The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has expressed deep concern over the large number of children that cannot be registered in birth registry books and persons that are unable to register permanent residence at the addresses of social welfare centres, due to which their access to social services is limited.

The Committee therefore called on Serbia to take urgent measures to remedy this situation and to provide undocumented persons with access to social protection and health care, education and other social services. 

In this regard, the Committee called on Serbia to urgently review the regulations governing registration in birth registry books in order to enable all children born in Serbia to be registered in birth registry books, as well as to allow internally displaced persons from Kosovo living in informal settlements to register permanent residence at the addresses of social welfare centres. The Committee attached special importance to these recommendations, requesting Serbia to report on its compliance with them in a much shorter period compared to the majority of other recommendations.

This is, among other things, emphasized in the Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the Third Periodic Report of Serbia on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Committee issued almost identical recommendations to Serbia in 2014 as part of the Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Serbia, but the state did not comply with these recommendations even eight years later. This year's Concluding Observations recommend that Serbia should take measures to address also other issues related to access to socio-economic rights that Praxis has pointed out to the Committee in its report.

As regards access to free legal aid, the Committee expressed concern about the inadequate provision of free legal aid by local self-governments and the unclear legal procedure for providing free legal aid by civil society organisations, which makes it very difficult to provide assistance to those most in need, and issued recommendations to eliminate these shortcomings. The Committee also stressed that it was necessary to raise awareness of the public, especially marginalised groups, about the availability of free legal aid and the procedure for exercising rights.

As regards social protection, the Committee called on Serbia to remove discriminatory requirements, i.e. the requirements that may have a discriminatory effect on the exercise of the right to social assistance and parental allowance (such as mandatory vaccination and school attendance), while pointing out to the necessity of simplifying the procedures for exercising rights.

The Committee also expressed concern over the fact that persons without registered permanent residence were denied access to health care, although this was contrary to the law, and recommended that the state should provide all citizens with access to primary health care.

The Committee also stressed that the state should take all measures to eliminate child marriages and sensitise the public to the harmful consequences of this practice, as well as to ensure that the legal provision stipulating 18 years as the minimum age for marriage was applied without exception. 

Praxis reiterates that undocumented persons and members of the Roma national minority in Serbia face many obstacles that hinder or prevent their access to socio-economic rights, but also expresses its satisfaction for the fact that almost all of its recommendations for resolving these problems were included in the Committee’s Concluding Observations. Praxis also calls on the competent authorities to implement the recommended measures without delay, thus improving the situation of these people, who are among the poorest and most disadvantaged citizens of Serbia.

Održali smo sastanak sa predstavnicima javnog i civilnog sektora u Kragujevcu sa ciljem da se razmotre prilike i mogući modaliteti uključivanja građana u proces kreiranja i praćenja lokalnih javnih politika i postigne konsenzus u pogledu uspostavljanja delotvornih modela građanskih konsultacija kako bi se unapredila participativnost i inkluzivnost konsultativnih procesa na lokalnom nivou. O ovom sastanku, na kome su razmenjeni stavovi i ideje u pogledu budućih koraka na planu unapređenja transparentnosti u radu lokalne samouprave, možete pročitati u Danasu kao i na portalima Naša mesta i Veliki park.

#WeBER 2.0

O našem „Godišnjem izveštaju o dečjim brakovima u Srbiji za 2021. godinu sa posebnim osvrtom na praksu javnih tužilaštava“ u kom su prikazani podaci o postupanju tužilaštava u odnosu na krivična dela prinudno zaključenje braka i vanbračna zajednica sa maloletnikom, a na osnovu odgovora koje su javna tužilaštva sa teritorije Republike Srbije dostavila po zahtevima za pristup informacijama od javnog značaja, možete opširinije pročitati u Danasu i na portalu Ozonpress.

Within the project „Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia”, funded by UNHCR, Praxis prepared the report “2021 annual report on child marriages in Serbia with special focus on the practice of public prosecutor’s offices”. 

This year's report presents data on the proceeding of public prosecutor's offices in relation to the criminal offences of coercion into marriage and cohabiting with a minor, based on the answers submitted by public prosecutor's offices from the territory of the Republic of Serbia to freedom of information requests.

According to the obtained data, every third criminal complaint for the criminal offence of cohabiting with a minor results in a motion to indict, but in the previous three years no suspicions of coercion into marriage have been reported in the Republic of Serbia.

Uneven actions and inconsistency in the work of the police and public prosecutor's offices, reflected in proposing a suspended sentence in two-thirds of motions to indict, indicates serious problems related to the effectiveness and expediency of prevention and sanction mechanisms since they are unable to provide adequate protection of child’s rights.

Significant knowledge about child marriages, but also about the major obstacles to combating this phenomenon, which are described in this report, was obtained through the activities carried out with children and the meetings held with the representatives of social welfare centres and schools.

The report “2021 annual report on child marriages in Serbia with special focus on the practice of public prosecutor’s offices” may be found HERE.

Nevladina organizacija Praxis, u saradnji sa Minority Rights Group Europe, će u martu 2022. godine organizovati novu rundu treninga namenjenih sledećim ciljnim grupama:

• Diplomiranim pravnicima/pravnicama koji imaju interesovanja za oblasti zaštite od diskriminacije i socijalne pravde, kao i za rad sa romskom zajednicom;
• Predstavnicima romskih organizacija civilnog društva, kao i organizacija koje se bave zaštitom prava pripadnika romske nacionalne manjine na lokalnom i nacionalnom nivou;
• Romskim aktivistima i aktivistkinjama iz cele zemlje koji imaju iskustva u radu sa romskom zajednicom na lokalnom ili nacionalnom nivou i koji bi želeli da unaprede svoje znanje o nacionalnom antidiskriminacionom zakonodavstvu i načinima pružanja podrške žrtvama diskriminacije.

Treninzi za svaku od navedenih ciljnih grupa biće podeljeni u sledeće celine:

• Uvodni sastanak (online događaj u trajanju do maksimalno 1 sat), u okviru kog će se učesnici/ce upoznati sa ciljevima projekta i samog treninga, kao i sa tehničkim detaljima korišćenja online platforme.
• Onlajn kurs (u trajanju od 2 nedelje), prilagođen svakoj ciljnoj grupi pojedinačno. Tokom ove dve nedelje učesnici će moći da prate i završe trening prema sopstvenom ritmu: ne postoje „predavanja“ ili „seminari“, učesnici će raditi na interaktivnoj onlajn platformi. Svaka celina sadrži niz vežbi koje pomažu učesnicima da procene svoje znanje. Tokom trajanja treninga, učesnici će imati podršku voditelja kursa.

Treninzi se organizuje u okviru projekta „Do ravnopravnosti Roma kroz unapređen pristup pravima“, koji ima za cilj unapređenje stanja u oblasti zaštite pripadnika romske nacionalne manjine od svih oblika diskriminacije podizanjem svesti javnosti, a naročito ključnih aktera o štetnosti ove društvene pojave, zatim poboljšanjem primene antidiskriminacionog zakonodavstva i osnaživanjem Roma da koriste dostupne mehanizme zaštite prava na ravnopravnost.

Polaznici koji uspešno prođu sve delove obuke, dobiće sertifikat o završenom treningu.

Prijavu na trening možete poslati na adresu This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. do 04. marta 2022. godine u 17h, uz naznaku na koji trening se prijavljujete. O tačnom datumu početka treninga u martu ćemo Vas naknadno obavestiti.

Within the project ”Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia”, funded by UNHCR, Praxis prepared the report “Overview of obstacles to exercising the right to registration in birth registry books, acquisition of citizenship and registration of permanent residence in 2021”. The report presents an overview of the achievements and remaining challenges in the field of exercising the right to registration in the birth registry books, acquisition of citizenship and registration of permanent residence.

The problem of legally invisible persons in Serbia is still not close to a solution, which is supported by the data that, in 2021, a total of 162 persons who are not registered in birth registry books addressed Praxis for assistance. 

The systemic obstacle jeopardizing the exercise of the right to timely birth registration has not been removed last year either. For this reason, Serbia is still facing a situation in which new-born children are not registered in the birth registry book immediately after birth and are, hence, deprived of or have hindered access to numerous rights, including the rights to health care and social protection. The report indicates that there are still problems in the court procedures for determining the time and place of birth, in procedures for determination of personal name, registration of children born abroad in the birth registry book, as well as during subsequent birth registration and Re-registration procedures. At the same time, they are an obstacle to the acquisition of citizenship, along with other immediate problems listed in this report that occurred in relation to the exercise of the right to citizenship. 

The report also points to obstacles related to registration of permanent residence, one of the most common being avoiding jurisdiction. In addition, option of registration of permanent residence at the address of a spouse or parents, the competent bodies do not take into consideration, while in some municipalities, social welfare centres stopped giving consent to registration of permanent residence at their address.

The report “Overview of obstacles to exercising the right to registration in birth registry books, acquisition of citizenship and registration of permanent residence in 2021” may be found HERE.

The Roma community in Serbia continues to endure challenges when it comes to birth registration and citizenship acquisition. The risk of statelessness in the Roma community easily spans generations, hampering their access to basic benefits and rights and exacerbating their social exclusion and marginalization.

Ivanka Kostic, long-time executive director of Praxis, and now a member of the Board of Directors, wrote about legal mechanisms in Serbia that perpetuate vicious circles of Roma statelessness, presenting recommendations for the work ahead. 

Blog “Vicious circles of Roma statelessness in Serbia – A road map” may be found at the following link. 

Download: HERE

24. januara 2022. godine u Kragujevcu, Praxis je održao sastanak kome su prisustvovali predstavnici javnog i civilnog sektora sa ciljem da se razmotre prilike i mogući modaliteti uključivanja građana u proces kreiranja i praćenja lokalnih javnih politika i postigne konsenzus u pogledu uspostavljanja delotvornih modela građanskih konsultacija kako bi se unapredila participativnost i inkluzivnost konsultativnih procesa na lokalnom nivou. Samim tim, sastanak je bio prilika da se razmene stavovi i ideje u pogledu budućih koraka na planu unapređenja transparentnosti u radu lokalne samouprave uključujući predloge konkretnih javnih politika koje će biti usvojene u narednom periodu, kao i mehanizme koji će obezbediti da politike odgovore na realne potrebe građana naročito pripadnika osetljivih društvenih grupa. Istovremeno, Praxis je predstavio neke od preliminarnih rezultata istraživanja koje je sprovedeno u okviru projekta ukazujući na ključne izazove u procesu reforme javne uprave na lokalnom nivou koji otvaraju prostor za unapređenje procesa naročito kada se radi o kreiranju lokalnih javnih politika. Učesnici sastanka su pokazali posebnu zainteresovanost za sprovođenje ranih konsultacija sa građanima u pogledu ključnih prioriteta kada je u pitanju poboljšanje položaja pripadnika romske nacionalne manjine u Kragujevcu, a predlog je da se u budućem periodu u saradnji sa OCD-a i predstavnicima JLS-e organizuju fokus grupe ili sastanci u zajednici kako bi se definisale ključne potrebe i mere koje bi se ugradile u budući Lokalni akcioni plan za inkluziju Roma.

Sastanak je jedna od aktivnosti na projektu „Jačanje građanskog aktivizma za bolju javnu upravu u Kragujevcu“ koji se realizuje u okviru projekta Osnaživanje civilnog društva Zapadnog Balkana za reformisanu javnu upravu (WeBER 2.0), koji finansira Evropska unija koju predstavlja Evropska komisija.

Cilj projekta je da poboljša aktivno učešće građana u procesu praćenja reforme javne uprave naročito u oblasti izrade i koordinacije politika i da unapredi stanje u pogledu poštovanja principa javne uprave koji se odnose na odgovornost i transparentnost u radu lokalnih organa uprave u Kragujevcu. Ideja je da se jačanjem kapaciteta lokalnih organizacija civilnog društva da aktivno učestvuju u reformskim procesima koji se odnose na primenu principa dobrog upravljanja, posebno transparentnosti i odgovornosti, promocijom i zaštitom ljudskih prava, posebno prava najosetljivijih društvenih grupa i jačanjem saradnje svih važnih aktera, uključujući predstavnike lokalne samouprave, civilni sektor i medije, unapredi stanje u pogledu primene principa dobrog upravljanja.