Ten selected students follow a six-month internship program at the governmental institutions

11. November 2011.

Belgrade – Milan Markovic, Minister of Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government and President of the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, received yesterday 10 young members of ethnic minorities at the Palace of Serbia and said that they would begin their six-month internship at four governmental institutions. In the presence of Thomas Moore, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, and David McFarlane, Deputy Head of the British Embassy in Serbia, Minister Markovic said that the said program was aimed at increasing active participation of members of the Roma, Bosniak and Albanian communities in the public life of Serbia and at their inclusion in the governmental institutions. He also said that the interns would have an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the public administration’s work at the institutions that are of the greatest importance for the achievement of collective rights of ethnic minorities. Minister Markovic added that the program was also aimed at encouraging young members of ethnic communities to apply for the jobs at the public administration of Serbia.

The internship program for young members of ethnic minorities in the governmental institutions of Serbia is a joint project of the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government and the OSCE Mission to Serbia, which was financially supported by the Embassy of Great Britain in Serbia

In addition to the Directorate for Human and Minority Rights, the ten selected students will do their internship programs at the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Culture, Media and Information Society and at the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja.

“Ten candidates were selected based on the interview with them and we expect that they would acquire new knowledge and skills that would help them to find jobs. Ethnic minorities should understand through concrete examples that the door is opened to them and that their help to society is welcome and expected”, said Minister Markovic. A course in Serbian will also be provided to members of the Albanian ethnic minority. Thomas Moore, a representative of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, welcomed and addressed the students from Vranje, Presevo, Bujanovac, Novi Pazar, Nis etc. He pointed out that Serbia’s diversities should be respected through such projects, too. The project is the resumption of the last year’s pilot project that was implemented by the OSCE Mission to Serbia, in which six Albanians participated, while this year’s open competition will be available to the Bosniaks and Roma, too.