Under the slogans “All Together, We Make Serbia” and “Declare Your Nationality Freely!”, the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, in cooperation with the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, organized informative workshops for members of all 23 national councils on 17 and 18 August, ahead of the upcoming population census, which will take place from 1–31 October 2022.
The purpose of these workshops is to enable participants to transfer the knowledge gained to other council members, associations working on the preservation and protection of national minority rights, as well as to as many members and communities as possible.
“On the occasion of the upcoming population census, the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, in cooperation with national councils and the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, has launched an awareness campaign for national minority members regarding the free declaration of nationality in the 2022 census. The goal of this campaign is to deliver a clear message: it is important for national minority members to declare their nationality, these data are fully protected, and the development and planning of minority policies in Serbia depends on the census results.”
In addition to the workshops, printed materials such as leaflets and posters will be prepared, along with a media campaign that includes video clips and radio jingles in the languages of national minorities, stated Minister Gordana Čomić.
The organization of these workshops was made possible through the project “Support for Strengthening the Rule of Law in the Republic of Serbia”, part of activities aimed at improving the position of national minorities, funded by the EU and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), with implementation responsibility held by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). One of the project’s goals is to raise awareness among national minority members about the importance of participating in the upcoming population census.
“Diversity is at the very core of the European Union. Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union explicitly states that the EU is founded on the fundamental values of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, including the rights of national minorities. Through the implementation of the ‘Support for Strengthening the Rule of Law in Serbia’ project, we provide EU experience to our partners in Serbia to appropriately convey the central message of the project #StrongerTogether, which is also the official motto of the Team Europe Initiative, central to German-Serbian development cooperation.”