Social Issues and Integrations
CULTURAL NEEDS OF THE YOUNG
A meeting on identifying problems with cultural needs of the young from the municipality of Bujanovac was held in Bujanovac on Tuesday, February 9, 2010. The meeting was organized as part of the project “Promotion of Cultural Needs and the Spirit of Tolerance among the Young of the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja”. The project is implemented by the “Center for Democracy and Development of South Serbia” NGO, which uses the funds received in an open competition of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja.
Participants in the meeting, who include young Albanians, Serbs and Roma, representatives of the municipality of Bujanovac, principals of the “Sveti Sava” and “Sezai Suroi” secondary schools, teachers and representatives of the civil sector, all agreed that there were a great many gifted young people and children in Bujanovac, but that they needed some encouragement in order to put their ideas into practice. It was concluded that there were far too few cultural and sporting events and that it was necessary for the grown-ups and schools to support the organizing of cultural and sporting events, in which young Albanians, Serbs and Roma would all together take part.
ADDITIONAL MEDICAL CARE AND SERVICES FOR 861 CITIZENS OF MEDVEDJA
In September 2009, Health Center Medvedja applied in the Coordination Body’s open competition with the project “Medical Assistance to and Care of the Persons with Special Needs and Vulnerable People”. The said open competition was announced as part of the Program for Distribution and Usage of the Funds for the Projects related to the Exercising and Promotion of Social and Minority Rights and Particular Qualities. The funds amounting to 1,356,500.00 dinars were approved to Medvedja, so that, in December 2009, it got an ambulance, the aim of which is the improvement of healthcare, follow-up and provision of additional medical care and services to particularly vulnerable groups of people.
„So far, the project enabled the provision of additional medical care and services, which included a complete medical examination of 861 persons with special needs and vulnerable people. In addition, we managed to do full laboratory tests (blood and biochemical tests) for 105 persons, as well as to prevent cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in case of 496 persons,” said Dragan Andjelkovic MD, who is in charge of organizing and managing project activities at the Medvedja Health Center.
The Coordination Body’s Office is going to continue following up the activities related to the projects funded by the tax payers’ financial resources, so that it could, along with its partners in the field, have an impact on improvement of the living standard of as many citizens of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja as possible.
YOUNG ALBANAINAS, SERBS AND ROMA TOGETHER AT A LECTURE IN BUJANOVAC
On Saturday, February 6, 2010, the Civil Resource Center from Bujanovac organized two lectures, which were part of the “The Young for the Young” project, which is funded by the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja. The first lecture was dedicated to volunteering, while the second one was on the harm that tobacco and tobacco smoke cause to people’s health.
11 girls and 11 boys, who are students of elementary and secondary schools, as well as university students, from these three municipalities, participated in a discussion with Jelena Ilic, a psychologist. The group was made up of Albanians, Serbs and Roma. On completion of the lecture, they couldn’t hide their satisfaction with the organization of the workshop and with the opportunity to associate with one another, exchange opinions and contact information, so that they could continue communicating with one another.
The Civil Resource Center organized a visit of mostly secondary school students to the local self-governmental administration office in Presevo. The visit was aimed at familiarizing the young with the way in which local self-governmental offices operate. Adrijana Berisa, the Coordinator of the Civil Resource Center, announced the opening of a youth club in Presevo.
MULTIETHNIC BASKETBALL SCHOOL IN BUJANOVAC
Yesterday, Rade Giorgijevski, President of the „Mini Basket Association of Serbia“ donated to the „Mladost“ sport centre in Bujanovac two auxiliary basket structures for mini basket and 20 balls. The above-mentioned equipment will be used by members of the basketball school for young children, where Serbian, Albanian and Roma children will be learning how to play basketball.
Attending the donation-giving event was Minister Milan Markovic, President of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja. He pointed out that the Coordination Body would support the activities of the children and the youth from different multiethnic communities in South Serbia this year, too. Minister Markovic pointed out that the multiethnic basketball school project was in compliance with the Coordination Body’s priorities and added that he would see that Bujanovac got a basketball club in the forthcoming years, where Albanians, Serbs and Roma would play basketball together. At the end of the donation-giving event, Minister Milan Markovic, President of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, threw a ball to members of the Serbian basketball club “BSK Junior” and Albanian basketball club “Elita”, who were to play a match against one another, and who, for this occasion, set up two ethnically mixed teams.
The Basketball Alliance of Serbia also provided six basketballs for the Bujanovac-based elementary schools “Branko Radicevic”, “Naim Fraseri” and “Muharem Kadriju” each.
TEXTBOOKS FOR FACULTIES IN MEDVEDJA
МЕDVEDJA – On January 21, 2010, Minister Milan Markovic, President of the Coordination Body, paid a visit to Medvedja, as well as to students of the departments of the Nis University’s Faculties of Law and Economics in Medvedja. On that occasion, Minister Milan Markovic delivered to the students textbooks in Albanian for the second semester of the school year. Minister Markovic talked with the students about their studies and the problems they had encountered during the first semester. Mr. Markovic anticipates that there would be around 500 students at the two faculty departments in four years’ time.
Nevena Petrusic, the Dean of the Nis Faculty of Economics, said that she was satisfied with how the departments operated and added that more assistance would be provided to development of faculty classes in Medvedja, and that more investments would be made in them.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE NEEDIEST
The Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja shall pay six million dinars in the accounts of the three municipalities by the end of the year. The said amount is to be utilized as one-off financial assistance provided to persons with special needs, single mothers and parentless children. The first portion of the funds, one million dinars for each of the three municipalities, is to be trasferred by mid-September, while each of the municipalities is to receive their second million in the last quarter of the year.
Prior to receiving the money, the municipalities are obliged to set up boards for allocation of the funds, while the Coordination Body’s Office is to have one representative in each of the boards. The boards shall announce a public competition and set up lists of the persons that are to get one-off financial assistance.
The Coordination Body decided to take this step upon realizing that the least developed municipalities suffer the most during a deep economic crisis, whereas the first to feel the consequences of such a crisis are the neediest residents of such municipalities.
The entire process, which is public and unbiased, is to be completed when the municipal boards submit the competition documentation and a decision on allocation of one-off financial assistance, based on which the Coordination Body’s Office is to pay in the municipalities’ accounts the money for providing assistance to the neediest.
MEETING OF THE WORKING GROUP FOR EDUCATION, CULTURE AND PROVIDING INFORMATION - June 24, 2009
A constitutive meeting of the Working Group for Education, Culture and Providing Information was held on June 24, 2009. The issues discussed at the meeting include the biggest problems of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja in the fields of education, culture, sports and providing information. Ms Tinde Kovac-Cerovic, Chairperson of the Working Group,who is State Secretary of the Ministry of Education , pointed out that even though National Councils, in principle, made decisions about the issues of education of minority communities, the Albanian National Council hadn’t yet been established, so that all problems of the three municipalities in the sphere of education would be solved by the Working Group.
Apart from Ms Tinde Kovac-Cerovic, the Working Group includes Nenad Djurdjevic, Director of the Coordination Body’s Office, Biljana Stojanovic from the Ministry of Education, Dragan Tomasevic, Head of Sports Office at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Dusica Zivkovic, Assistant Minister for the issue of protection of cultural heritage at the Ministry of Culture, Jasna Plavsic, a representative of the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, as well as representatives of the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja.
Also discussed at the meeting was preparation of a feasibility study for the opening of institutions of higher learning in Presevo and Bujanovac, which is of great importance for the future plans of the Coordination Body and the Ministry of Education.
PERFORMANCE OF THE “PECA AND A WOLF” MUSICAL FAIRYTALE IN BUJANOVAC AND MEDVEDJA - June 11, 2009
Upon excellent reaction to “Peter Pan,” the first children’s play that was, after a long period of time, performed for around 750 children in Bujanovac and Presevo, the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja organized the performance of “Peca and a Wolf” musical fairytale in Bujanovac and Presevo on June 11, with the aim of encouraging cultural and educational developments for the youngest. The fairytale was performed by a wind brass quintet of the Belgrade philharmonic orchestra.
In the opinion of the performers themselves, the reaction to the tour of the wind brass quintet of the Belgrade Philharmonic orchestra in Bujanovac and Presevo was extremely favorable. „One may once again establish that cultural policy for the young in Serbia must be clearly defined, as well as that classical music may be transferred to the context of today. First of all, I would like to praise the people of Medvedja, which we visited for the first time, particularly the people from the Tourist Organization of Medvedja, for the assistance and hospitability they provided to us. The children listened carefully to the “Pink Panther” thematic song, as well as to George Bizet’s Karmen, which provided them an introduction for Sergej Prokofjev’s fairytale, which deals with courage of a boy through music, and in which children should recognize themselves. One may easily conclude that the Coordination Body must continue working in that direction by bringing all kinds of artists to these three municipalities,” said Aleksandar Lazic, the leader of the “Behind the Scenes” theatrical company, after the performance in Bujanovac and Medvedja. He had firstly made a tour of Bujanovac and Presevo with the “Peter Pan” play, and he then took the children of Bujanovac and Medvedja through a special musical event.
Prior to the performance, Nenad Djurdjevic, Director of Coordination Body’s Office, said that two most important goals of the Coordination Body, apart from economic development, included work with the young and improvement of formal and non-formal education. “Children’s performances gather children together, educate them and are joy for them regardless of their ethnic background and that is why these performances are one of the methods that the Coordination Body relies on, for the purpose of instigating a better understanding and growing up of the children from all ethnic communities. Children aren’t burdened by politics and prejudices and we invest in them because they’re the future of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, as well as of Serbia.”
“Peca and a Wolf” is a musical fairytale that acquainted generations of children with the world of classical music, while it is aimed at developing children’s taste in music from early childhood days.
PETER PAN AND TINKLE BELL IN PRESEVO AND BUJANOVAC
While singing and dancing with actors and actresses, the pupils and teachers of Bujanovac elementary schools „Branko Radičević“and „Naim Fraseri“ watched with rapture „The Adventures of Peter Pan“ play, which the Novi Sad’s theatre troupe „On the Stage“ performed at a full community center’s hall in Bujanovac. Around 400 children loudly encouraged Peter Pan to fight against the “evil” Captain Hook. At the end of the performance, as the actors and actresses were about to leave the stage, they clapped enthusiastically.
The interest for the play was greater than the organizer had expected it, while the children’s joy and pleasure surprised even the actors and actresses that had taken them to a magical word of fairy tales. Bujanovac children sang songs, danced and experienced adventures of Peter Pan and Tinkle Bell together with actors and actresses. Following the end of the play, the children talked with actors and actresses for a long time, demanding from them some other plays, as well as some new adventures.
The play received the coverage of two local television stations, whose staff interviewed the children and thereupon broadcast their satisfaction with the play performed in Bujanovac.
A few hours later, “The Adventures of Peter Pan” was performed in Presevo, where around 350 children from the “Vuk Karadzic” elementary school watched the play with the same joy and children in Bujanovac had watched it. The children from Presevo, along with their teachers, asked actors and actresses to perform in Presevo once again, as well as to bring new stories and adventures to them. At the end of the play, the children wanted to find out more about their favorite heroes and heroines, showing a great interest for children’s theatre plays. Local television stations broadcast the performance and recorded the impressions of actors and actresses, as well as of the children and their teachers.
At the end of the play in Presevo, Aca Lazic, who plays the role of Peter Pan in the performance, said that he was extremely pleased with the chance that the theatre group was given to perform “The Adventures of Peter Pan” in Bujanovac and Presevo. He also said that he was satisfied with the children’s reaction and added that the children’s participation in the play showed the need for enhancing cultural activities in South Serbia. Mr. Lazic said that his theatre troupe was willing to continue its cooperation with the Coordination Body, with the aim of organizing projects and activities in the cultural field.
The performance of “The Adventures of Peter Pan” was organized by the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja. This is the first time that a children’s play was performed there over the past ten years. The performance was organized as part of the Coordination Body’s program for children and the youth.
The children’s interest and joy show most clearly the need for investing in the young The Coordination Body will continue to organize similar activities for children and the young in Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja.
ALBANIAN REPRESENTATIVES IN THE COORDINATION BODY AGAIN
BELGRADE, 27. March – The Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and President of the Government of Serbia Coordination Body for Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja Municipalities, Milan Markovic, Member of the Serbian Parliament, Riza Halimi, and the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ambassador Hans Ola Urstad, signed the Agreement on Principles of Reconstruction of the Coordination Body for Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja Municipalities.
In his statement, Milan Markovic, emphasized: „For all the leaders from South, for Riza Halimi and for myself, this is a huge opportunity to show that we trust in these principles, and it is the responsibility of all of us to implement what was signed, because that is what we owe to citizens of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja“. Markovic thanked all by saying „I truly thank all of those who assisted in making this Agreement possible. I would like to encourage all of the signatories by saying that we will succeed, because the success depends solely on us“.
The MP Riza Halimi expressed hope that this reconstruction of the Coordination Body will ensure that all the Government’s aims from 2001 are fulfilled, and those are economic development, integration of Albanians into Republic institutions, multiethnic local governments, peace and security in all the three municipalities.
The Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Hans Ola Urstad, underlined that the process which resulted in signing of this Agreement demanded a lot of sacrifices from all sides. „It was necessary that reason prevails and that’s what happened. This is a good start. OSCE will not stop here, but will continue to participate in the process of implementation of this Agreement, and it is especially important to us to see what will happen in the Working Groups“, concluded Urstad.
The President of the Coordination Body, Milan Markovic, MP Riza Halimi, Presidents of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja Municipalities, Nader Sadiku, Saip Kamberi and Slobodan Draskovic, President of the Municipal Assembly of Bujanovac, Jonuz Musliu, and Director of the Coordination Body, Nenad Djurdjevic, signed a Decision on Organization and Competencies of the Coordination Body.
The US Ambassador, Cameron Munter, as well as the representatives of the British Embassy in Belgrade were present at the signing ceremony. Participants also included the State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Slobodan Homen, Republic Ombudsperson, Sasa Jankovic, and Vice Presidents of the Coordination Body, Dusan Spasojevic, Dejan Jovanovic, and Sima Gazikalovic.
