The 5th Anniversary of Praxis Marked

Thursday, 14 January 2010

The 5th Anniversary of Praxis Marked

On the occasion of marking its fifth anniversary, Praxis organized a reception for colleagues and friends from non-governmental organization, international organizations, state institutions and embassies. The event took place at the "Aeroklub" in Belgrade. Present guests were addressed by Ivanka Kostic, Praxis Executive Director, H.E. Haakon Blankenborg, Norwegian Ambassador to Serbia, and Mr Eduardo Arboleda, UNHCR Representative in Serbia. On that occasion, a short film about Praxis was presented, as well as Praxis new publications: "Legally Invisible Persons in Serbia – the State Must Take over the Responsibility" and "Problems of Internally Displaced Persons in Accessing Property Rights in Kosovo – in 7 stories".

During five years of its work, Praxis implemented 26 legal projects; provided legal protection to refugees from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, internally displaced persons from Kosovo, returnees in the process of readmission from Western Europe, members of minorities (Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian) and victims of family violence; performed over 500 legal team field visit throughout Serbia in order to reach out to the most vulnerable beneficiaries accommodated in collective centres, illegal Roma settlements and private accommodation; provided legal protection, information and counselling to 80,000 beneficiaries in relation to accessing status, property, social, economic and other rights; obtained over 40,000 personal documents for its beneficiaries, both in the country of origin and country of displacement; lobbied and advocated for changes of inadequate legal regulations; published nine thematic reports; organized over 150 educational seminars, workshops, roundtables and conferences for over 6,000 participants; signed memorandums of understanding with non-governmental and international organizations at national and regional level, as well as with the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights of the Republic of Serbia aimed at promoting cooperation; became a member of Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), Balkan Asylum Network (BAN), Federation of Non-Governmental Organizations of Serbia and European Roma Information Office (ERIO); prepared and distributed 70,000 information leaflets, brochures and posters, etc.

Praxis activities have been funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway, UNHCR Serbia,Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the US Government, OSCE Mission to Serbia, European Union through European Agency for Reconstruction, Danish Refugee Council and UNHCR, UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services and the Swedish Migration Board.

The 5th Anniversary of Praxis – Part I