Monthly Periodical of The Roma Inclusion Office

The Roma Decade in AP Vojvodina

No. 51, july 2015

Monthly Periodical of The Roma Inclusion Office

The Roma Decade in AP Vojvodina

No. 51, july 2015

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Founder and Publisher of the Periodical:The Roma Inclusion Office of the Govern-ment of AP Vojvodina

Editor in Chief: Duško Jovanović

Managing Editor:Aleksandra Mićić

The team:Dragana RajićAleksandra MićićTijana ČubriloLjiljana Maričić

Correspondents:Ferenc KosoCoordinators for Roma issues of the AP VojvodinaIvana Koprivica

Translation into Romani:Nota Bene, Centar za prevođenje i učenje stranih jezika Novi Sad

Translation into English:Aleksandra Vranić

Technical Preparation and Printing:Lola preduzetništvo, Beograd,www.lolapreduzetnistvo.co.rs

Circulation:1000 copies

Address: Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 25, 21000 Novi SadTel: 021/488-17-23inkluzija.roma@gmail.comwww.inkluzijaroma.vojvodina.gov.rs

CIP - Cataloging in PublicationThe Matica Srpska Library, Novi Sad323.1 (=214.58)(=497.113)

The Decade of Roma in AP Vojvodina: Monthly Publication of the Roma Inclusion Office / Editor in Chief Duško Jovanović

-2011, No. 1 - Novi Sad: The Roma Inclusion Office of the Government of AP Vojvodina, 2011-.30 cm

Monthly. In Serbian, English and Romani language - In Romani printed in reverse

COBISS.SR - ID 261834759

The July edition of our monthly magazi-ne starts with the texts about education. The topics deal with education in mino-

rity languages and the help for Roma students in the process of studying. The topic of education was also discussed in the conversation with the mayor of Novi Kneževac, Dragan Babić.Roma coordinator from Vršac stressed the nece-ssity of systematization of the coordinator posi-tion, because that is the only way to systemati-cally help the Roma. Roma Association in Novi Bečej celebrated fifte-en years of its successful work, while “Čiriklji” association from Bački Petrovac organized a pa-nel discussion on violence against women. We would like to remind you that, thanks to the Research and Education Center and Preschool Teacher Training College “Mihailo Palov” in Vr-šac, you can follow our publication in electronic form at www.rec.org/bilten.

Your editorial board

DEAR READER,

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EDuCATioN

In Vojvodina, there are 344 primary schools with 244 separate classes and 131 secondary schools, which consist of 154 primary and 44 secondary schools, where the teachers are teaching in the languages of national minorities (as monolingual or bilingual schools). Civic Fund "Panonija" has been working on the affirmation of education for years, especially the education in national minority languages.

ASSoCiATioNS oF TEACHERS WHo TEACH iN MiNoRiTY LANGuAGES

Roundtable participants

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Project of the “Association of teachers who teach in minority languages, inclusive and intercultural education” is supported by the Open Society Foundation, and the objectives of the pro-ject are: establishment of the associations of teachers, support to the civil society organizations in Vojvodina that are teaching in the national minority languages and contribution to the in-creasing inclusiveness of education in minority languages and intercultural education.

Participants in the project were: Pri-mary School “Jovan

Jovanovic Zmaj” from Đurđevo, Primary School “ivan Milutinović” from Subotica, Primary School “Jan Kolar” from Selen-ča, Primary School “Matko Vuković” from Subotica, Primary school “Jan Amos Komenski” from Kulpina and Primary School “2nd october” from Nikolinci.

The final activity of the project

Accordingly, one of the projects addressing the issue of education and intercul-turality is the project of the “Association of teachers who teach in minority languages, inclusive and intercultural education.” The final acti-vity in the form of a round table, called “Social inclusi-on, interculturality and Asso-ciation of teachers who teach in minority languages” was held in late June. The round table was attended by 30 participants. There were re-presentatives of the schools

that teach in national mino-rity languages, representa-tives of school departments and the Provincial Secretariat for Education, Administration and National Minorities - nati-onal communities.

PresentationsAttendees were first

addressed by Tanja Stojić from the Open Society Foun-dation, and then by Dr Ljilja-na Levkov, for the “Razvioni-ca” project, Milica Grahovac from the Centre for Educati-on Policy and Biljana Stoja-nović, advisor and cooperator on this project and Danica Stefanović, project coordi-nator. They all pointed out to the current state of our edu-cation system and the chan-ges that must be made to improve it. Special emphasis was placed on the problems of schools and teachers who teach in minority languages; importance of intercultura-lity and development of de-mocracy was mentioned, as well. These principles can be adopted and developed in the classroom; teachers and

EDuCATioN

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professors are very important factors in this process. It is therefore very important for the school curriculum to be modified and adapted to the “school of the 21st century”. This is the general conclusion of all participants.

Jelena Kriš Piger, of the Provincial Secre-tariat for Education, Administration and Nati-onal Minorities - national communities, confir-med the importance of education in minority languages and pointed out that the Secretariat has always supported such projects and ideas.

ProblemsThe project has attempted to detect

the problems that the schools face in the-ir everyday work, and show the possibilities of solving those problems. The problems that arise are: lack of financial resources, the pro-blem of supply and translation of textbooks, lack of professional staff working with chil-dren, who are taught on individualized edu-

cation programs, an insufficient number of professional workshops for teachers, reduced access to computers and the Internet.

Plans Civic Fund “Panonija” plans to develop an

action plan for the continuation of initiatives for the improvement of education in national minority languages and the formation of the Association of Teachers, which is the ultimate goal of this project. In this way, all the schools and teachers who teach in minority languages, would be connected and have an opportunity to share their experiences, help each other, and thus improve their own work. Better edu-cation process would make the students acqu-ire and build up their knowledge faster, easier and applicable in their everyday lives.

Tijana Čubrilo

EDuCATioN

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RoMAVERSiTAS PRoGRAM iN NoVi SAD

The beginningsRomaversitas was firstly opened in some

other countries, and it currently exists in Hun-gary, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. So far, Romaversitas existed exclusively in Voj-vodina, but since the last academic year the

program also exists in Kragujevac and Niš, be-cause there are a lot of Roma students at these universities.

In 2009/2010 academic year, the Roma-versitas project was formally implemented in Novi Sad. One of the main objectives was to

Vojvodina Roma Centre for Democracy has been implementing the Romaversitas project in Novi Sad for several years, funded by the Roma Education Fund in Budapest. Project Manager, Aleksandar Jovanović, pointed out the activities covered by this project, their objectives and their importance for Roma students.

Aleksandar Jovanovic

EDuCATioN

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EDuCATioN

create equal opportunities for Roma students studying at the University of Novi Sad. Various studies have been conducted before that, in order to de-termine the actual needs of Roma students.

“We know who the future students of the University of Novi Sad are, because in re-cent years the Government of Vojvodina was our partner in the project of scholarships for Roma high school students and we know exactly who the students of the fourth year were,” says Aleksandar Jova-nović. Together with the Offi-ce for Roma Inclusion, they worked on the promotion of education in Vojvodina, by

promoting affirmative mea-sures and scholarship oppor-tunities. At the same time, they presented the Romaver-sitas project.

“When students apply for affirmative measures, we have a list of students who are about to study in Novi Sad that academic year, and then we contact them and organi-ze the reception of first-year students in our office.” When they arrive, the students fill in a questionnaire that requi-res a lot of information about them, in order to find out about their grade point avera-ge in secondary school, which faculty they are enrolled in, and how they imagine the-

ir studies. In this way, they become members of Roma-versitas program and receive all the necessary informati-on during their studies. “We contact all the students at le-ast once a month and inform them about what is going on.” In Romaversitas, they have a database with information about students; they coopera-te with 60 students per aca-demic year, who are either active or inactive.

Project componentsThere are several com-

ponents to be implemented under this project: additional classes, purchase of textbo-oks, English language, student

Branislav and Jovan Nikolic

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EDuCATioN

initiatives, workshops and mentoring support.

The main component of this project are additional classes. Students who have difficulties in passing certain exams apply for the program by filling out the form. When there is a sufficient number of applications, a committee decides whether someone should be given additional classes or not. Then they find a university professor to help them pass the exam. Jova-nović emphasizes that their cooperation with professors is excellent, since they are understanding and provide all the necessary assistance to Roma students.

Students do not take cla-sses randomly. The number of exams passed by a student is taken into consideration, as well as the exam’s relation to the budget condition. As in any project, the options are limited, which is reflected in the money the teachers recei-ve and the amount of lessons they can teach. If necessary, the teachers work with stu-dents a lot more. Practice has shown that each student who attends additional classes pa-sses the exams.

One of the components is the purchase of textbooks for students. There is a limited amount per student. Every year, first-year students are given a certain amount of fun-ds for textbooks.

Workshops for students are held by a psychologist, Mi-lena Ćuk. At the beginning of the academic year, she holds a meeting with students who want to participate in wor-kshops and gives them a few suggestions, and then they choose the ones they are in-terested in. These workshops are not the typical ones, be-cause they primarily aim to connect Roma students, since it happens that Roma students do not know each other. This is the best way for students to meet and help each other.

“There are also student initiatives, where a group of students gather and try to organize something. They need to write a small project, which will be sent to our bo-ard, in order to see how many students will be involved and what they want to do. Once

the initiative is approved, the students put it into action,” said Jovanović.

One of the components is that the older students help the new ones. They help them apply for scholarships, becau-se the new students do not know when the application deadlines are. They also help them with studying.

Students’ experiencesBranislav Nikolić, a fourth-

year student of Energy and Process Engineering depar-tment at the Faculty of Tech-nical Sciences, and his brother Jovan Nikolić, a third-year student of the same depar-tment, shared with us their experiences and thoughts on Romaversitas program. They say that they come here very often and spend a lot of time here. They come to learn and attend English classes and psychology workshops. They emphasise that the additio-nal classes helped them the most, as well as the help they were given to buy textbooks. They have also provided study assistance to other students. They worked with high school students, as well, and helped them with maths, mechanics, physics, and held classes for younger students and helped them pass their exams.

Vojvodina Roma Centre for Democracy invites Roma students to come as often as possible, be active and gain benefits and information ne-cessary to make their studies easier and better.

Tijana Čubrilo

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LoCAL SELF-GoVERMENT

interview with the mayor of Novi Kneževac, Dragan Babić

Present your munici-pality: characteristics, potentials, programs and projects that are being implemented. The municipality of Novi

Kneževac is one of the smaller municipalities in AP Vojvodi-na, on the border with the

Republic of Hungary and the Republic of Romania. There are 11.500 inhabitants. We have one border crossing to the Republic of Hungary and the Tisa river flows through the entire municipal terri-tory. The demographic pictu-re of the municipality lo-

oks like this: there is 60% of Serbian population, around 31% of citizens of Hungarian ethnicity and 8% of the Roma and other populations. The following factories are loca-ted in the municipality of Novi Kneževac: "Lepenka" - packaging and paper factory,

EDuCATioN AS THE oNLY WAY To SuCCESS

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ZAPOŠLJAVANJELoCAL SELF-GoVERMENT

interview with the mayor of Novi Kneževac, Dragan Babić

"Aleva" - food processing fac-tory, and “March 8” – factory for the production of women's stockings, from Subotica, with one operating unit of 200 employees. In addition to this, we have a number of small agricultural holdings, as well as a significant number of people working in the pu-blic sector. Also, most people are involved in agriculture as supplementary activity, and we are doing our best to pro-vide them with adequate con-ditions, especially in terms of drainage network. We pro-

vide them with fresh water, so that they can engage in systematic agricultural pro-duction, and then sell their products to "Aleva" company or some other stores that buy their goods.

Does the job classi-fication of local self-government enlist the workplace for a Roma coordinator? We have had a Roma

coordinator up to a year and a half ago, but, unfortunately, he went to work abroad. It

was a long term employment and we were one of the first municipalities that hired a Roma coordinator for a long term period. So, it was a systematized position. Howe-ver, since the decree law on prohibition of employment entered into force, we had a real problem, because we could not hire someone else. The municipality of Novi Kne-ževac has recognized the need for such an employee. While we had a coordinator, we had a project with two other municipalities, Žitište

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LoCAL SELF-GoVERMENT

and Crnja, where we jointly provided funds for the office where the coordinator wor-ked.

What is your last acti-vity related to the Roma in your municipality?We plan to sign a contract

with the National Council of Roma, in the following peri-od, on the employment of a Roma person who will be the

new Roma coordinator. Also, in the previous period, we had a joint action with the Office for Roma Inclusion in Novi Sad, where we joined some funds; rehabilitation of ten Roma houses i.e. bat-hrooms is almost finished. We are also constantly helping the Roma by purchasing the textbooks and providing them with scholarships. I would like to point out to the fact that

we have a very good coopera-tion with Roma organizations, and we have not had any ma-jor problems so far.

What is the state of the budget in the muni-cipality of Novi Kneže-vac? There are up to

400.000.000 dinars in our budget; 250.000.000 of which are unearmarked funds for

Municipal building in Novi Knezevac

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material expenses and other needs of RJ "Zelenilo i či-stoća", and other items that help the functioning of the municipality; the rest are earmarked funds, which are levied on the issuance of sta-te agricultural land and other earmarked funds, which we provide from the Calls on the international, national and provincial level.

What parts of the De-cade of Roma were dealt with the most and the le-ast in your municipality? We are constantly wor-

king on education and we had applied for the project of Roma Inclusion, which en-sured that all Roma children get free textbooks, lunches and stay in kindergarten. That was two years ago, when we also had the investment of bathrooms rehabilitation; those are significant inves-tments. In the last two ye-ars, unfortunately, there are fewer funds, so we also have fewer opportunities to alloca-te and invest into the socially most vulnerable group.

What are the biggest problems of the Roma population in the muni-cipality of Novi Kneže-vac?I would not like to single

out the problems of the Roma population. I have to say that there are no typical Roma settlements in municipali-ties such as Novi Kneževac. The Roma live together with everyone else in Srpski Krstur and Banatski Aranđelov and there is absolutely no isola-tion. Thus, the problems are common for all - lack of em-ployment opportunities, lack of funds for basic necessities and the lack of hope and visi-on of better future.

What is being done to stimulate the education of Roma? When it comes to educa-

tion, there are attempts of

inclusion, and I think there is progress, because more and more Roma are graduating. We give scholarships to all students in the municipality of Novi Kneževac, except for the first-year students. In this way, we want to stimulate education and improve the-ir social situation, at least a little bit.

A message to the members of the Roma minority in your munici-pality. My message is that we

should live with each other, not next to each other. Also, the Roma should be more in-volved in the training proce-ss, to get informed about the Calls, because a lot of times, people are not informed eno-ugh or they do not realize on time the chances they have to get funds and other existing opportunities. We do our best to correct this through sur-veys and by talking to them, and through the program where we assigned funds to a non-governmental organi-zation for visiting all Roma families and making analysis and maps of families and the information about the num-ber of children they have and their age, and the number of children who attend scho-ol and the ones who do not. We will continue to work this way, because I believe that the education system is the only way we can improve our lives.

Ljiljana Maričić

LoCAL SELF-GoVERMENT

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LoCAL SELF-GoVERMENT

interview with Amet Ramadanović, Roma coordinator in the municipality of Vršac

Does the job classification of local se-lf-government enlist the workplace for aRoma coordinator?No, it does not, but I hope this problem

will be solved. Also, we hope that in the mean-time the local self-government will extend the engagement of coordinators by amending the state budget for a certain period, until the fi-

nal resolution of the systematization problem.

Does the municipal budget include special funds for the realization of plans for the Roma?No, because I signed a contract on January

23, 2015 and I hope that by amending the bud-get for 2016 we will be able to allocate special

NECESSARY SYSTEMATiZATioN oF THE RoMA CooRDiNAToR PoSiTioN iN VRŠAC

Amet Ramadanovic

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LoCAL SELF-GoVERMENT

funds for the implementation of LAP plans for the Roma, which will be developed and adop-ted by that time.

What does your cooperation with local self-government, provincial and natio-nal authorities look like?Through the Call of the Provincial Depar-

tment, the local self-government has received funding for hiring Roma coordinators for a pe-riod of six months. As a coordinator, I perform my function under the contract with the muni-cipal administration and I am in direct contact with the members of the Municipal Council in charge of social issues, and I cooperate with the members of the Municipal Council in char-ge of economy, as well as with the Commissi-

oner for Refugees of the municipality of Vr-šac. I also cooperate with public institutions in the municipality of Vršac, primarily with the Centre for Social Work, Municipal Court in Vr-šac, RFZO (health insurance) and Vršac Police Station. Cooperation with other institutions is still in its infancy. As far as the local self-go-vernment is concerned, I would like to point out to a very good cooperation with the Offi-ce for LED (local economic development). We have been working together on all the Calls related to the improvement of the position of the Roma population.

As for the provincial institutions, I have a good cooperation with the Provincial Secreta-riat for Education, Administration, Regulations and National Minorities - national communiti-es and the Provincial Secretariat for Economy, Employment and Gender Equality, as well as with the Office for Roma Inclusion.

I cooperate with the national institutions on notifying and obtaining information, in order to help the local self-government and Roma NGOs to participate in the Calls. I still do not have more direct cooperations and I am mainly focused on regional institutions.

Tell us about the activities in the field of the Decade of Roma in your municipa-lity, related to education, employment, housing, health and human rights.Education - special funds have not yet

been allocated for the education of Roma, but it is being worked on under difficult social groups. Attention was paid to the Roma, but the budget of the Municipal Assembly of Vršac cannot settle it on its own, without the help from other sources.

The second chance - adult education; the-re is a growing interest for it.

There are examples of Roma high scho-ol students who graduated with very good or excellent marks, but did not use affirmative measures and were not informed. The biggest problem is the declaration of origin, so that is a priority task in the coming period.

A large number of Roma children are not even enrolled in primary school, and the ones

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who are enrolled do not attend the classes re-gularly.

In schools in the municipality of Vršac the-re are about 250-300 Roma students, but the-re are no systematized jobs for teaching assi-stants and no teachers of Roma nationality.

Employment - I can say that the inclusion of Roma and the interest in self-employment are great. However, they do not meet certain requirements for starting a business (e.g. Gua-rantor). A small number of Roma is employed; the majority does seasonal jobs. This is a pro-blem which had lasted for decades. The focus should be on the urgent adoption of affirmati-ve measures that are to be implemented and take control.

Housing - 10 substandard settlements have been registered in the municipality of Vršac, but there are a few more. It is all connected with the aforementioned problems in educati-on and employment.

Health - in this respect, the Roma are of-ten inconsistent and uninterested. They do not go to the doctor’s regularly; children are not vaccinated regularly, and women need more time to decide to visit a medical expert. One or two health mediators are needed.

Human Rights – There are internally dis-placed persons in the municipality and a large number of returnees under the readmission agreement. The problem in the municipality of Vršac are legally invisible persons without personal documents. This is one of my priority tasks at the moment. The Roma have rights, but they do not know how to exercise them. Therefore, we need cooperation of all: coordi-nators, NGOs, local and regional institutions.

How do you get information that you need for your work? How do you improve your knowledge?Through the trainings provided for the co-

ordinators, daily contacts with the competent local, provincial and central government in-stitutions, the NGO sector, but also through everyday contact on the site with the Roma population.

What does your workday look like?I work in the Office of the Society for Cul-

ture, Education and Social Integration of Roma "Romano Krlo", by a decision of the municipa-lity of Vršac, which provided basic resources for my work. In the Office I receive the par-ties, communicate and ensure coordination, together with the local government and its institutions and, if necessary, I go on the site. I also work on the current Calls.

What are your priorities and plans for this year? To admit and plan out the resources wit-

hin the municipal budget for making of LAP for Roma, to make a database of Roma, to allocate funds in the budget for the impro-vement of housing and education of Roma, to hire a coordinator and solve the problem of invisible persons. My wish is to unite the Roma in the municipality of Vršac, regardless

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population and the fact that my work is pu-blic. The Office for Roma Inclusion has been established, and many families are provided with personal documents, with the support of the NGO Praxis. I am particularly pleased that the unhygienic settlement received water and sewage network after 20 years.

Tijana Čubrilo

* A message to your fellow Roma. My message to my fellow Roma is that they must believe in themselves, have an awa-

reness of their nationality and that it is necessary to make personal effort and join the integration process. It is necessary for them to openly address their problems and get information about the ways of solving them through public institutions, where the Roma coordinator and his office are connected to the services that can solve these problems. There needs to be as many mergers as possible and they should avoid solving the problems on their own, on a one-time basis.

of their religious affiliation.

Can you tell us what are you particu-larly proud of in your work and what do you consider the greatest success?

I am proud of making contacts with all the necessary authorities and institutions, the fact that I gained the trust of the Roma

Municipal building in Vrsac

LoCAL SELF-GoVERMENT

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THE RoMA iNCLuSioN oFFiCE

A SEMiNAR FoR RoMA CooRDiNAToRS

The Office Roma Inclusion had organized another seminar for Roma coor-

dinators and representatives of Roma NGOs.

At the seminar, they exchanged information on the situation of Roma in local self-governments, where the participants in the seminar came from. They presented the activities and plans of the Secretariat for Economy, Employment and Gender Equ-ality, the Office for Roma Inclusion and the National Council of the Roma national minority.

The focus of this seminar was the report of the Om-budsman, “The results of the Strategy for improving the status of Roma”, which was presented by the representa-tive of the independent insti-tution, Dragana Vujkov. She pointed out that, in 2013, the Ombudsman had submitted a

report to the National Assem-bly of the Republic of Serbia, and that it have not been dis-cussed to this day.

In the second part of the seminar, Dr Goran Bašić pre-sented the activities in the fi-eld of the development of the new Strategy for improving the status of Roma. He stre-ssed the importance of deve-loping a new strategy, which is still in preparation. He emphasized the role of state institutions in the implemen-

tation process, as the key to better coordination and sync-hronization with other inter-national organizations. Accor-ding to him, the new Strategy is being prepared by a team of experts, and it is planned to be finished by September. After it is finished, it will be adopted by the state institu-tions, and then it will be ne-cessary to create an action plan for its implementation.

Mićić Aleksandra

Učesnici seminara

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HEALTH

HuMANENESS iN ACTioNAt the Klenak community, in the municipality of Ruma, members of provincial institutions showed once again their willingness to help the ones in need. Namely, on Wednesday, July 8, a boy of Roma nationality was given a wheelchair that was more than necessary to him, due to his health condition.

Representatives of provincial and local institutions

Nebojša Malenković, Di-rector of the Fund for Capi-tal Investments, said that it is important to show social res-ponsibility, especially towar-ds those members of our so-ciety who live in the shadow. "In every Call, project or a place where the state can demonstrate its social and public accountability, it is very important to show that

we care and that no one is forgotten, which is the main message of the Provincial Go-vernment and the administra-tion. As provincial officials who live with people, we are obliged to learn what needs to be done. For this reason, we have helped this family that needed us to provide a wheelchair that would help a young boy grow up more ea-sily and deal with the chall-enges he faces on daily basis. This is the policy of a respon-sible administration that has had an opportunity to shine,"

says Malenković.Ninoslav Jovanović, a

Roma coordinator in Inđi-ja, explains that this event is a proof of the great role and importance of the peo-ple working in local institu-tions and the importance of decentralization, which is not carried out sufficiently in practice. "The officials in certain positions, who are primarily humans and se-condarily officials, show in a good way how the social and socially responsible policies are implemented towards all

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HEALTH

citizens on an equal level. A large number of Roma lives in the Klenak community, in the municipality of Ruma, and we are not visiting this family for the first time. Infrastructu-re of the street, where this house is situated, is in fact funded by the Provincial Go-vernment. So, if you look at the people who are here with us today, you will see that a network of institutions can resolve the problem," Jova-nović concluded.

Director of the Office for Roma Inclusion, Duško Jova-nović, said that this event shows that the administration cannot be bounded to an offi-ce or eight-hour work time. It is very important to re-ach every individual, to talk to people and listen to their problems. "When we visited Klenk, a few days ago, we discussed how to help a young man communicate with other people and make his life ea-sier. Then I contacted the Di-rector of the Health Center in Inđija, Vasa Petrović, who supplied the wheelchair. I wo-uld like to thank him for his rapid and efficient response. In this way, we showed how important the communicati-on between institutions really is," said Jovanović. He added that through the Provincial Secretariat for Economy, Em-ployment and Gender Equa-lity they also ensured a job for a Roma coordinator in this municipality. Unfortunately, individuals from other local governments do not have an ability to understand the role

of coordinators and the com-petent, educated Roma in the institutions in general, which is very important, not only for the Roma community, but also for the whole system. “Ordinary citizens do not have an opportunity to addre-ss institutions, because very often the institutions remain unresponsive to their needs, and in this sense, I think it is an obligation of every person, who is a part of the state ad-ministration, to respond and listen to its citizens. For this reason, as the representati-ves of regional institutions, we came here in the period after hours, even though this is an extremely hot day, and we work this way 365 days a year," said Jovanović.

Representatives of Health Care

Dr Vasa Petrović, Director of the Health Center in Inđi-ja, says that a doctor’s pri-mary duty is to give and pro-vide assistance to the ones in need. He expressed satis-faction with the fact that he could help and provide the wheelchair, together with To-mislav Bugunović, within 24 hours. "Director of the Office for Roma Inclusion, Duško Jo-vanović, has the knowledge, willingness and ability. If he has shown that in Vojvodina, and it was recognized by the European Community, which considers it to be the best way of taking care of national minorities, then it is an honor to work with such a man and help him out when he calls

and says he has a problem. This shows that this system has the strength, power and quality to solve the problems of ordinary people," added Petrović.

Assistant to the Secreta-riat for Health, Social Policy and Demography, Dr. Danijela Stanković Baričak notes that this is a real proof that the staff of the provincial admini-stration is not merely sitting in their offices, while their citizens have real problems. Going on the site and helping a young man get out of his ho-use is the least someone, who works in an institution, can do for their people. A wheelchair should not be an obstacle for anyone to come out of their house and make friends, re-gardless of disease severity. She appealed to the entire state system to hire perso-nal assistants again, and said that the solution to the pro-blem is not individual aid, but a systematic law-making and bringing these people back into the community. Another good argument for this is that the Secretariat had the exam-ples which show that children with disabilities graduated from universities merely be-cause they had someone to take them there.

In these difficult times, we must not forget those who need our help. Help of any kind, even a nice word or a smile, shows our humane-ness.

Ljiljana Maričić

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iNTEGRATioN oF MARGiNALiZED GRouPSOn the occasion of organizing a network of civil society organizations and relevant state authorities that deal with the problems of the marginalized groups, the Office for National Minorities of Belgrade and the Office for Human and Minority Rights of Serbia organized a panel discussion on "good practices in integration of marginalized groups ". The discussion was held at the Hall for education in the Health Center "Dr Milenko Marin", in Loznica.

Making an associationZoran Alimpić, Deputy

President in the municipality of Vračar, said that there was a series of meetings in diffe-rent locations in Serbia, with the aim of exchanging good practice between the non-go-vernmental sector, and abo-ve all, the organizations that deal with the minority rights and state institutions. “The ultimate goal is to create a network of offices in munici-palities and cities that would lead to unity and cooperati-on, which would solve the issues of integration, equality of rights and cooperation with international organizations. We need to hear different experiences, and in this way, build a network of contacts and knowledge, which is cu-rrently missing. Big problems cannot be solved without the people who have those pro-blems. The problem is that there are fewer funds alloca-ted for NGOs, and success is possible only if make an asso-ciation,” said Alimpić. He said that it is very important for all the local self-governments to have their Local Action

Plans finished, because they contribute a great deal to the efficiency of their work.

The position of RomaDragoljub Acković, Depu-

ty Director of the Office for Human and Minority Rights of the Republic of Serbia, talked

mainly about the position of the Roma minority in Serbia. He wanted to point out what this nation needs to have, and currently misses. Acković be-lieves that the most has been done in the area of improving the education of the Roma population. He also pointed

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out the warning data on the quality of life of Roma. “The educational profile of Roma is 14 times smaller than any other population in the country. People who suffer from pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases and tuberculosis are Roma, in most cases.” He stressed the im-portance of employment and improving the health situation of Roma, and he talked about the Roma settlements and their legalization.

The Roma in AP VojvodinaDuško Jovanović, Director of the Office for

Roma Inclusion, and Ninoslav Jovanović, the Roma coordinator in Inđija, presented the the-ir experiences and work on improving the si-tuation of Roma in Vojvodina. There are many positive examples and good models throu-ghout Vojvodina that can be used in other par-

ts of Serbia, as well. They stressed that the problems that the Roma face every day requi-re an organized and systematic response from the state and that there must not be any false promises or merely individual good examples.

The meeting was attended by representa-tives of the Centre for Social Work and the Health Centre in Loznica, Roma associations and other civic groups. Exchange of experien-ces, joint use of resources, training and new findings were the key words used at this mee-ting. Acquaintances and contacts that have been established at this meeting will serve to easier organization of all actors (both go-vernmental and non-governmental sector) which may affect the improvement of the po-sition of marginalized groups.

Representatives of NGO’s and Government institutions

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The aim of the meeting:

• Initiating the process of mutual respect, trust and necessity of commu-nication among all stakeholders in the community and a greater con-tribution, influence and a sense of responsibility for local and regional social processes.

• Exchange of experiences in the field of integration of marginalized citizens and the establishment of inter-sectoral support and coopera-tion.

• Creating a productive network of NGOs and state institutions in the implementation of projects of importance for improving the status and quality of marginalized groups.

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WHY iT iS iMPoRTANT To ENCouRAGE THE DEVELoPMENT oF FiNE MoToR SKiLLS iN EARLY CHiLD DEVELoPMENT

For a child to properly develop and learn new skills, love and support of its mother and father are key factors, i.e. the important

adults who take care of the child need to adequ-ately identify and respond to a child’s needs. When this is provided, then every day is full of challenges for the child, through which it learns and develops. There are so many new and unu-sual places, objects and phenomena for a child to explore, experience and understand. Trying to keep track of a one-year-old, sometimes we wonder if there is an end to its research activi-ties, and often, in accordance with that, getting in trouble.

In its exploratory dives, the most impor-tant role have the child’s senses. For example, in order for the brain to process the informati-on about the new items it encounters, the in-formation is received through the senses. The-refore, many objects that a child manipulates,

up to three years of age, end up in its mouth. In this way, it learns about the world, itself and its own abilities, but also about its relationship with adults, who usually oppose their researches of objects using the senses of taste and smell. Therefore, the sense of touch and exploring the objects with fingers is what the child is usually left with.

By using its hands, the child does not only develop fine motor skills and acquire new skills from an early age, but also stimulates brain de-velopment. By activating the sense of touch, by making coarse and fine finger movements, the development of synapses in the brain is encou-raged, i.e. the creation of new neural connec-tions. Modern researches have shown that early stimulation of child development, among other things, includes the development of fine motor skills that later influence its success in school. In the past, a child’s brain was perceived as somet-

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hing static and unchanging and largely genetically determined. Today, however, experts see the bra-in as an extremely dynamic organ, with fantastic dispositions for development that “feeds” off sti-muli and experience, and creates the “turbulent branching of the intertwined neuron forests” (Ma-gic Trees of the Mind, M. Diamond and J. Hopson).

Activities for the development of fine motor skills in children activate the speech center, en-courage the eye-hand coordination, develop the attention, creativity, and even self-esteem, be-cause the more a child is successful at some acti-vities, the greater satisfaction it gets, as well as the encouragement for new researches. In order to encourage all this in children, it is useful to or-ganize games, such as tearing and crumpling pa-per, throwing balls into tiny holes, scissor cutting, pasting of stickers, games with dough, sand and other unstructured materials. Games of this kind develop child’s planning, experimentation, and verification of its own skills. Also, activities for developing fine motor skills have a great relaxing effect on a child, which is very important for its

development, especially in this era of hectic life-style. It is useful to choose the materials, which not only encourage the development of fine mo-tor skills, but also allow the child’s freedom and creativity in the process of creation and research, which is vital for acquiring new knowledge. Some-times, however, the very thought of the “mess” such games leave behind (for example, when fin-ger painting, playing with dough, clay, sand, rice, flour, etc.) usually causes discomfort, and often even parents’ resistance, and therefore they ea-sily give up organizing such activities at home. But, if we prepare ourselves in advance for the possibility that playing with dough might leave a few traces on the furniture, and protect the area from getting dirty before starting such activities, the joy that the child feels while playing will cer-tainly make you feel personal satisfaction in your role of a parent, but also greatly contribute to the child’s creative and intellectual development.

Katarina Majkić, a pedagogue The KNoW HoW Centre in Novi Sad

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JuBiLEE oF THE “ASSoCiATioN oF RoMA NoVi BEČEJ”Through series of activities, Association of Roma Novi Bečej, which promotes the history and talents of Roma women from Banat - our beneficiaries and activists, celebrated 15 years of active and continuous work on improving the position of Roma women and their children.

Celebrating 15 years from establishing

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Association of Roma Novi Bečej was established in 1999. Since then, we have been working actively on implementation of 47 projects and worked in 45 Roma settlements in Bečej, Zre-njanin, Kikinda, Novi Kneževac, Stari Bečej, Miloševo, Kumano and Boćar. 6,000 Roma women and 2,000 children went through our program. We are actively involved in the process of im-plementation of the Decade of Roma in Serbia. We are also actively working on gender sensi-tivity of the Decade of Roma, by advocating the adoption of gender sensitive action plans, in particular the adoption of local action plans for Roma women, both in our own and neighboring municipalities.

On 18th June 2015, we have carried out the following acti-

vities: exhibition of Roma folk costumes that we have obtained from the Roma wo-men from Banat and “Roma women afternoon,” a mu-sical-literary presentation of Roma women’s creativity (presentation of the book “Life of Roma Women in Ba-nat”, reading poetry of the activist and beneficiaries of the “Association of Roma Novi Bečej”). The exhibition of national costumes of Roma women in Banat was also a part multicultural weekend in Novi Bečej, and it lasted 7 days.

The activities in our center are divided into 6 groups:

• Psycho-social worksho-ps on the site with Roma wo-men, covering different areas of life and work;

• SOS phone in the mino-rity languages (Romani, Hun-garian and Romanian);

• Legal counseling cen-tre that gives free legal advi-ce to women who are victims of violence, but also repre-sents Roma and other mino-

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rity women in the court, on issues of domestic violence, institutional discrimination and racist attacks;

• Informative campaigns aimed at informing on impor-tant issues for Roma women and their family.

• Help to strengthen small women’s groups and or-ganizations and to encourage Roma women’s activism, pri-marily in Vojvodina, as well as coordinating the operati-on and development of Roma Women’s Network of Banat and membership in Roma Women’s Network of Serbia.

• Advocating and wor-king on the improvement of the institutional mechanisms for the improvement of the situation of Roma minority in Serbia, with special emphasis on the position of Roma wo-men. This group of activities includes advocacy activities at the local, provincial, nati-onal, European and internati-onal levels.

On this important date, we wanted to contribute to improving the visibility of the specific situation of Roma wo-men and Roma women’s acti-vism in Banat, which was, in my opinion, done successfully.

We were accompanied by representatives of local self-government, civil society and other public workers.

“Association of Roma Novi Bečej” celebrated 15 years of active work in the field of im-proving the position of Roma,

primarily Roma women, by providing them with protecti-on and legal assistance in ca-ses of domestic and intimate partner violence, enhancing Roma women’s activism in Ba-nat and their access to edu-cation and employment, and supporting the empowerment of Roma women of different

sexual orientation.Cocktails were served

at the “Tiski Cvet” Hotel. In addition to celebrating the Ju-bilee, all the activities aimed at raising the social visibility of Roma women and presen-ting their specific position.

Danica Jovanović

Exibition of the traditional Roma costumes

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SAY "No" To VioLENCE AGAiNST WoMENViolence against women is one of the biggest problems today. For this reason, in Bački Petrovac, on 23 June 2015, a representative of the association "Čiriklji" Danijela Mihajlović, presented the project "Stop the violence against Roma women", financially supported by the Provincial Secretariat for Economy, Employment and Gender Equality.

At the beginning of the event, Danijela Mihajlović presented statistical data on violence against women, which has,

unfortunately, escalated. She said that the analysis show that 78% of bullies are husban-

ds, ex-husbands or partners, 9% are sons, 4.2% are fathers, 2% are daughters and 1.6% are mothers or mothers-in-law, and that each month 2-4 women on average lose their life.

Violence includes: • Physical violence – includes slapping, hitting, pushing, kicking, pinching,

pulling hair, scratching, tripping, etc. • Psychological violence - when your partner is insulting, ridiculing, critici-

zing, accusing, or threatening you, when they go through your bag, call you names, etc.

• Economic violence - when they do not give you money for family necessiti-es, forbid you the access to family earnings, take your earnings or limit your spending, force you to leave your job, restrain you from getting education, etc.

• Sexual violence – an attempt or exercise of sexual activity against your will, forcing you to participate in sexual activities that you do not enjoy or that are demeaning to you. it includes rape, touching intimate body parts, for-cing to watch pornographic content and more.

• Disturbing your serenity – includes shouting, noise, driving you out of the house, hiding or throwing away your belongings, etc.

“There is no justification for bullies. The ones who should feel ashamed are not the vic-tims of violence, but the bullies. Do not believe the abuser who cries and says that it will never happen again, buys you flowers, takes you to re-staurants, etc. What happens in practice is that the woman who forgives the violence the first time, experiences violence again, and it beco-mes more frequent and even more brutal,” said Mihajlović. She further explains that what needs to be done in case of violence is to protect your-self by locking your room or running away from home. Then, you should call the police, on the phone number 192, or the number of duty ser-vice of your municipality and say your address.

A very important thing is to go to the doctor’s and ask for a certificate of injuries, which would later be used as evidence in court, if it comes to proceedings. In addition, if you are a victim of rape, it is very important for you not to take a shower, but go directly to the doctor’s, because of the evidence.

What makes the situation of Roma women even more complicated is the fact that the tradi-tions are followed, since there is still premature marriage and early childbearing. The results of this are: lack of education, poverty and unem-ployment. Other customs that are followed to this day are kidnapping or buying young women. These customs lead to the problem of violence

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against women, which is why such traditions should not be practised.

Slavica Denić, Assistant Secretary for Economy, Em-ployment and Gender Equality, said that construction of safe houses is planned in Vojvodi-na, in cooperation with “B92 Fund”. Unfortunately, violence against women is the reality. In the first five months, 26 women

were killed in Serbia, which is very alarming. In addition to major investments, the Se-cretariat supports the non-go-vernmental sector, and it even supported the project “Stop the violence against Roma wo-men.” It is mainly related to Roma women, because women who are victims of violence and who are in a state of hopele-ssness, most often live in fami-

lies of bad social and economic situation. That is why Roma women are recognized as addi-tionally endangered.

Duško Jovanović, Director of the Office for Roma Inclusi-on, emphasized the importan-ce of education when it comes to this issue. He said that thro-ugh the reform of education we have lost the educational com-ponent. “Come to any fifth gra-

In case of violence, you can contact: The police: by writing a denunciation or verbally submitting a statement to an official, The Center for Social Work: in person or by telephone, The Prosecutor’s Of-fice: by writing a crimi-nal complaint or ver-bally - for the record,The Court: criminal charges, private lawsuit or complaint, The Magistrates’ Court: for misdemea-nor Procedure Code.

You can verbally con-tact the National Office and Legal Aid in the municipality where you live. For psychological support and legal assis-tance, you can contact women’s organizations or SOS phone number.

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de class, and you will see that teachers’ biggest struggle is to maintain order in the classro-om. On the other hand, do not forget that we went through a period of war in our region, and the bombing period, which had left its effects on our families and the whole society”, expla-ined Jovanović. “A very impor-tant question is what needs to be done when a woman asks for

help, and I think this is where our society is in serious trou-ble. It is good that the first step was made - talking about the problem of violence. However, another problem is that when a woman goes to a safe house for a certain amount time, she gets psychological, but lacks econo-mic support. When a woman has economic independence, she does not have to tolerate

violence and this is where the state should help,” emphasized Jovanović.

Representative of the Cen-tre for Social Work, Biljana Dra-kulić, said that the Centre has a mobile team that is on call 24/7, ready for any interventi-on recognized as urgent. “Wo-men are often unable to re-cognize violence. There is the so-called “Honeymoon” phase,

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when a bully buys you gifts, ta-kes you to dinner, showers you with attention, having only one intention - to be able to con-trol the victim. The basis of the phenomenon of domestic vio-lence is the imbalance of power and the bully’s need to keep the victim under control. The moment a bully feels that the victim is pulling away and that someone is encouraging her, he

changes his behaviour in order to keep the victim and it is usu-ally during the “honeymoon” phase that the woman comes back to the abuser, thinking that he has changed, only to come back to the Centre after a few months, because the vi-olence has become even more brutal,” said Drakulić.

Representative of the Mi-nistry of Interior said that they

usually learn about the violen-ce from victims themselves, less frequently from the family members, and almost never from the neighbours, because they feel such situations are none of their business. When the victim decides to call for help, the patrol always goes on the site and assesses the situa-tion and, if necessary, the bully is reported to the station, for

Presentation about violence against women

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further investigation, and the prosecutor is informed about it. He is detained and within 48 hours he is to be brought befo-re a judge, authorizing his de-tention for 30 days, and after that, under a simplified pro-cedure, he is given a specific prison sentence. If that is not the case, the police and the Centre for Social Work agree to relocate the victim, along

with her children, and the cri-minal complaint is filed under a regular procedure and is given to the prosecutor. One of the main problems outlined by the police is that, by the time the patrol arrives to the site, the victim may forgives the violen-ce and defends the abuser from the police, which is very bad.

This project led us all to the conclusion that violence is

not a problem of an individual, but of a society in general, and that it can happen to anybody. Therefore, if you are a victim or a witness of violence, report it, in order to help yourself, the others and the entire society.

Ljiljana Maričić

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