We aren’t the same – but we are still alike. You are you. I am I. If we were together, we could be the world.

Secondary-school children, who are Albanians, Serbs and Roma from Bujanovac and Presevo, are the authors of and actors/actresses in a theater performance “You and I are We”.  The premiere of the said theater performance is taking place at the Community Center in Bujanovac at 5pm on December 2, 2009. Fourteen persons have written the text of the performance, which deals with their lives and in which they presented their attitudes. The schoolchildren perform the play in their own languages, as well as in English. This exceptional workshop for actors/actresses is funded by the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja.

The Ministry of Education, with the assistance of the Leskovac School Authority, organized the passing of teacher exams or of license exams of the Albanian teachers in Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, who awaited the exam for thirteen years.

The Agreement on the Implementation of Projects, the value of which is 7.9 million dollars, in 13 cities of the central and southern Serbia, is going to be signed in Bujanovac today. The signing of the Agreement on Implementation of the Joint Program of the UN Agencies in Serbia and the Serbian Government will be attended by Milan Markovic, Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and President of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja.

Saip Kamberi, the mayor of Bujanovac, said that he expected the evaluation of the conditions for obtaining the certificate of being a municipality with favorable business environment would be completed by next June, which would provide the conditions in Bujanovac for a faster economic development. He said that in the coming period, the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED), along with the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development, would be evaluating the quality of the environment for conducting business operations, investment possibilities and the initiative for attracting investments, which are the preconditions for getting the certificate.

The Office of the Protector of Citizens or of the Republican Ombudsman will be opened in Bujanovac in December 2009. The opening of the office is going to contribute to an increased trust of citizens in the governmental institutions, as well as to respect of human and minority rights in the region. Two persons are going to get employed in the first Ombudsman’s office that is to be opened outside Belgrade.

Bujanovac is one of a few cities where the People’s Office of the President of the Republic, the Raiffaisen Bank and the Radio Television of Serbia, which are responsible for running the „Teleton“ activity, are going to purchase the equipment for the gym of the „Branko Radicevic“ elementary school.

Yesterday, nineteen municipalities signed in Indjija an Agreement on Starting the Process of Getting a Certificate of Being a Municipality with a Favorable Business Environment. This document is important because it should provide a guarantee to businessmen and potential investors that they would receive services and information that facilitate the conducting of business operations. Out of 53 local self – governments that applied, Sabac, Medvedja, Bujanovac, Nis, Pirot, Smederevo, Zrenjanin, Pancevo, Krusevac, Lapovo, Kocevlja, Stara Pazova, Sombor, Zajecar, Sremska Mitrovica, Cacak, Valjevo and Ruma entered the program.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was yesterday signed by Italian companies „Ikaro“ and „Kozvik“ on the one side, and by the Leskovac Chamber of  Commerce  and the municipalities of Vranje, Bujanovac and Medvedja  on the other, should lead to making investments in renewable sources of energy through the use of thermal water springs in Vranjska, Bujanovacka and Sijarinska Spas.

The Serbian President Boris Tadic and Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac opened yesterday the „Jug“(South) military base near Bujanovac. They both pointed out that the base would be a key stability factor in that part of Serbia, as well as that it had the development potential, since one thousand professional members of the Army would get employed there.

The Novi Sad – based Center for Regionalism presented yesterday the Guidelines for Improved Achievement of Minosrity Rights at the regional level. Aleksandar Popov, Director of the Center, said that the goal of the guidelines was to present regulations on the work of local self- governments, as well as those on the position of minorities,  to representatives of local authorities and minority communities. He said that the Guidelines would, in 2010, be distributed  to and promoted in all 68 multi-ethnic local self-governments in Serbia.