METHODOLOGY FOR ESTIMATING THE NUMBER OF INHABITANTS IN SOUTH SERBIA ADOPTED

12. June 2015.

Today, an agreement on the methodology for estimating the number of inhabitants of the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja was reached at the Palace of Serbia, based on which the estimate of the total number of inhabitants in the three municipalities in 2011 will be calculated. The estimate calculated by using this methodology will be further used instead of the invalid data from the 2011 census, thanks to which the problems with deciding on public policies that are based on those data would be solved.

The methodology was presented by a team of international experts hired by the US Embassy, the British Embassy and the EU Delegation in Belgrade. The meeting was chaired by the OSCE Mission to Serbia.

Representatives of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, representatives of the local self-governments of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, MPs from these municipalities and representatives of national minorities agreed with the presented methodology. At the end of the meeting, all the participants provided support to the international experts with bringing the methodology, which is based on international standards and principles, into line and with starting an assessment of the population of these tree municipalities in the next few weeks.

At the beginning of the meeting, Vice President of the Serbian Government underscored that the role of all the stakeholders in the evaluation process was extremely important and that the evaluation should contribute to improvements in the municipalities and to the quality of life of the citizens. The Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Peter Burkhard, the US Ambassador Michael Kirby, the UK Ambassador Mr. Keefe and the Deputy Head of the EU Delegation Oskar Benedict stressed the importance of willingness of the government to solve that problem in the most efficient and transparent manner, including the involvement of all interested parties.

Source: Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government