The Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Affairs Zoran Djordjevic said that Serbia is the first country in the region to become a member of the EU’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme, gaining access to the EUR440 million budget, that is EUR63 million a year.
“We are taking major steps in bringing Serbia closer to the European Union,” said Djordjevic as he addressed the conference Rights, Equality and Citizenship. As one of the priorities of the Ministry he cited the improvement of status of persons with disabilities, adding that in 2018 Serbia will allocate RSD55 million in an effort to find employment for them.
Family, women and children protection is also among the priorities, Djordjevic said, noting that the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Affairs serves the citizens and is at their disposal for the sake of creating an equitable society.
“We should not act as if we needed the EU. We should, on the contrary, make sure the EU needs us as soon as possible,” Djordjevic said.
The Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic said that the EU would put over EUR1.5 billion of pre-accession money at Serbia’s disposal in the period from 2014-2020.
Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme, she said, is aimed at strengthening fundamental rights, focusing on the most vulnerable. And Serbia now takes part in it on an equal footing as any other EU Member State, she added.
Some of the principal elements of the project are fight against homophobia and racism and child protection, said Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Sem Fabrizi.
“The goal is to strengthen interaction between government bodies and NGOs with a view to strengthen human rights, in cooperation with EU Member States,” Fabrizi said, noting that human rights are pillars of the rule of law.
The project was launched in 2014 and will run through 2020, Fabrizi said, noting that it will probably be extended beyond 2020.
