Information

Today, more than 50 public administration authorities opened their doors to students of five state universities in the Republic of Serbia and offered professional practice under their auspices, within the second Fair of student professional practice in public administration, which is held in an online format, through a platform specially created for that event.

The Protector of Citizens is one of the state institutions that, like last year, invited students to do professional practice in that institution in the 2022/2023 school year.

In an online presentation, the Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, stated that a total of 16 vacancies have been secured in that institution for the year 2022/2023 (12 for students of the Faculty of Law and 4 for students from the Faculty of Political Sciences). Student practice is carried out according to thematic units, within the sector for the protection of human rights and freedoms and the rights of persons deprived of their liberty, sector for the protection of children's rights, gender equality and the rights of persons with disabilities, sector for the protection of rights of members of national minorities and other minority rights and freedoms, the department of the National Preventive Mechanism and the emergency response department.

Pašalić told the students that during the practice they will have the opportunity to become familiar with the competences of the Protector of Citizens as an independent and autonomous body for the protection of human rights in the Republic of Serbia, as well as with the mechanisms for protecting those rights and the position of vulnerable groups, the improvement of which is in a special focus of work of the Protector citizens. Also, they will see the work performed on complaints, the issuing of recommendations, formulating opinions on legislative proposals and stressed that practice does not only mean listening to lectures, but also active participation in the work.

The fair was organized by the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government with the support of the European Union, and offers almost 800 places for professional practice in 56 public administration authorities, mostly for students of human sciences, i.e. the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Economics, the Faculty of Political Sciences and the Faculty of Organizational Sciences.

The City of Novi Sad, the Municipality of Bela Palanka and the Municipality of Babušnica are the winners of this year's award, which the Protector of Citizens, in cooperation with the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities – Association of Towns and Municipalities of Serbia, is awarding for the sixth year in a row to cities, municipalities and urban municipalities in the Republic of Serbia, which in the previous year contributed the most to the development of all forms of accessibility in their territory, that is, in their surroundings.

Recognition for the development of public and civil sector partnership in creating an accessible environment and availability of services was given to the City of Šabac, commendation for advocating for improved access to the City Administration services to the City of Niš, and certificates of thanks for participating in the Public Call for awards for the development of accessibility in 2021 were received by the cities of Vranje, Leskovac, Smederevo and Sombor, as well as the Municipality of Svilajnac.

The Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, met today with the management of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia regarding the upcoming census of population, households and apartments, which will be conducted on the territory of the Republic of Serbia from 1 to 31 October 2022.

The meeting was held with the aim of establishing mutual cooperation and coordination of work on the census, so that it would be carried out in the most efficient way while respecting the law, as well as human and minority rights. As stated in the Office, over 17,000 census takers are currently undergoing training. The Protector of Citizens expects that the instructions regarding the census of persons who are in institutions for the enforcement of penal sanctions, social welfare institutions, shelters, as well as asylum centres, will be adopted as soon as possible.

At the meeting, among other things, it was pointed out that the collected data are extremely important for the assessment of the current situation, as well as for future planning and adoption of various strategies, both at the national and local levels.

The Protector of Citizens, in cooperation with the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities – Association of Towns and Municipalities of Serbia, for the seventh time in a row, is awarding the prize to the cities, municipalities and urban municipalities that in 2022 contributed the most to the development of all forms of accessibility on their territory, i.e. in their environment.

In a letter sent today to municipalities, cities and urban municipalities, the Protector of Citizens invited local self-government units to submit an application to the Public Call and thus present and promote examples of good practice in the development of accessibility in their territory in 2022.

The Protector of Citizens reminds that, in an effort to achieve a more inclusive society in Serbia, the award for accessibility was created as an expression of the need to point out the steps taken by individuals and/or institutions in creating examples of good practice that contribute to the quality of life, serve as a model, inspiration and an idea for everyone and as such, are very important for improving the position of persons with disabilities. At the same time, the award aims to continuously influence raising awareness and sends a strong message about the importance of accessibility, promoting the principle of Design for All and creating services and environment that can be used by all citizens, i.e. an inclusive environment accessible to all.