
Public Administration). The task of the Project group is to prepare the Action Plan
emphasizing the importance of open administration in a member state, the review of the
condition and achievements in the area of open administration as well as identified activities
and their implementation and monitoring plan which the administration assumes in order to
improve public integrity and efficient public resources management, which are the main
challenges chosen by the Republic of Serbia in the two-year period the Action plan refers to.
Since the very beginning of its work on the Action plan the Office has offered support
to the Ministry regarding the establishment of cooperation with CSOs. In that respect, the
Office invited CSOs to submit their proposals, comments and suggestions for improving the
Working version of the Action plan for implementing the initiative administration
openness for the period 2014–2015 in the Republic of Serbia and two meetings of the
Ministry and CSOs were held (in April and July) where the Action plan was presented and
the organisations had the opportunity to present and justify their suggestions and comments.
Apart from that, the Office also provided support through its proposal of the
manner/format of collecting comments as well as through the process of online consultations
with civil society organisations by publishing the Working version of the Action plan on the
websites of the Ministry and the Office. The Action plan is expected to be adopted by the
Government of the Republic of Serbia by the end of this year.
Since its establishment on 19th
June 2014 the Office has been a member of the Special
work group for analysing the condition and preparing proposals for improving
engagement of volunteers in emergency situations, whose work was run by the Ministry of
Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy. The
main task of this Work group was to make the analysis of the condition and to prepare
proposals for improving engagement of volunteers in emergency situations. At the December
session of the Government of the Republic of Serbia the Government decided to adopt the
Report on the work of this Work group which, apart from the above-mentioned analysis of
the legal framework and its deficiencies in this sphere, contains concrete proposals for their
solution.
At the invitation of the Ministry of Trade, Telecommunications and Tourism, the
Office participated in defining the indicators for monitoring the implementation of measures
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
14
in the period July 2013–July 2014 of the Action plan for implementing the Consumer
Protection Strategy for the period 2013–2018, which considered the Office as a partner in
implementing certain activities.
In July 2014 the Office representative was delegated as a member of the
Interdepartmental Group for making the National strategy of opposing to irregular
migrations in the Republic of Serbia and the Action plan, whose work is led by the
Ministry of Interior.
Since September 2014 the Office has also been involved in the Project work group
for making the Proposal for the Strategy of regulatory reforms in the Republic of
Serbia for the period 2014–2016, with the Action plan for implementing the Strategy,
which is led by the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies. The Strategy and the Action plan
are planned to be adopted by April 2015.
The Office is a member of the National Council for climate changes which is
responsible for monitoring the condition, development and implementation of the national
policy in the sphere of climate changes, sector and other plan documents as well as
monitoring and fulfilling international obligations of the Republic of Serbia in the sphere of
climate changes.
The Office representatives participate in the work of the Inter-ministerial Project
group for public administration reform as well as the Operational work group for public
administration reform led by the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-
Government.
The Office takes part in the Work group for preparation and implementation of
activities of making the Plan and program of public information campaign about the
participation mechanism in the law-making process at all levels, led by the Ministry of
Public Administration and Local Self-Government. The task of this Work group by 30th
December 2014 is to prepare and conduct activities of making the Plan and program of public
information campaign about the participation mechanism in the law-making process at all
levels in compliance with the Action plan of implementing the Anti-corruption Strategy
adopted by the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia 05 Number: 110-
7203/2013 of 25th
August 2013.
At the initiative of the Coalition for social entrepreneurship development, on 18th
September 2014 the Office organised a consultation meeting dedicated to issues in the sphere
of social entrepreneurship, which was also attended by the representatives of the Ministry
of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy, the Ministry of Economy, the European
Integrations Office and the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Team. The meeting
resulted in the decision of the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy to
begin making of the Law on Social Entrepreneurship. The Work group for making the
Draft Law on Social Entrepreneurship was established and the appointed member and
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
15
deputy member of the Office participate in its work. Moreover, the Office ensured the
participation of CSOs in the work of this Work group.
2.3. Transparent financing of CSOs
2.3.1. Annual collective report about expenditure of budget funds for activities of associations
and other civil society organisations
In order to increase the transparency of financing associations and other CSOs, in
2012 the Office began producing the Annual collective report about expenditure of budget
funds provided and paid to associations and other civil society organisations as support to
program and project activities from the public funds of the Republic of Serbia (hereinafter:
the Annual collective report).
The Annual collective report about expenditure of budget funds provided and paid to
associations and other civil society organisations as support to program and project activities
from the public funds of the Republic of Serbia in 2012 was adopted at the session of the
Government of the Republic of Serbia on 28th
January 2014, while the main findings were
presented in public on 18th
February 2014 in Media Centre in Belgrade.
On the basis of analyzing the data collecting process during 2013 and
recommendations from the persons engaged in data entering, at the beginning of the year the
Office began making changes in the Questionnaire, i.e. the e-application for collecting data
by relevant bodies, with the aim of producing the best-quality report and improving the data
processing procedure.
In April 2014 the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the
Republic of Serbia in cooperation with EU IPA 2011–2013 project “EU support to the Office
for Cooperation with Civil Society” organised four meetings entitled “Transparent
financing of CSOs to greater citizens’ trust”.
The meetings were held in the following towns:
Subotica, on 15th
April 2014
Novi Sad, on 17th
April 2014
Kruševac, on 23rd
April 2014
Užice, on 28th
April 2014
The aim of these meetings was to present the Annual collective report about
expenditure of budget funds provided and paid to associations and other civil society
organisations as support to program and project activities from the public funds of the
Republic of Serbia in 2012, to improve the reporting process of local self-governments to the
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society about provided support to associations and other
civil society organizations and to improve their existing practices in the process of
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
16
transparent financing of CSOs. On this occasion the improved methodology was presented on
the basis of which data about provided support to civil society organisations will be collected
in 2013. The advanced Questionnaire about expenditure of budget funds intended for
associations and other civil society organisations was presented to the participants and all
questions, offered answers, terminology and requests of the Office to local self-governments
and provincial secretariats were clarified.
The meetings were attended by a large number of representatives of CSOs,
representatives of 6 provincial secretariats (Provincial Secretariat for Interregional
Cooperation and Local Self-Government, Provincial Secretariat for Health, Social Policy and
Demography, Provincial Secretariat for Education, Administration and National
Communities, Provincial Secretariat for Culture and Public Information, Provincial
Secretariat for Finance, Provincial Secretariat for Energy and Mineral Resources) as well as a
large number of representatives of 46 local self-governments from the following
municipalities and towns: Ada, Vrbas, Žabalj, Bogatić, Sremski Karlovci, Novi Sad, Novi
Bečej, Pančevo, Zvezdara, Kovačica, Sremska Mitrovica, Zrenjanin, Plandište, Bač, Temerin,
Subotica, Bačka Topola, Kruševac, Mionica, Nova Varoš, Novi Pazar, Ljig, Ljubovija,
Valjevo, Jagodina, Lajkovac, Raška, Užice, Topola, Loznica, Ivanjica, Čačak, Batočina,
Ćuprija, Lapovo, Rača, Aleksinac, Boljevac, Knjaževac, Paraćin, Žagubica, Trstenik,
Prijepolje, Mali Zvornik and Sjenica.
In July 2014 the Office began collecting data necessary for producing the Annual
collective report for 2013 which will include all three levels of power (Republic, provincial
and local). The Report is produced by the new and advanced methodology of data collection
(application for data entering). After the collected data are processed by January 2015, the
Government of the Republic of Serbia is expected to adopt the Annual collective report for
2013 in the part referring to the Republic level.
2.3.2. Guide for potential national and foreign financing sources
In April the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society in cooperation with the
European Integrations Office, the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Team and the
Citizen initiatives prepared and published the new eleventh edition of the Guide for potential
financing sources for projects of CSOs, local self-governments, small and medium
enterprises, entrepreneurs and individuals in Serbia for 2014 9.
The Guide for potential national and foreign financing sources gives a broad overview
of potential financing sources and represents an important overview of information aimed at
strengthening the civil sector in the Republic of Serbia and facilitating its functioning and
operating. This overview of potential donors and available funds not only ensures better
information and planning possibilities for CSOs but is also important for the international
community in the Republic of Serbia as the potential basis for better planning and
9http://civilnodrustvo.gov.rs/media/2012/10/Vodi%C4%8D-2014-final.pdf
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
17
coordination of the future range and spheres of support with the aim of providing more
effective and efficient investing in development programs.
The Guide for potential national and foreign financing sources for 2014 is currently
being prepared and it is expected to be published at the beginning of next year.
2.3.3. Calendar of public administration calls
At the beginning of the year the Office published the Annual calendar of calls for
financing projects and programs of associations and other CSOs from the budget of the
Republic of Serbia in 201410
.
The aim of producing the Calendar was timely and continued informing of CSOs
about planned public calls of line ministries and other public administration bodies as well as
bodies of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in order to prepare better-quality proposals
for potential financing from the budget and to increase the number of potential users of
financial funds from the budget of the Republic of Serbia.
The Calendar offers the most important information about planned calls, goals and
subject areas of each individual call, approximate dates for their publishing as well as about
the planned amount of funds planned for each public call.
The Office for Cooperation with Civil Society updates this document regularly in
compliance with the new data and information about planned calls received from the state
bodies.
Apart from the Calendar of public administration calls, the Office regularly publishes
other current calls for projects11
of CSOs on its website – international donors, the European
Union and the private sector.
2.4. Guidelines for including civil society organisations in the law-making
process
In September 2013, in cooperation with the project “EU support to the Office for
Cooperation with Civil Society 2011–2013”, the Office prepared the working text of the
document Guidelines for including CSOs in the law-making process12
with the aim of
establishing principles and general criteria for cooperation between public authorities and the
interested public in the law-making procedures and ensuring their effective and efficient
implementation.
10
http://civilnodrustvo.gov.rs/vesti/godisnji-kalendar-konkursa-za-2014-godinu/ 11
http://civilnodrustvo.gov.rs/konkursi/ 12
http://civilnodrustvo.gov.rs/vesti/kancelarija-predstavila-radni-tekst-smernica/
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
18
In order to inform the interested public with the proposed solution, the Office
published the text of the document on its website and social networks inviting citizens to give
their comments and suggestions and contribute to improving proposed solutions. On 2nd
October 2013 there was the panel “Presentation of Guidelines for participation of
interested public in law-making procedures”, which was attended by 70 participants from
the public administration and CSOs. The consultation process with interested citizens and
civil society organisations was open in the period between 23rd
September and 14th
October
2013.
During the public debate the Office received comments from 9 CSOs apart from the
comments received during the panel and they were mostly adopted in the advanced version of
the document.
Since the Law on Ministries13 from April 2014 changed the competence of certain
Ministries and some new public administration bodies were established, the Office submitted
for reconsideration of the relevant state bodies the Proposal of the decision about adopting the
Guidelines for including civil society organisations in the law-making process.
At the session held on Tuesday, 26th
August 2014, and at the proposal of the Office
for Cooperation with Civil Society, the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted
“Guidelines for including civil society organisations in the law-making process” (Decision 05
Number 011-8872/2014)14
. The Government’s Decision and the text of the Guidelines were
published in the “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” No. 90/14.
The purpose of the Guidelines is directing the work of the public administration
bodies regarding the inclusion of CSOs in procedures of preparing, adopting and monitoring
the implementation of regulations with the aim of ensuring their effective and efficient
application.
Basic objectives of the Guidelines are further improvement of participation of CSOs
in processes of preparing, adopting and monitoring the implementation of regulations which
define issues and attitudes of public interest while the levels of their participation in these
processes can include: informing, advising, including and partnership.
The recommended principles for including CSOs are: their active participation in all
stages of the law and act adoption process; mutual trust between the public administration
bodies and CSOs; openness and responsibility; effectiveness, efficiency and economy; timely
informing of the civil society about the law-making plan; ensuring the participation of
persons with disabilities in law-making procedures; existence of feedback about results of the
13
“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 45/14 14
http://civilnodrustvo.gov.rs/vesti/usvojene-smernice-za-ukljucivanje-organizacija-civilnogdrustva-
uprocesizrade-propisa-zakljucak/
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
19
conducted public debate; harmonised application of the participation principles in the public
administration bodies.
In the text of the Guidelines the Government recommended that, apart from the public
administration bodies, the bodies of the autonomous province and of local self-government
units should also respect the principles listed in the Guidelines in the law-making process.
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
20
The document was presented at the meeting held on 22nd
September 2014 in the
Grand Hall of Media Centre, where the participants were addressed by: Ivana Ćirković,
Director of the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society, Zorana Mihajlović, Vice President
of the Government of Serbia and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure,
Tanja Miščević, Head of the Negotiating team for accession of the Republic of Serbia to the
European Union, H.E. Michael Davenport, Head of EU Delegation in the Republic of Serbia
and Sonja Stojanović Gajić, Director of Belgrade Centre for Security Policy. The Manual for
applying the Guidelines was announced to be published with the aim of improving the
practice of the state bodies regarding the participation of CSOs in the law-making process as
well as ensuring efficient implementation of this document.
2.5. National strategy for an enabling environment for civil society
development
In cooperation with EU IPA 2011–2013 project “EU Support to the Office for
Cooperation with Civil Society” and TACSO office in Serbia – EU program People 2 People,
the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
organised the national conference “GET INVOLVED – WHAT CIVIL SOCIETY DO YOU
WANT?!” Civil society in Serbia 2018 – creation of the first National strategy for an
enabling environment for civil society development” on 20–21st February 2014 in Belgrade.
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
21
In the process of making the first national Strategy, the Office for Cooperation with
Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia was supported within EU IPA
project “EU Support to the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society” and USAID project
“Support to creating an enabling environment for civil society development”.
The national conference gathered more than 300 representatives of public
administration institutions and bodies at the national and local level as well as of CSOs, with
the emphasis on the importance of creating the first strategic framework for an enabling
environment for civil society development in the Republic of Serbia. The purpose of adopting
the Strategy is to establish the framework for civil society development and sustainability, to
improve the cooperation of government institutions and CSOs as well as to define measures
for greater inclusion of the interested public in the process of creating and implementing
policies with the aim of further development and democratization of our society, promotion
and protection of human rights and freedom of association.
The conference was opened by: Ivana Ćirković, Director of the Office for
Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia; Nikola
Selaković, Minister of Justice and Public Administration of the Government of the Republic
of Serbia; Tanja Miščević, Head of the Negotiating team for accession of the Republic of
Serbia to the European Union; H.E. Ambassador Michael Davenport, Head of EU Delegation
in the Republic of Serbia; H.E. Michael D. Kirby, US Ambassador in the Republic of Serbia;
H.E. Nils Ragnar Kamsvåg, Ambassador of Norway in the Republic of Serbia. Danka
Latković, Head of the Office for Cooperation with Non-Government Organisations of the
Government of the Republic of Montenegro and Vesna Lendić Kasalo, Deputy Director of
the Office for Cooperation with NGOs of the Republic of Croatia also participated in the
work of the conference.
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
22
The best examples and lessons learned from the European Union and the region were
presented regarding the process of creation and implementation of strategic frameworks for
civil society development.
The largest part of the conference was working through the application of Open Space
methodology, which ensures group consideration of complex topics with the principle of self-
organisation and achievement of results in a very short period of time. Open Space
methodology enabled all participants to speak and take active part in defining key topics and
objectives of civil society development in the Republic of Serbia and thus contribute to
creating the working text of the future strategic framework for an enabling environment for
civil society development in the Republic of Serbia. On the first day of the conference the
participants opened “Topic Market” where the outstanding topics were those dealing with
young people, including the Office in the negotiation process and with networking. Other
important topics were environment protection, informal education, transparency and co-
financing of projects. After the First conversation round, 66 topics were recommended which
should become part of the national Strategy.
On the second day of the conference, 40 topics recommended by representatives of
CSOs were processed and as many as 35 reports were made. This was followed by “Gallery”,
where the participants reviewed the results of work of all groups and voted for priority
strategic topics discussed in new work groups, which resulted in the final report with
proposed concrete activities within finally selected topics.
After grouping a large number of topics and voting, representatives of the civil society
in Serbia in Serbia created 15 priority topics which should be included in the document
National strategy for an enabling environment for civil society development. During the two
conference days the reports from three conversation rounds as well as the reports from the
final session15
were prepared with the proposals for concrete activities within the finally
selected topics. Some of the topics chosen by the participants are dedicated to with education,
volunteering, culture, environment, European integrations, social protection and health,
development of rural organisations and LGBT rights.
15
http://civilnodrustvo.gov.rs/vesti/kompletni-izvestaji-sa-konferencije-ukljuci-se-kakvo-civilno-drustvo-zelis/
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
23
Before, during and after the conference there was an overall online campaign on
social networks Facebook and Twitter, which ensured large visibility of events and obtained
wide audience when the strategic document itself is concerned.
The expert group for making the Strategy, composed of experts for certain
fields/chapters of the Strategy began working on 5th
June 2014. Then in July 2014 the
Project group was established for making the National strategy for an enabling
environment for civil society development in the Republic of Serbia for period 2014–
2018 and Action Plan for its implementation. The Project Group consists of 14 members, 13
representatives of public administration bodies and 1 representative of the civil society
organisation.
During October and November 2014, with the support of EU IPA 2011–2013 project
“EU Support to the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society” and project “Enabling
environment for civil society development” aided by US Agency for International
Development (USAID) in the Republic of Serbia, the Office organised consultation
meetings with local self-governments and civil society organisations in ten Serbian towns:
Subotica: on 3rd
October 2014
Šabac: on 6th
October 2014
Novi Sad: on 10th
October 2014
Užice: on 13th
October 2014
Novi Pazar: on 14th
October 2014
Kruševac: on 20th
October 2014
Zaječar: on 24th
October 2014
Vranje: on 29th
October 2014
Niš: on 30th
October 2014
Paraćin: on 5th
November 2014
At these meetings the representatives of civil society organisations, local self-
governments and other interested citizens had the opportunity to discuss and make their
suggestions and proposals about the first Strategy Draft and in that manner to participate in
further elaboration of proposed objectives, measures and activities.
Publishing the text of the first Strategy Draft on 15th
September 2015, within special
sub-section of the Office’s webpage16
www.strategija.civilnodrusvo.gov.rs, marked the
beginning of the process of online consultations about the Draft of this strategic document,
i.e. making proposals and suggestions about the Strategy text in electronic form. The Office
developed a special system of public consultations on its webpage, which involved electronic
application and for the first time ensured sending proposals and suggestions through a
specially designed form giving the possibility of insight into other submitted comments and
suggestions comments and suggestions of CSOs and other interested citizens.
16
http://strategija.civilnodrustvo.gov.rs/diskusija/uputstvo-za-ostavljanje-komentara/
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
24
Civil society organisations and interested individuals who were not able to attend the
consultation meetings, according to the Instruction for leaving comments, could send their
proposals and suggestions directly to the text of the Strategy, in the part relevant for the
comments. Before being published, the comments underwent the authorisation process by
administrators. The comments which did not refer to the text of the Strategy Draft were not
published, just as those comments which did not contribute to constructive communication
among site visitor, contained impolite use of the language or referred to any form of speech
encouraging or spreading racial, national, religious, sex, gender or any other form of hatred
and intolerance or which violated the right to privacy and other human rights.
In the period between 15th
September and 1st December 2014, after the completion of
online commenting, there were as many as 153 comments. The Office forwarded all received
comments for further consideration to the Expert and the Project groups for the sake of
potential amendments and supplements of the Strategy text. The comments containing only
praise and criticism, i.e. those which did not refer to the subject of the Strategy regulation or
did not contain any concrete proposals for improving the Strategy text were not forwarded.
The plan for the beginning of 2015 is to conduct public consultations about the
Strategy drafts and the accompanying Action plan, where the public will be able to see which
of the proposals are adopted.
The Strategy is planned to be adopted by the Government in the middle of 2015.
2.6. Trainings of civil servants
Within the training program organised by the Department of Human Resources
Management and with the support of GIZ program for legal and judicial reforms, two
trainings focused on “Coordination and cooperation in the law-making procedure” were
held on 24–25th
April and on 3rd
October 2014. On this occasion, the Office representative
acquainted the participants with the Office’s competence and activities as well as with the
document Guidelines for including CSOs in law-making procedures, with the aim of
improving cooperation of public administration institutions and CSOs and the participation of
CSOs in the processes of preparing, adopting and implementing regulations which define
issues and attitudes of public interest.
The aim of the training was to acquaint the participants with skills and techniques of
organising effective and efficient ministerial and inter-ministerial consultation meetings and
public debates as well as with models for participation of interested public and CSOs.
2.7. Conferences, seminars, workshops and meetings (sector and inter-sector)
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
25
Organising panels, meetings and conferences with the aim of increasing capacities and
sustainability of civil society organisations, as well as cooperation and exchange of
experiences with similar government institutions in the region, EU member states and the
world represents an important segment of the Office’s mandate. In order to fulfil its mandate,
the Office initiated and was the partner in organising many national, regional and European
gatherings
During the reporting period the Office representatives participated in as many as 99
gatherings (workshops, conferences, seminars, and meetings) as initiators, organisers and
partners. Since the number of these gatherings is quite large, there is a review of several most
important ones.
The Director of the Office gave Telecom Serbia VIRTUS award for corporate
philanthropy in the category of long-term partnership between profit and non-profit
sectors. This award, which is given for the seventh time in Serbia, was established with the
aim of promoting and encouraging corporate philanthropy in Serbia by attracting as many
companies and enterprises as possible to participate in socially responsible activities and
projects. The grand ceremony was held in Belgrade’s Hyatt Hotel on 19th
January 2014.
VIRTUS award is organised by TRAG foundation for local initiatives (former BCIF – Balkan
Community Initiative Fund) with the financial support by US Agency for International
Development (USAID) in partnership with the Institute of Sustainable Communities (ISC)
and the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Team in the Government of the Republic of
Serbia (SIPRU).
The Director of the Office participated in the work of the Annual meeting and
business forum of the European Bank or Reconstruction and Development (EBRD),
which was held in Warsaw, Poland, on 14th
and 15th
May. Recognizing the significance of the
civil society in transition processes, the EBRD Civil Society Engagement Unit organised the
panel discussion entitled “Civil society as a partner in transition”. This panel was part of the
parallel gathering within the EBRD Annual meeting entitled the Civil Society Program. In
her speech within this panel the Director of the Office emphasized the importance of
democratic efforts of the civil society and cooperation with the public sector with the aim of
creating a better society. She noted that the Governments of the states had recognized civil
society organisations (CSOs) as powerful partners in creating policies and that now there was
the obligation of creating motivating conditions for enabling CSOs to achieve their goals,
including those at the local level.
The Office representative attended the two-day conference entitled “OSCE and
human right defenders: Budapest document 20 years later”, held in Bern, Switzerland, on
10th
and 11th
June. Besides the Director of the Office, the meeting was also attended by Ivan
Mrkić, Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Serbia and Ambassador Dejan Šahović,
Head of the Foreign Ministry's working group for Serbia's OSCE chairmanship. Apart from
the topic important for all OSCE members, the participation of the representatives of the
Republic of Serbia at the conference was also significant in the light of the fact that Serbia
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
26
will take over OSCE chairmanship in 2015. The conference was dedicated to the topic of the
current condition in the sphere of protecting human right defenders and the role of civil
society organisations in improving this sphere. The gathering was organised as the place for
conversation and exchange of opinions about future activities of member-states with the aim
of strengthening their support to human right defenders and improving their position.
On 17th
June 2014 the Director of the Office took part in the event within the initiative
“Dobro ČiniTi”, by which its founders wanted to gather all those willing to get involved in
charitable giving. The way in of spending collecting funds will be monitored with the support
of Catalyst Foundation. The gathering of the initiative “Dobro ČiniTi” was dedicated to
collecting funds for the flooded areas.
On 4th
July 2014 the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society and the Office for
assistance and rehabilitation of flooded areas organised the first Coordination meeting with
civil society organisations which participated in providing assistance to people in he
flood-stricken areas. The meeting was held upon the proposal of numerous organisations
gathered within the initiative United for Serbia. The meeting was attended by the
representatives of the European Integrations Office, the Office for assistance and
rehabilitation of flooded areas, the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social
Policy, the Ministry of Youth and Sports as well as by the representatives of over 30 CSOs.
The purpose of the gathering was to establish dialogue and cooperation of the state bodies
with civil society organisations with the aim of more efficient assistance to the people in the
flood-stricken territory.
In the course of 2014 the Office continued with the practice of regular sectorial
meetings attended by the decision-makers from the line Ministries and the representatives of
relevant civil society organisations. Apart from their informative character, these meetings
open the possibility of civil society organisations influencing the process of decision-making
as well as establishing cooperation and networking both inside the civil sector and between
sectors. The representatives of the Ministries present the plans of their Ministries for the
following period with an overview of those activities which may involve CSOs, as well as
about current amendments to the legislation framework. The established mechanisms are
presented and the new mechanism are recommended about the cooperation with CSOs, or the
ways in which these organisations can get involved in the activities of the Ministries, make
their contribution and influence decision-making, primarily in the respect of improving
current draft acts.
The sector meeting in the field of agriculture was held in Belgrade on 20th
January
2014. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management was represented by
Minister Dragan Glamočić, State Secretary Danilo Golubović, Head of the Sector for Rural
Development Programming and Promotion Aleksandar Bogunović, Assistant Director of the
Directorate for Agrarian Payments Bojan Živadinović and Head of the Rural Development
Sector Dragan Mirković. There were also more than 100 representatives of CSOs from this
sector. The meeting was organised with the aim of establishing continued, two-way and
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
27
interactive cooperation between the two sectors. By organising sector meetings the Office
helps line Ministries to inform citizens and civil society organisations about realized and
planned activities in the following year, particularly within the context of the EU membership
negotiation process, with a special emphasis on debate and suggestions to the line ministry
about the implementation of policies at the local level.
On 22nd
January in Belgrade a sector meeting of the Ministry of Health was held with
more than 100 CSOs from the sphere of health. On behalf of the Ministry, Assistant Minister
Darko Laketić, PhD sci. med., presented the Work plan of the Ministry of Health for 2014,
with a special review of the legal framework and regulations to be adopted in the course of
the year. Radmila Ivanek, special advisor to the minister, spoke about the implementation of
the Law on Protection of Patients’ Rights which was adopted last year. The session about
proposals of cooperation mechanisms between the Ministry and CSOs was addressed by Dr
Dubravka Šaranović, senior advisor in the Sector for public health and program health
protection, who expressed the willingness of the Ministry to cooperate with CSOs, and
emphasized the need and readiness to hold quarterly meetings, while noting that the budget
included funds for calls of civil society organisations and professional associations.
On 8th
July in Belgrade, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science and
Technological Development and the Negotiating team for accession of the Republic of Serbia
to the European Union, the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society organised a public
debate about the Draft Law on amendments and supplements to the Law on Higher
Education, which was attended by the representatives of the above-mentioned Ministry,
experts, representatives of the Negotiating team for accession of the Republic of Serbia to the
European Union and representatives of more than 30 CSOs. The representatives of CSOs had
the opportunity to make their comments and suggestions regarding the proposed legislative
solutions.
The working meeting with civil society organisations about amendments to the
Law on Textbooks and other Teaching Aids was held on 15th
September 2014 in the
organisation of the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society and the Ministry of Education,
Science and Technological Development. The participants were acquainted with the general
review of the amendments to the Law on Textbooks and other Teaching Aids while problems
in implementation of the existing law were defined during the discussion. The holding of this
meeting represents the application of the new work principle of the Ministry of Education,
Science and Technological Development, which involves acquainting organisations with
legislative proposals in the initial preparation stage and before public debate, which should
ensure the production of better-quality regulations while considering problems in practice.
The coordination meeting of the Anti-corruption Agency with CSOs was organised on
19th
November with the support of the Office in order to establish the system of permanent
coordination of CSOs in anti-corruption campaign (Measure 4.5.6. from the Action plan for
implementing the National anti-corruption strategy from 2013 to 2018) and to increase active
participation of CSOs in combating corruption.
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
28
2.8. Cooperation with associations and other CSOs
Everyday activities of the Office involve regular communication and mediation in
communication and cooperation between ministries and other public administration
institutions and civil society organisations
On a daily basis the Office receives a large number of requests and appeals from
CSOs which mainly ask for support in financing projects, about establishing cooperation with
public administration bodies, networking with other CSOs as well as for assistance in
mediation in solving problems in application of regulations and requesting access to
information of public importance. Representatives of organisations address the Office via
letters, e-mails, the contact form on the webpage, social networks (Facebook, twitter), by
telephone or in person, at gatherings or through organising meetings.
The Office employees try to reply each request/application/inquiry within the shortest
period of time by offering accurate and complete information.
3. EU INTEGRATIONS, REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION
3.1. EU integrations
3.1.1. Annual progress report
The Office took part in preparation of contributions for the Annual progress report of
the Republic of Serbia in the EU accession process for 2014. The contribution involves the
most important initiatives and activities of the Office in 2013 regarding the creation of an
enabling environment for civil society development, transparent financing of CSOs from
public funds of the Republic of Serbia as well as contributions of the Office regarding
European integrations and negotiation process about accession of the Republic of Serbia to
the European Union and inclusion of CSOs in that process.
In this year’s report the Office was mentioned in the following context: “The Office
for Cooperation with Civil Society has improved its organisational capacities and played an
important role in ensuring the civil society participation in the screening process. In August
the Government adopted Guidelines for including civil society organisations in the law-
making process. It is necessary to ensure consistent implementation of these instruments and
mechanisms and to increase transparency in allocating budget funds intended for the civil
society…”17
17
http://www.seio.gov.rs/dokumenta/eu-dokumenta.211.html
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
29
3.1.2. Implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European
communities and their member-states and the Republic of Serbia
The Office participates in the work of three subcommittees for implementing the
Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European communities and their
member-states, on the one side, and of the Republic of Serbia on the other side:
Subcommittee for justice, freedom and security of the Stabilisation and Association
Committee,
Subcommittee for research, innovations, information society and social policy of the
Stabilisation and Association Committee and
Special group for public administration reform of the Stabilisation and Association
Committee.
3.1.3. EU accession negotiations
According to the Decision about establishing the Coordination body for EU accession
process, the Office participates in the work of the Council of the Coordination body and is
a member of eleven Negotiating groups
The Office is a member of the Council of the Coordination body as well as of the
Negotiating group on competition (Chapter 8), Negotiating group on information society and
the media (Chapter 10), Negotiating group on agriculture and rural development (Chapter
11), Negotiating group on social policy and employment (Chapter 19), Negotiating group on
regional policy and coordination of structural instruments (Chapter 22), Negotiating group on
justice and fundamental rights (Chapter 23), Negotiating group on justice, freedom and
security issues (Chapter 24), Negotiating group on science and research (Chapter 25),
Negotiating group on education and culture (Chapter 26), Negotiating group on environment
(Chapter 27) and Negotiating group on consumer protection and health protection (Chapter
28). In this role the Office is a channel for communication and cooperation between
Negotiating groups and civil society organisations, with the aim of identifying relevant
expertise of the civil society which can contribute to EU accession process.
During 2014, just as during the previous year, the Office for Cooperation with Civil
Society, in cooperation with the Negotiating team for accession of the Republic of Serbia to
the European Union and relevant institutions for corresponding negotiation chapters, worked
on including CSOs in the negotiation process for accession of the Republic of Serbia to the
European Union. So far the modalities of participation of CSOs in this process primarily
included monitoring sessions on the Internet with the aim of having an explanatory analytical
review of harmonisation of the legislation of the Republic of Serbia with EU legal acquis
(screening), participating in preparing bilateral screening for certain chapters, briefing
meetings with the aim of informing civil society organisations about bilateral screenings
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
30
which were held as well as participating in production of the Action plan for negotiation
Chapter 23 – Judicial system and fundamental rights.
In 2014 the Internet broadcast of explanatory screening was organised for the
following Chapters: 1 (Movement of Goods), 2 (Movement of Workers), 3 (Establishment
and Freedom of Services), 4 (Free Movement of Capital), 5 (Public Procurement), 6
(Company Law), 7 (Intellectual Property Rights), 8 (Competition), 10 (Information society
and media), 11 (Agriculture and rural development), 12 (Food Safety, Veterinary and
Phytosanitary Issues), 13 (Fisheries), 14 (Transport), 15 (Energy), 16 (Taxation), 17
(Economic and Monetary Issues), 18 (Statistics), 19 (Social Policy and Employment), 20
(Entrepreneurship and Industrial Policy), 21 (Trans-European Networks), 22 (Regional policy
and coordination of structural instruments), 25 (Science and research), 26 (Education and
culture), 27 (Environment), 28 (Consumer Protection and Health Protection), 29 (the
Customs Union), 30 (Economic External Relations), 31 (Foreign, Security and Defence
Policy).
All invitations for monitoring Internet broadcasts of explanatory screenings were
public and published on the official webpage of the Office. Internet broadcasts of explanatory
screenings for the above-mentioned Chapters were attended by about 500 representatives of
relevant CSOs.
In 2014, in cooperation with the Negotiating team for accession of the Republic of
Serbia to the European Union, the European Integrations Office and relevant institutions for
negotiation chapters, the Office organised 15 meetings where it acquainted CSOs with the
details of bilateral screening for the total of 17 chapters. These meetings are chaired by
Professor Tanja Miščević, PhD, Head of the Negotiating team for accession of the Republic
of Serbia to the European Union, with the presence of the heads of negotiating groups and
other representatives of relevant institutions for corresponding negotiation chapters, as well
as representatives of the European Integrations Office and the Office for Cooperation with
Civil Society.
These meetings were attended by more than 300 representatives of CSOs in 2014.
The participants evaluated the meetings as exceptionally successful ones which will
serve as a good example for informing representatives of civil society organisations after the
completion of screenings in all negotiation chapters.
The Ministry of Justice expressed willingness for further inclusion of CSOs in the
following stage of negotiations – production of the Action plan for implementing
recommendations from the Report on screening, having in mind that civil society
organisations have followed and participated in the reform and European integrations
processes of the Republic of Serbia for years and that their contribution can be of great use to
the harmonisation process with EU legal acquis and therefore to the society on the whole.
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
31
In cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, the Office for Cooperation with Civil
Society invited civil society organisations to participate in the preparation of the Action plan
for Chapter 23 – Justice and Fundamental Rights. The total of 5 organisations sent their
proposals.
In cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, the Office for Cooperation with Civil
Society invited civil society organisations dealing with the spheres within Chapter 23 –
Justice and Fundamental Rights, to participate in making comments about the Action plan
draft for Chapter 23. The total of 7 organisations submitted their comments about this
Action plan draft.
At the request of the Negotiating team for accession of the Republic of Serbia to the
European Union, the Office made the Report on participation of CSOs in the negotiation
process for accession of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union18
, which shows the
modalities of participation of CSOs in this process so far. The Report also contains the
Office’s recommendations about further inclusion of CSOs in the negotiation process for
accession of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union, the most important of which refer
to the need for further inclusion of CSOs in the preparation of bilateral screenings on the
basis of good experience regarding Chapter 23, the continuation of established practice of
inviting organisations to briefing meetings after the completion of bilateral screenings,
ensuring greater transparency in the work with the aim of broader informing the interested
public, including the publishing of presentations from bilateral screening, the questions of the
European Commission and reports from bilateral screenings and briefing meetings on the
webpages of relevant institutions. Moreover, the Office’s recommendation is that it is
necessary to harmonise future models of including CSOs in the production of negotiating
positions.
3.2. The Office as the National contact point for EU program “Europe for
Citizens”
Since November 2012 the Republic of Serbia has participated in the program “Europe
for male and female citizens” with the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society as the
national contact point.
On 4th
April 2014 the Office took part in the bilateral screening meeting for Chapter
26 – Education and culture. The meeting presented the participation of the Republic of Serbia
in the program “Europe for male and female citizens” and the results achieved by CSOs and
local self-governments, which received ten times more funds in comparison to the
contribution to the above-mentioned program in 2013.
18
http://civilnodrustvo.gov.rs/izdvajamo/izvestaj-o-dosadasnjem-ucescu-ocd-u-procesu-pregovora-o-
pristupanju-republike-srbije-evropskoj-uniji/
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
32
On 14th
April 2014 the Council of the European Union unanimously adopted the
Regulation about the program “Europe for male and female citizens” for 2014–2020. The
general goal of the Program is the contribution to better understanding of the European
Union, its history and diversity, promotion of European citizenship and improvement of
citizen and democratic participation at the level of the Union.
On 27th
October 2014 in Brussels, Belgium, Ivana Ćirković, Director of the Office for
Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia signed the
Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the European Union about
the participation of the Republic of Serbia in the program “Europe for male and female
citizens” from 2014 to 2020. Gregory Paulger, Director-General of the General Directorate
for Communications, signed the document on behalf of the European Commission.
On 26th
May 2014, with the aim of informing the interested public about possibilities
and ways of participation in the new program cycle 2014–2020, the Office organised the
information meeting on the occasion of presenting the program “Europe for male and female
citizens 2014–2020” and its priorities for 2014. The meeting was attended by more than 80
representatives of local self-government units and CSOs. In July the Office organised two
more info sessions about this program in Novi Sad and Niš. About 120 representatives of
local self-governments and CSOs took part in these info sessions. The Office also organised
the presentation of the program “Europe for male and female citizens” on 30th
August 2014
within the festival “Biciklana fest”, which gathered members of cycling associations from
entire Europe. The presentation was aimed at the potential connecting of European towns in
order to improve the cycling infrastructure. About 400 information brochures about the
program were prepared and distributed at the above-listed gatherings.
In June 2014 the Office took part in the International forum for project development
within the program “Europe for male and female citizens” in Sarajevo, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, which was aimed at encouraging cooperation in local communities in the
countries participating in the Forum (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro,
Austria and Croatia).
The Office also participated in the workshop dedicated to this program which was
organized by the Permanent conference of towns and municipalities.
During November the Office also made three public calls for civil society
organisations and local self-government units in the territory of the Republic of Serbia for
participation in gatherings dedicated to the program “Europe for male and female citizens” as
follows:
Regional contact seminar “Local partnership for Europe”, which was held in
Ljubljana on 24th
and 25th
November 2014 with the aim of promoting local
partnerships between CSOs and public institutions and their cooperation in Central
Europe and in the West Balkans in order to prepare successful common projects for
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
33
the European Union program “Europe for male and female citizens”. The meeting
gathered about 50 representatives of the civil society and local self-governments from
the region – Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and
Albania. On the public call basis the Office chose 2 representatives from Serbia as
well. The organiser of the meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia, was the Centre for mobility
and European educational and training programs of the Republic of Slovenia, which is
the national contact point for the European Union program “Europe for male and
female citizens” in Slovenia.
Regional forum Europe for citizens held in Zagreb on 27th
and 28th
November 2014
was aimed at forming partnerships for development of project ideas within the
program “Europe for male and female citizens”. The participants – representatives of
the civil society and local self-governments of the countries in the region – Croatia,
Slovenia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina – had the opportunity to devise
creative project ideas, i.e. future project proposals, together with potential partners
from the above-listed countries. Three representatives from Serbia attended the forum.
The gathering in Zagreb was organised by the Office for Cooperation with NGOs of
the Republic of Croatia, which is the national contact point for the European Union
program “Europe for male and female citizens” in Croatia.
Regional forum “Europe for citizens 2014 –2020” was held on 8th
and 9th
December
2014 in Laktaši (near Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina). The aim of the forum
was to form partnerships for development of project ideas within the program
“Europe for male and female citizens”. The forum was organised by the Ministry of
Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with the Directorate for European
Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ministry of economic relations and
regional cooperation of the Republic of Srpska. There were 4 representatives of CSOs
and one representative of the local self-government from Serbia.
The representatives of the Office as the national contact point for this program also
attended these gatherings.
In December 2014 the Office published the Report on results of the program “Europe
for male and female citizens” in 201419
:
- 27 organisations and local self-government units from Serbia applied during 2014;
- 1 project submitted by the applicant from Serbia was approved and the amount of
132.500 euros was granted;
- 38 organisations and local self-government units are partners on projects approved
during 2014; they also received part of funds but the precise amount is still unknown.
19
http://civilnodrustvo.gov.rs/vesti/izvestaj-o-rezultatima-evrope-za-gradjane-gradjanke-za-2014-godinu/
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
34
In December 2014 the Office also published annual priorities of the program “Europe
for male and female citizens” for 2015 so that potential users of the program could prepare
better for the first call within the program in 2015. Within Chapter 1 of this program priority
will be given to the projects marking World War 2 and consequences of this war in the post-
war construction of Europe. Within Chapter 2 of the program “Europe for male and female
citizens”, priorities will refer to the debate about the future of Europe. Male and female
citizens are invited to participate in discussions through projects or their active engagement in
organisations participating in the program “Europe for male and female citizens”. The debate
should not be restricted solely to those citizens who support the idea of the European Union
but it should also reach those who have not been involved so far or those who are completely
against the Union or question its achievements.
3.3. Planning and programming of international development assistance
The Office took part in the meetings of Sectorial work groups for programming EU
funds, which were aimed at prioritizing activities and measures in sectors and coordinating
activities financed by donors in the following period, as well as activities defined in the
document “National priorities for international assistance for the period 2014–2017 with
projections until 2020”. The Office submitted comments and proposals for improving the
Action plans in the sphere of internal affairs, public administration reform, energy,
environment protection, education, agriculture and rural development.
In order to continue cooperation with civil society organisations in the sphere of
planning, programming, monitoring and reporting about international assistance with the
focus on the Instrument for pre-accession assistance, the Office was a member of the
Committee for selection of Sectorial CSOs (SCSOs) and on the basis of the Public call by
the European Integrations Office at the end of May.
3.4. Co-financing projects of CSOs
During 2014 the Office conducted monitoring of 12 co-financed projects of civil
society organisations which were supported within the program “Support to civil society
2011–2013” – National Program for 2011 and 13 co-financed projects within the program
Support to civil society 2011–2013” – National Program for 2012 .
Continuing the established practice of supporting civil society organisations, in April
2014 the Office published the third public call for co-financing projects, this time for civil
society organisations which were allocated the European Union funds within the program
“Europe for male and female citizens” in 2013. There were as many as 4 applications. In
the middle of may the Office published on its webpage the decision about selection of
projects for co-financing from the budget of the Republic of Serbia after the completed public
call, according to which co-financing was approved for 4 projects of CSOs in the total
amount of 832.593 dinars as follows:
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
35
1. Project “Participation Y Generation”, the application was submitted by the citizen
association Lоvеfеst Vrnjačka Banja;
2. Project “Citizens outside walls, the application was submitted by the association
Volunteering Centre of Vojvodina;
3. Project “European network of citizen resource centres”, the application was
submitted by the Club for strengthening the young 018;
4. Project “Expansion and citizenship: Look into the Future”, the application was
submitted by the association Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies.
The general goal of the call was to encourage international and regional cooperation,
promote values on which the European Union is based and to use the European Union funds
efficiently.
The specific aim of the call is offering support to associations in further development
and promotion of active citizenship, participation in building unique European identity,
cherishing affiliation to the European Union, increasing tolerance, understanding and
intercultural dialogue as well as respect and promotion of diversity.
The grand ceremony of granting contracts on co-financing 4 projects of civil society
organisations was held on 26th
May 2014 within the information meeting on the occasion of
presenting the program “Europe for male and female citizens 2014–2020” and its priorities
for 2014, where the grantees of the funds described their experiences in applying for the
program “Europe for male and female citizens”, the process of searching for partners for the
project and experiences in conducting the projects.
On 10th
September 2014 the Office published the Public call for co-financing
projects of associations and other CSOs which were granted the funds of the European
Union or other international donors with the aim of helping people in the flood-stricken
areas. The general goal of the call was to provide assistance to people in the flood-stricken
areas and to encourage cooperation and coordination in the work of local self-governments
and CSOs in relieving flood consequences. As many as 6 projects in the total amount of
4.608.674,730 dinars were approved as follows:
1. Project “Humanitarian aid to flood victims in Serbia – Secure world for children”,
the application was submitted by Foundation SOS Children Villages of Serbia;
2. Project “Support to the most vulnerable groups in flooded areas ”, the application
was submitted by Foundation Ana and Vlade Divac;
3. Project “Support in recovery from damage in flood-stricken households in
Svilajnac”, the application was submitted by the association Development
Business Centre Kragujevac;
4. Project “Application of educational drama in development of tolerance and
inclusiveness”, the application was submitted by the association Bazaart;
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
36
5. Project “Interactive map for supporting civil society organisations engaged in
recovery from consequences of May floods in Serbia”, the application was
submitted by the association Citizen initiatives;
6. Project “Psychological strengthening of Romas in Obrenovac”, the application
was submitted by the association Art of Living.
3.5. Increasing capacity of CSOs
3.5.1. Training for sectorial CSOs and other CSOs
As early as 2013 the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society began organising
trainings “Introduction to the negotiation process in European Union accession” intended for
civil society organisations with the aim of increasing their capacities for potential
participation or monitoring the future EU accession process of Serbia. These trainings are
financed from IPA Program of support to civil society 2011–2013 and within the three-year
project “EU Support to the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society”.
Through these trainings the EU acquis and relevant national legislation were
introduced together with the experiences of experts from negotiating groups and civil society
organisations from the region and EU. The trainings were also attended by representatives of
relevant ministries and the European Integrations Office. The trainings initiated an important
discussion about the role of the civil society in the negotiation process for accession of the
Republic of Serbia to the European Union.
In the course of 2014 the following workshops were held:
On 5th
February 2014 there was the training “Introduction to the negotiation
process in European Union accession and the role of the civil society –
negotiation Chapter 10 (Information society and media)”, where the experience of
the Republic of Croatia in the negotiation process for the given Chapter was presented
by Mr. Jadran Antolovic, former chief negotiator for part of Chapter 10 referring to
the media and Mr. Krešo Antonović, former chief negotiator for part of Chapter 10
referring to telecommunications. The gathering was attended by about 80
representatives of CSOs.
On 5th
March 2014 there was the training “Introduction to the negotiation process
in European Union accession and the role of the civil society – negotiation
Chapters 25 (Science and research) and 26 (Education and culture)”, where Mr
Pero Lučin, Rector of the University in Rijeka and former member of the Croatian
negotiating team responsible for Chapters 25 and 26 presented the experience of the
Republic of Croatia in this process, legislation of the European Union within
negotiation Chapters 25 and 26 and the role of CSOs in monitoring policies in the
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
37
sphere of science and research, education and culture. The gathering was attended by
about 130 representatives of CSOs.
On 2nd
June 2014 there was the training “Introduction to the negotiation process in
European Union accession and the role of the civil society – negotiation Chapter
11 (Agriculture and rural development)”, where Ms. Ružica Gelo, former member
of the Croatian negotiating team responsible for Chapters 11, 12, 13 and 28 presented
the most important lessons and experience of the Republic of Croatia obtained in the
negotiation process regarding Chapter 11.
On 12th
December 2014 there was the training “Introduction to the negotiation
process in European Union accession and the role of the civil society –
negotiation Chapter 22 – Regional policy and coordination of structural
instruments”, where Ms. Marina Šutalo, coordinator for Chapter 22 in the
negotiations for accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union,
presented the most important lessons and experience of the Republic of Croatia
obtained in the negotiation process regarding Chapter 22. The gathering was attended
by about 25 representatives of CSOs.
3.6. Regional and international cooperation
The international conference – European Citizens’ Initiative Day was held on 1st
April 2014 in Brussels, Belgium, in the organisation of the European Economic and Social
Committee. The aim of the conference was to review the first successful and completed
European Citizens’ Initiatives, to exchange experiences and examples of good practice while
creating recommendations which may increase the efficiency of this direct democracy
instrument and bring it closer to citizens.
The workshop about civil society support in strengthening the role of women in
fighting violent extremism and radicalisation that lead to terrorism was held in Istanbul,
Turkey, on 13th
and 14 May 2013 in the organisation of OSCE and Global Counter Terrorism
Forum. The workshop was aimed at exchanging learned lessons and examples of good
practice regarding the role of women in fighting violent extremism and radicalisation that
lead to terrorism and strengthening women in the public space.
The regional workshop “Conditions of coordination and institutional organisation
in the accession and negotiation process with EU” was held on 23–25th
April in Bečići,
Montenegro, in the organisation of the Network of the European Integrations Offices in the
South East Europe, with the aim of exchanging experiences between representatives of the
countries in the region with a special focus on issues regarding institutional organisation of
negotiations for Chapters 23 and 24, which were the first chapters opened in the negotiation
process of Montenegro and will be closed last.
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
38
The conference “Is the Catching-Up of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
Member States a Mirage” was held on 3rd
December in Brussels, Belgium, in the
organisation of ECAS and the Open Society Institute from Sofia. The aim of the conference
was to mark the tenth anniversary of the fifth EU expansion as well as to discuss the topic of
new member-states which were still behind regarding democracy, rule of law and the quality
of life in comparison to older member-states.
The conference “Regional cooperation in perspective – according to the sustainable
model of support to regional cooperation” was held on 5th
December in Zagreb, Croatia,
within the Assembly of regional platform for culture Kooperativa. The gathering was aimed
at providing the review of perspectives for development of long-term sustainable model of
transnational institutional support to the civil society cooperation in the region.
3.6.1. Participation in regional projects
The Office cooperates on the project “Balkan Civil Society Legal Acquis –
Strengthening the Advocacy and Monitoring Potential and Capacities of Civil Society
Organisations” led by the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) and
approved within the MB IPA Partnership Programme for Civil Society Organisations.
The aim of this project is strengthened monitoring and advocating issues related to creation of
an enabling environment for civil society development and sustainability as well as
strengthening structures for involving CSOs in the negotiation process with EU. An
important segment of the project refers to the application of Matrix for monitoring enabling
environment for civil society development 20
as a mechanism of postulating the spheres of
civil society development and standards for monitoring civil society development in the West
Balkans and Turkey. The Office for Cooperation with Civil Society recognises the
importance of the Matrix as a tool for self-evaluation of its work.
3.7. Serbia presiding OSCE in 2015
In order to prepare institutions for chairmanship of the Republic of Serbia in the
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2015, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs continues preparation activities.
The Office for Cooperation with Civil Society is a member of the Intergovernmental
work group which will coordinate the chairmanship process. On 16th
July 2014 the Office
organised the Coordination meeting with civil society organisations on the occasion of
preparations for the chairmanship of the Republic of Serbia in OSCE in 2015. The meeting
was aimed at presenting the plan and priorities of Serbia’s chairmanship in this international
organisation. Moreover, the representatives of CSOs had the opportunity to become
acquainted with possibilities at their disposal for active participation in the chairmanship
process.
20
http://monitoringmatrix.net/
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
39
3.8. Participation of the Republic of Serbia in the work of the Joint
Consultative Committee (JСС)
On 1 April 2014, in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran
and Social Policy, the Office published a public call for submitting applications for
membership in the Joint Consultative Committee consisting of the representatives of the
European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and representatives of social partners and
CSOs in the Republic of Serbia.
The public call contained the criteria which must be fulfilled by civil society
organisations applying their members as well as the criteria which must be fulfilled by each
applicant. Procedures and criteria of the Public call are created in such a manner that the
selection of members of the Joint Consultative Committee from the ranks of the civil society
should be conducted transparently, publicly and with the exclusive and decisive role of civil
society organisations in the selection process. The public call and the list of applicants
fulfilling conditions for application with their resumes and motivation letters were published
on the Office’s webpage with the invitation to civil society organisations to vote for one of
the offered applicants.
The committee stated that 402 civil society organisations had voted for 15 (fifteen)
recommended applicants. The list of applicants with the largest number of votes is as follows:
1. In the priority sphere Rule of law the largest number of votes (22) was received by
Sonja Stojanović Gajić, recommended by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy;
2. In the priority sphere Environment protection, agriculture and rural development
the largest number of votes (6) was received by Zvezdan Kalmar Krnajski Jović,
recommended by the Centre for Ecology and Sustainable Development;
3. In the priority sphere Social and economic development the largest number of votes
(94) was received by Ivanka Jovanović, recommended by the National Organisation
of Persons with Disabilities of Serbia.
The Joint Consultative Committee is composed of the representatives of EESC and
representatives of social partners and citizen associations and other CSOs in the Republic of
Serbia, the total of nine members – three representatives of employers, unions and citizen
associations and other CSOs respectively. The Joint Consultative Committee promotes
dialogue and cooperation between social partners and other CSOs in EU and Serbia. This
dialogue and cooperation include all relevant aspects of the relations between EU and Serbia
in the negotiation process for accession.
In April 2014, in cooperation with the Citizen initiatives, the European Movement in
Serbia and TACSO Office in Serbia, the Office organised the Info session about
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
40
establishing the Joint Consultative Committee (EU-Serbia Civil Society Joint
Consultative Committee – JCC). The meeting was organised with the aim of acquainting
representatives of the civil sector, unions and employers with the role, functions and
responsibilities of the Joint Consultative Committee. Ionut Sibian, Executive Director of the
Civil Society Development Foundation (Romania), President of the Committee for West
Balkans and rapporteur of the European Economic and Social Committee for Serbia-EU
relations, presented the details related to the role, functioning and competences of the Joint
Consultative Committee. Co-chairwoman of the Joint Consultative Committee EU-Croatia
Lidija Pavić Rogošić presented Croatian experiences in establishing and functioning of this
Committee which may be of great help to Serbia which is supposed to undergo this process in
the future.
4. MEDIA AND PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES
During 2014 the Office intensified the communication with interested citizens, civil
society organisations and public administration. By 25th
December 2014 the total of 175
pieces of news about the Office’s activities was published on the official webpage
www.civilnodrustvo.gov.rs. The largest number of the news was translated into English.
Many announcements about the Office’s activities, its results as well as about
numerous project activities of CSOs were published on the accounts of social networks
Facebook and Twitter, where the number of followers is constantly increasing.
4.1. Media visibility of the Office
During 2014 the media visibility of the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society was
increased in comparison to the previous year. Events which attracted media attention to the
greatest extent were:
1. National conference “Get involved!!! What civil society do you want?!”;
(21st and 22
nd February 2014)
2. Signing the Agreement between the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society and US
Agency for International Development (USAID);
(14th
February 2014)
3. Press conference on the occasion of adopting Guidelines for inclusion of CSOs in the
law-making process;
(22nd
September 2014)
4. Consultation meetings about the first working draft of the National strategy for an
enabling environment for civil society development in the Republic of Serbia for
2014–2018;
(3rd
October – 5th
November 2014)
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
41
The majority of media contributions had a positive tone and the contributions were
informative, comprehensive and referring to crucial information about the given event as well
as institution – its competences and general context of work in the current year.
Table 1: Number of announcements about activities of the Office for Cooperation with Civil
Society in various media in the period from 1st January to 15
th July 2014
Table 2; Number of announcements about activities of the Office for Cooperation with Civil
Society in various media in the period from 1st September to 23
rd December 2014
4.2. Internet presentation of the Office
In order to realize its scope of work to the greatest extent, the Office uses its official
Internet presentation at www.civilnodrustvo.gov.rs with the aim of achieving the pro-active
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
42
communication with all the interested parties. The Internet page is written in Serbian, both in
Latin alphabet and Cyrillic and it also has the English version
The principles observed by the Office in its work are transparency, availability,
openness for cooperation with all sectors (private, public and civil ones), continued studying
and development of capacities, promptness of answers to received questions while our
priority is accuracy of placed information. These principles are also applied on the Internet
page, where visitors can send letters and register for the mailing list of the Office.
Statistics of visits to the website in the first 6 months of 2014
number of visits to the
website
46.587
total number of viewed
pages
152.095
Statistics of visits to the website in the second half of 2014
number of visits to the
website
28.886
total number of viewed
pages
96.924
Only during the first 6 months of 2014 the Office managed to exceed the total
statistics from 2013, which can be seen unambiguously from the enclosed picture.
Chart 1: Statistics of visits to the website www.civilnodrustvo.gov.rs in the period
January–July 2014
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
43
Chart 2: Statistics of visits to the website www.civilnodrustvo.gov.rs in the period
July–December 2014
Chart 3: Comparative analysis of the first and second half of statistics of visits to the
website www.civilnodrustvo.gov.rs during 2014
On the basis of analysis of the Office’s website it can be seen that there is a trend of
creating permanent audience as well as the fact that the website is gaining significance and
importance as an important media, which indicates that the manner of the Office’s Internet
communication is adequate and evidently achieves good results. It is quite certain that the
largest number of visits will be achieved (in comparison to the previous period in 2012) and
that the statistics will be definitely the best by all parameters but within usual limits for the
website of this type, having in mind the specific topic, the language used in communication
and, finally, the target group addressed by the Office.
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
44
It transpires that the engagement on social networks shows excellent results and that
the trend should be used to the maximum in order to keep the momentum lasting for more
than two years. What must definitely worked on and what is planned during this year is the
visual representation of information, their organisation and content categorisation in general.
The existing website does not fulfil the needs of the Office or the needs of visitors to the site
searching for information and therefore they quite frequently find the information via Google
instead of finding it easily on the website itself. This problem will be overcome through the
website reconstruction planned in the forthcoming period.
4.3. Media activities related to the creation of the National strategy
In order to promote the process of making the first National strategy for an enabling
environment for civil society development in the Republic of Serbia for the period 2014–
2018, numerous activities were initiated. The media campaign dedicated to the largest
activity of the Office during 2014 was planned, designed and conducted. The media
campaign is divided into 4 parts:
1. Promotion activities on the occasion of the National conference “Get involved!!!
What civil society do you want?!” (done)
2. Creation of the micro-site dedicated to the production of the strategic document
www.strategija.civilnodrustvo.gov.rs (done)
3. Promotion and media activities before and during the consultation process at the local
level on the occasion of the production of the strategic document (done)
4. Promotion and media activities in the final stage of the production of the document
(before, during and after the public debate about the second National strategy draft)
(planned for the first quarter of 2015)
In promotional and media activities related to the process of producing the National
strategy equal attention is paid to the promotion of this topic in the means of public
information and through our own communication channels so that the visibility of the
institution has been substantially increased through numerous media contributions.
Number of contributions about the Strategy by media type and
category
Pri
nte
d
med
ia Daily 25
Local printed 9
Ele
ctro
nic
med
ia National TV 13
National radio 8
Regional TV 8
Local TV 38
Regional radio 4
Local radio 16
Internet 40
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
45
Agencies 12
TOTAL 169
Table 3: Total number of media announcements about the National strategy
Chart 4: Number of contributions about the Strategy by media type and category
Note:
Printed media (daily, weekly and local)
Electronic media (national, regional and local)
The Office’s activities on the social networks were generally on the constant increase
during 2014. Within the activities related to the National strategy, the use of the social
network profiles was approached strategically so that the largest possible number of CSOs,
local self-government units, media as well as other target public would be informed about the
process of the document production. Hashtag#StrаtеgiјаОCDrs was created for the needs of
communication on the social networks.
Posts marked #StrаtеgiјаОCDrs 166
Comments 80
Information sharing 258
Likes 1.526
Number of people with post reach 82.367
Number of followers before the
campaign 2.576
Number of followers after the
campaign 3.459
Table 4: Statistics in absolute numbers
20%
49%
24%
7%
Штампани медији Електронски медији Интернет Агенције
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
46
Chart 5: Number of profile views and number of followers
Posts tagged #StrategijaOCDrs 432
Comments 42
Information sharing 506
Positive mark 659
Last 4 posts seen by 5.000 people
Number of followers before the
campaign 1.963
Number of followers after the
campaign 3.235
Table 5: Statistics in absolute numbers
93%
3% 4%
ФЕЈСБУК - Број прегледа/пратилаца Број оних који су видели објаве (post reach) Број пратилаца пре кампање
Број пратилаца након кампање
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
47
Chart 6: Statistics in relative numbers
Chart 7: Number of followers of Twitter account of the Office before and after the campaign
With the aim of broad informing the public and local self-government units the Office
also conducted a mini-campaign which ensured the information about consultation meetings
regarding the working draft of the National strategy to be placed on the total of 51 Internet
pages of local self-government. This also ensured the presence of many representatives of
local self-government at the meetings during October and November in ten towns of the
Republic of Serbia.
49%
19%
32%
ТВИТЕР - објаве/пратиоци Последње 4 објаве видело Број пратилаца пре кампање Број пратилаца након кампање
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
48
Chart 8: Announcements of consultation meetings on websites of local self-governments
Since the beginning of its promotion on 15th
September, when the consultation
process was opened about the first working draft of the strategic document, the micro-site
dedicated to the National strategy www.strаtеgiја.civilnodrustvo.gov.rs has had over 3.000
visits by 2.035 users who viewed the pages as many as 9.416 times. The average time of page
visits is 3 minutes and 26 seconds.
Chart 9: Statistics of visits to the Strategy micro-site in the period of open online
consultations about the First working draft
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
49
4.4. The Office and social networks
The Office for Cooperation with Civil Society was very active on social networks
throughout 2014 in order to achieve as efficiently as possible its mandate which implies
permanent communication with associations of citizens and other civil society organisations
The profile on Facebook social network is being increasingly visited. On 14th
July
2014 the page had 3.063 “likes” (semi-annual reporting) while on 25th
December it had 3.686
“likes”. The profile information is posted, distributed, followed and read on a daily basis.
Mostly positive comments are received together with questions and requests for advice
concerning the work of CSOs
As far as social network Twitter is concerned, the Office was also active during this
year under the name @vladaOCDrs. On 14th
July 2014 the profile had 2.691 followers while
on 25th
December 2014 there were 3.445 followers. The number of followers on this network
is increasing progressively (one and a half announcements on Twitter brings one “follower”
on average), which justifies the engagement on the everyday distribution of information
through it. Hashtag#OCDrs which was created with the idea of gathering civil society
organisations in Serbia and enabling them to exchange experiences is now broadly used on
both social networks (Facebook and Twitter).
The Office also has its YouTube channel for distributing its video materials. Since
October 2013 the Office has also been present on social network LinkеdIn. The profile on
YouTube, which is used less than the social networks and more like a search-tool, increased
its number by 7 new followers and now it has 20 followers in total. The number of views of
video-materials increased from 2.012 to 3.995. Currently 27 new videos have been placed –
from the conference about the National strategy and media appearances while new video and
audio materials are expected to be placed in the forthcoming period. On social network
LinkеdIn the number of followers has increased by more than 100% and now there are 102
followers in comparison to 42 last year.
Intensified promotion activities of the Office related to the production of the National
strategy as well as with further everyday communication through all available channels of
communication during 2014 resulted in substantial increase in the number of registered
people in the mailing list of as many as 400% – from 220 to 877.