Serbia

UNDP Serbia Committed to Continued Partnership with the Government of Serbia and the EU to Ensure Effective Implementation of Antidiscrimination Law

National Project Director, Mr. Zoran Martinovic, State Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. William Infante and the Head of the European Commission Delegation in Serbia, H.E. Josep Lloveras, addressing the media

The citizens of Serbia are aware of discrimination and they have explicitly negative attitudes towards this phenomenon, with the great majority (86%) agreeing that depriving anyone of any right based on some personal characteristic cannot be justified, without exception. However, further work needed to capitalize on this by education, prevention and effective sanctioning to ensure behavioral change and elimination of discrimination - key findings of the first opinion poll on attitudes to discrimination in Serbia. 

The public opinion survey findings were presented today at Belgrade's Media Centre, within the framework of the Project entitled "Support to the Implementation of Anti-discrimination Legislation and Mediation in Serbia", implemented jointly by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy of the Republic of Serbia and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with financial support of the European Union. 

The survey, which is only the first of three such polls envisaged by the Project, is the first of the kind, and was implemented by Strategic Marketing. According to State Secretary Zoran Martinovic, the most important value of this poll is that its findings allow the Ministry and all other key stakeholders to direct their efforts in fighting discrimination in Serbia in a well informed manner, one which takes into account both the current attitudes to discrimination, but also the existing knowledge of legal and institutional frameworks as well as the behavior of citizens in Serbia.

Mr. Martinovic stresses that this survey showed clearly that the citizens of Serbia do not approve of discrimination under any circumstances and that they support any effort designed to eradicate this phenomenon. Yet, they also recognize that certain groups in Serbian society are particularly vulnerable to discrimination, above all the Roma ethnic minority, persons with disabilities and those living in poverty. "Attitudes to discrimination, however, do not seem to correspond to practical behavior. In that sense, I would stress that one of the most positive finds is the fact that people recognize two primary bearers of responsibility in fighting discrimination, with almost equal measure of responsibility: the government of Serbia, on one side, and citizens themselves on the other.

In his first public address since his return to Belgrade after four years, now as the new head of UNDP and the Resident Representative of the United Nations team in Serbia, Mr. William Infante stressed that despite the abundant dissatisfaction of people with the pace of Serbia's transition and progress towards EU, he was amazed at the progress made in such a short time. Mr. Infante points out that "there is clearly a new atmosphere of a democratic climate in which the political dialogue has become more sophisticated, having been refocused from stabilization to development". 

The imperative of making development processes truly inclusive demands that Serbia is also supported in building a comprehensive legislative and institutional framework to combat discrimination. Mr. Infante went on to say that UNDP is privileged to be part of that process in partnership with the Government of Serbia, and with the support of the European Union. This joint Project, which commissioned the survey, essentially covers all of the required dimensions of this effort: prevention of discrimination, by raising public awareness to educate and achieve real behavioral change, by building the legislative frameworks, including the recently adopted Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, and by building effective institutions such as the Commissioner for Protection of Equality to ensure adequate sanctioning of discrimination when it occurs.

Mr. Infante summarized his address to the media by reiterating the "key message today: we have already achieved some substantial results, such as the adoption of the Law, but as this survey clearly shows, real behavioral change requires all of us to remain committed to this effort and to ensure substantive and effective implementation of the Law, which also includes the imperative of timely and appropriately resourced establishment of a new office, that of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, as of January 1st next year".

H.E. Josep Lloveras, Head of the European Commission Delegation to Serbia, used the occasion to reaffirm the commitment of the European Union to supporting Serbia's efforts in combating discrimination and to thanking all of the Project partners for their continued efforts within this Project.

Downloads:  

• Presentation of Survey Findings, delivered today by Ms. Svetlana Logar, Research Director of Strategic Marketing (in Serbian language);
• Public Opinion about Discrimination and Inequality in Serbia - Detailed Survey Report in English language;
• Javno mnjenje o diskriminaciji i nejednakosti u Srbiji - Detailed Survey Report in Serbian language.

For all further information, please contact Mr. Stevan Vujasinovic, UNDP/UNRC Communications Specialist at stevan.vujasinovic@undp.org or by telephone at +381 11 2040 405.