Assistant secretary general, Natasa Jovic, and the Head of the Cabinet of the Protector of Citizens, Marija Podunavac, participated in the regular annual conference of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children, held in Belfast from 25 to 27 September.

The theme of this year's conference were the rights of the child in the digital environment, both from the point of view of protecting children on the Internet and from the point of view of promoting the rights of the child to information, participation, expression, association and the exercise of other rights and freedoms of the child through the use of information technology (IT). A significant part of the conference was dedicated to the participation of children, through the European Network of Young Advisers, which is made up of children, who gave their own assessment of the rights of the child in the digital environment, their perceptions of the risks they are exposed to and their views on how children can be provided with knowledge and skills for responsible and secure use of IT. Particularly significant is the fact that children indicate that adult attention is predominantly focused on the risks to children's safety when using IT, and less on the benefits that children undoubtedly derive from information technology.

Assistant secretary general, Natasa Jovic, presented experiences, achievements and challenges in Serbia at a workshop dedicated to safeguards and strategic documents in the field of child protection in the digital environment. She emphasized that Serbia has ratified all key international treaties that are important for the protection of children in the digital environment, and that it has a national legal framework that provides a very good basis for establishing and developing mechanisms for protecting children in the digital environment.

Ombudsman cooperation in the region is of the utmost importance in the protection of human rights, especially useful through the exchange of experiences in work with the aim of improving good practices and the efficiency of independent institutions, said the Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pasalic, in cnversation with the Romanian Ombudsman, Renate Weber, who with her associates paid a two-day working visit to the institution of the Protector of Citizens. In addition to the Secretary General of the expert service of the Protector of Citizens, Olja Jovicic, the Ambassador of Romania in Belgrade H.E. Oana-Cristina Popa also attended the talks.

Pasalic expressed his expectation that the new Draft Law on the Protector of Citizens will be in the legislative procedure and informed Webber about organizational changes in the institution after the systematization in December 2018, especially about the function of the new organizational unit –Department for urgent action. The Romanian Ombudsman showed special interest in the competences and authorities of the Protector of Citizens and the international cooperation with ombudsmen from the region.

Speaking to the Romanian Ombudsman and the Protector of Citizens, the vice-president of the National Assembly, Djordje Milicevic, expressed his satisfaction that the good political and parliamentary cooperation between Serbia and Romania is accompanied by good cooperation between these two independent institutions. He welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Protector of Citizens of the Republic of Serbia and the Ombudsman of Romania, as well as the establishment of the Network of Balkan Ombudsmen. In the conversation, he emphasized the importance of successful cooperation of the Protector of Citizens with the National Assembly, which elects the Protector of Citizens and to whom he is responsible for his work.

Zoran Pasalic said at the press conference at the Serbian Parliament, after meeting with the Parliament's vice-president, Djordje Milicevic, and the Ombudsman of Romania, Renate Weber, that the Ombudsman's contact with the Parliament is important and that the Ombudsman is an advisor to the Serbian Parliament who, by communicating the results of his work and experience and by speaking openly to the Members of Parliament about what systematically or individually bothers Serbian citizens, indicates what needs to be changed in order to align the regulations with the needs of the citizens. These institutions have an obligation to strengthen the protection of our citizens in Romania and Romanian citizens in Serbia through contact. Independent ombudsman institutions are at the disposal of citizens and in protecting their rights, the citizens can contact us, Pasalic said.

The Ombudsman of Romania, Renate Weber, stated that the Ombudsman's institution is crucial for all democratic societies, and that mutual exchange of work experience is of the utmost importance, especially in order to promote good practice and efficiency of independent institutions in Serbia and Romania.
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24 Sep

On the second day of the visit, representatives of the National Council of the Romanian National Minority spoke about the position of the Romanian national minority in Serbia, as well as the problems they face on a daily basis, while representatives of the NPM and the Department for urgent action spoke about the work and typical cases from these organizational units.

The Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pasalic, spoke today with 20 citizens from Belgrade and Serbia within the “Open doors” activity, who mostly complained about the violation of social protection rights, as well as the work of the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund and the cadastre. The “Open doors” day, as a regular monthly activity of this institution, was organized for the ninth time this year, and more than 25 times in total, during which the Protector of Citizens spoke with over 1300 citizens from Belgrade and the interior.

A personal interview with citizens dissatisfied with the work of public authorities in Serbia enables the Protector of Citizens to have an immediate and more accurate insight into the everyday problems which citizens face because of violations of their guaranteed human and minority rights.

The Pride Week, which began on September 9, ended today with the Pride parade, a traditional stroll through Belgrade under the slogan “I'm not giving up”, and representatives of the Protector of Citizens participated in it. For the sixth consecutive year, the competent authorities ensured the peaceful organization of the Pride Parade in Belgrade, by implementing the necessary security measures. On this occasion, the Protector of Citizens emphasizes the need to adopt laws regulating same-sex marriages and legal recognition of gender identity, in accordance with the requirements of the organizers of this year's Pride Parade in Belgrade, but also the need to fully implement existing laws and the need to raise awareness of the entire society about the importance of respecting and fully exercising the rights of LGBTI persons.

This year, the Protector of Citizens once again points out that intolerance towards LGBTI persons is still noticeable in our society and that these persons face intolerance, hate speech and hate crimes, so it is necessary to make additional efforts on education about tolerance, non-discrimination and non-violent society, as well as to sanction any violation of the rights of members of the LGBTI community. The Protector of Citizens points out that preventive and educational activities are lacking, and that there is no education of students on sexual and reproductive health, which would cover the topic of LGBTI persons and their rights, and no campaigns have been organized to raise public awareness about persons of different sexual orientation and gender identity.

During the Pride Week, representatives of the Protector of Citizens participated in the conference “After 2020: LGBT+ community in the era of populism”, organized by Civil Rights Defenders, as well as the opening of the #LOVEISLOVE: No to Discrimination! exhibition at the French Institute in Serbia, which consists of posters of the Council of Europe campaign against hate speech, and the campaign to promote tolerance towards LGBTI persons, launched by the Da se zna! (Let it be known) association.