Two-Day Visit of Interns to Novi Sad

9. March 2012.

Ten male and female interns of the Republic of Serbia institutions’ Internship Program for Members of Ethnic Minorities were on a study visit to Novi Sad on February 28 and 29, 2012. On the first day of the visit, they talked with Dragana Bozanic, Maja Brankovic – Djunic and Anita Beretic from the Provincial Secretariat for Labor, Employment and Gender Equality. They could see at the said institution how the provincial bodies improved the position of women in society, mostly in the spheres of their employment and prevention of domestic violence. The meeting was followed by a tour of Novi Sad, which made it possible for interns to see the city from “the perspective of women”. They strolled along the streets situated in the parts of the city the development of which resulted from women’s impact.

In the afternoon hours of the day, the interns got to know scholarship holders of the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja that are studying at Novi Sad University’s faculties. While talking with their coevals, they learned about the additional efforts that the Republican bodies were putting into the improvement of education of ethnic minorities in South Serbia’s multi-ethnic municipalities.

The interns spent the following day of the visit talking to employees of the Provincial Secretariat for Education, Administration and National Communities, where they had the opportunity to learn more about the initiatives taken for the education of ethnic communities, and in particular about the projects supporting Roma secondary-school students.

The last meeting of the interns took place at the Provincial Ombudsman’s office, where they talked about the rights of national communities and about the measures taken for marginalized groups, primarily of those for children.
The visit to Novi Sad contributed to the interns’ acquiring of new experiences and knowledge in the field of protection and improvement of the position of women, children and minority communities, as well as in the field of their education. By working in the governmental institutions, they acquire the necessary experiences and knowledge, which they will subsequently be able to apply. Numerous training courses were organized for them, so that they could develop new skills, too. The Internship Program is implemented by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government, while it is supported by the British Embassy in Serbia.