A modern and well-functioning human resource management system at local level is essential to ensure good governance and efficient service delivery to citizens, and this aspect is also enshrined in the 12 principles of good democratic governance.

On September 21, 2021, a conference on “Personnel Management in Local Self-Government” was held in Belgrade, organized by the Joint Program of the European Union – Council of Europe “Personnel Management in Local Self-Government – Phase 2”, carried out by the Competence Center for Good Governance.

The aim of the conference was to present the most important results and recommendations from the analyzes of the program after the implementation of the municipal support packages (MSP) in 50 municipal self-governments as well as the upcoming reform measures in the area of ​​personnel management.

Jasmina Benmansur, Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, said that great success has been achieved in introducing modern tools for human resource management, capacity building and professional development in all cities and towns. “Professional development requires a strategic approach, and we will stick to this goal in line with the strategy for administrative reform 2021-2030.”

“It is necessary to have the right people in the right place at the right time, people who are motivated, ready and qualified for their job. Without these conditions we cannot have an efficient public administration. That is why professionalization and performance-oriented recruitment are at the center of our activities ”, so Martin Klaucke, Head of Operation II at the Delegation of the European Union in the Republic of Serbia.

orđe Staničić, General Secretary of the Standing Conference of Cities and Towns, indicated that local government staff are ready to develop their skills in this area and to understand the importance of professional development and good human resource management.

“We are experiencing enormous energy that has been invested in the establishment and expansion of personnel management systems at the local level, and this type of support can be exemplary for some other support areas,” emphasized Staničić. He also said that the management of the local self-government must be able to assess the improvement of the administration, ie the level of knowledge and competence of the employees.

Nadia uk, Deputy Head of Mission of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, stressed that local self-government is the engine of the development of every country and one of the most important indicators of the decentralization of public administrations. “That is why strong, competent and efficient local self-government is indispensable, this is the goal we want to achieve within the framework of the reform of the human resource management system for local employees in Serbia,” she added in her introductory speech.

The conference also provided an opportunity to highlight the importance of this program: The performance index in the field of human resource management in 50 local governments rose by 20 percent compared to the period before the program began. All participants agreed that given the complexities of modernizing the local civil service system as part of public administration reform, these types of support initiatives need to be continued.

The conference was attended by representatives from 22 local governments, who received online communication kits with a microphone, camera and headphones. The program team will distribute these communication kits to all local self-governments in the Republic of Serbia.

The program “Human Resource Management in Local Self-Government – Phase 2” is jointly funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Competence Center for Good Governance of the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and the Permanent Conference of cities and municipalities.

Neighbors, friends and relatives have only words of praise for the Đokić family. A good, honest, hardworking and honest family that does not deserve to live in such bad conditions. That is why the “Human Heart” Foundation from Sabac and the Markovic family decided to help them and make them a dream home.

There are no conditions

Djokic literally lives in one room and they all sleep together on one bed
Milan Markovic

This is not the first time that Milan Markovic and his wife Milena, who are the owners of the ethno-household “Mala Reka”, help people.
– Djokic literally lives in one room and they all sleep together on one bed. Worst of all, in that dilapidated, almost ruined house almost a century old, they don’t even have a bathroom – Milan tells us and adds:
– One day my phone rang, the director of “Human Heart” Ruzica Popovic, whom I have known for a long time, called me. She told me about the Đokić family, which they have been helping since 2014 by sending them food and clothes, about the inhumane conditions in which they live, poverty … And then suddenly she told me “Milan, let’s make them a house!” Soon after, we started construction. We have been working for a month now, we mostly receive the material as a gift from the local warehouses, and I must say that all the entrepreneurs I turned to for help and donation came out to meet us. Next week, God bless you, we will concrete the slab, and then we will have the interior work. There is still a lot of work to be done, but it is enough to see the smiles on their faces and forget all the difficulties.

Photo: Informer

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As he says, the boys Ivan and Nikola help the workers on the construction site.
– They are wonderful children! They are overjoyed that they will finally get their dream home, as they deserve. Not only will they now have a bathroom, which they are most looking forward to, but they will also get their own room. Their new home will be very nice and functional. Djokici will soon become the owners of a house of about 70 square meters, which will have two bedrooms and a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a bathroom. Of course, help is always welcome and I call on all people of good will to help this family that deserves it – Milan mentioned.

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University professor of constitutional law, Kadri Kryeziu, estimates that the Association of Serbian Municipalities, as provided in the agreement signed in Brussels is harmful and unconstitutional.

According to him, there are 21 articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo that are violated if the agreement signed six years ago is fully implemented.

Former judge of the Constitutional Court says in “Debate Plus” that AKS gives many rights to Serbs living in Kosovo, while violating the rights of other communities, reports Telegrafi

“The Constitutional Court, based on the request of President Jahjaga, has issued a judgment that has concluded that this agreement can be implemented with these remarks and recommendations. Which means that 21 articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo are violated if this is fully implemented, because human rights and freedoms are reduced. And in this context there are two fundamental issues. The first is that a one-national Serbian Association will be established, which is contrary to Article 3 of the Constitution. And the second is that AKS entitles Serbs to be an authorized party in the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo. This means that the Constitution must be changed “, said Kryeziu.

Kryeziu says that Serbs in Kosovo have rights that very few minorities in the world have.

There are few organisms on the planet that are as strange and as old as the sea crab known as the horseshoe crab.

The fact that they were on Earth before the dinosaurs, at a time when everything was big, could explain their structure – helmet-shaped armor that can grow up to 50 centimeters.

They use tides to move. They are anatomically closer to spiders than crabs and glow under ultraviolet light.

However, their superpower, ie. the only characteristic is that their blood, which is light blue, clots when exposed to harmful bacterial endotoxins, a feature that keeps them alive for about 450 million years.

Bacterial endotoxins cause inflammation and fever and can cause anaphylactic shock and death. They cause sexually transmitted diseases, bacterial meningitis, as well as cholera, bubonic plague and other diseases.

The cells of the defense forces of the crab-horseshoe organism in the blood of this animal immobilize the mentioned type of endotoxin, making them inert.

It is both a blessing and a curse, because when scientists discovered this amazing defense system in the 1960s, we started using it for ourselves, hunting these sea creatures for their blood to test drugs, needles and biomedical devices to make sure that they are not polluted.

Their blood is so useful that it has enabled scientists to create vaccines that help people fight various diseases from migraines to melanoma, and recently coronavirus. All this is the reason why man has inflicted a huge blow on the population of these sea creatures.

Although science has created a problem, it may be able to solve it.

New technologies have made an artificial version of the blood of these cancers available to detect endotoxins. The question around which spears are broken is whether that blood is good enough for all that the real blue blood of crabs is used for. While some companies have already switched to testing products with synthetic blood, others are waiting for confirmation that the substance is a safe replacement.

The discussion divided conservation scientists and a committee that decides on scientific standards in the pharmaceutical industry, which believes more studies are needed before a synthetic version of crab blood could be introduced.

Last summer, as the coronavirus infection rate continued to rise, a group of researchers from the pharmaceutical companies Bristol Myers Squib, Pfizer and the biotechnology company Rosh-Genentek published the results of a study comparing two products, one from crab blood and others of synthetic blood.

The findings, however, did not help calm the debate.

Pharmaceutical companies must somehow ensure that drugs and medical devices and endoprostheses, such as artificial joints, do not contain endotoxins.

If pharmaceutical companies continue to rely solely on the blood of sea crabs, the population of these animals will be in serious danger.

This is not the first time that this type of cancer has faced potential extinction. In the 1990s, fishermen decimated the horseshoe crab population along the east coast of the United States, using them as bait to catch eels.

Prior to that, scientists along the Delaware Bay were able to find an average of 45,000 horseshoe crab eggs per square meter in approximately five centimeters of sand. Since 1995, that number has varied between 5,000 and 10,000.

About 500,000 crabs are taken out of the water and collected from beaches along the Atlantic coast each year to provide the required amount of blood for the pharmaceutical industry.

The coronavirus further endangered blue blood crabs

The hunt for coronavirus vaccines has only heightened concerns about the survival of horseshoe crabs. In March 2020, 241 therapies were developed, including coronavirus vaccines. Today there are about 838.

“Every candidate for a drug, vaccine, clinical trial or ready-made solution for injection into the body must undergo testing. The water and raw materials used must also be tested. So, this is a huge increase considering how much the company is now working on vaccines and drugs for covid, “said Kevin Williams, a scientist who works for” bioMerieux “, a French multinational biotechnology company.

Even before the coronavirus, the demand for blue crab blood was already growing.

“As things stand now, the entire supply chain for testing endotoxin drugs is based on hunting a vulnerable or almost extinct sea creature,” Williams emphasized.

The salvation for crabs lies in artificial blood

The American horseshoe crab is not considered endangered, although it is classified as vulnerable.

However, it is feared that, if overfishing continues, the species will go the way of the Asian horseshoe crab, which is already extinct in Taiwan, and is disappearing in Hong Kong and China.

Competent bodies and scientists are committed to finding ways to switch from animal to artificial materials, but it is necessary to provide irrefutable evidence that the two products have the same effect.

Jessica Ponder, an analyst with regulatory research at the Committee of Physicians for Responsible Medicine, says that the American cancer population is not on the edge at the moment, but that one should not rely on an animal, especially one that can only be found in one country.

Kosovo Police, after investigations, has arrested today in Fushë Kosovë two suspects for trafficking in minors, for the purpose of sexual exploitation in exchange for money.

The suspects were interviewed in the presence of defense lawyers, on suspicion of having committed the criminal offense of trafficking in human beings, while the two juveniles were treated according to standard procedures and the same are under institutional protection.

After interviewing the suspects, two telephones were confiscated and with the decision of the Prosecutor of the case, one suspect was released in a regular procedure, while the other suspect was sent to the police detention center for 48 hours.

The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings requires states parties to take measures, taking into account their security and protection needs, to help victims in their physical, psychological and social recovery.

In Serbia, the monitoring work of the Group of Experts on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings shows persistent and significant gaps in the availability of assistance measures tailored to the needs of victims. These relief efforts typically include residential homes that provide temporary and safe shelter for victims of human trafficking who cannot or do not want to return to their families immediately.

A shelter to support victims of human trafficking has been opened in Serbia since February 2019. To support the animal shelter, a specially designed training course was organized in March as part of the joint Council of Europe / EU campaign on “Preventing and combating human trafficking in Serbia”. The training provided an opportunity to analyze a range of practical questions that can help staff resolve complex and urgent needs victims face after being trafficked.

The action “Preventing and combating human trafficking in Serbia” is part of the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II” – a joint program of the European Union and the Council of Europe. Its purpose is to support the beneficiaries in south-eastern Europe in complying with the standards of the Council of Europe and the acquis of the European Union, if necessary in the context of the enlargement process.

Following the success of the first online HELP (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) course on combating human trafficking, which was offered in Serbian in April 2020, an updated course for a new group of 30 students from the University of Belgrade was launched on Monday , April 12, 2021

The online course builds on the standards developed in the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and adapted to the Serbian legal and strategic framework. It includes presentations, interactive sessions led by tutor Professor Ivana Krstic, knowledge tests and exercises.

The head of the office of the Council of Europe in Belgrade, Mr Tobias Flessenkemper, welcomed the students and explained the role of the Council of Europe and the local partners who have been campaigning for the protection of human rights in Serbia for 20 years.

The online course is part of the comprehensive efforts of the Action “Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in Serbia” and its partners at national level to counteract this serious crime by raising awareness and building capacity among relevant stakeholders and actors, including legal practitioners.

The law students will examine various topics from a human rights perspective, e.g. B. what trafficking in human beings is in terms of international standards, how victims of human trafficking can be identified and supported, the rights of victims during the investigation and prosecution phase, including the non-punishment principle for crimes committed, including the victims’ right of access to justice and redress Compensation.

The online HELP course is organized within the framework of the Council of Europe joint program Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II – “Preventing and combating trafficking in human beings in Serbia” of the EU and the Council of Europe.

The protection of human rights, a democratic and inclusive society, guaranteed media and freedom of speech and an independent and strong judicial system must remain priorities of the Serbian authorities and their partners despite the challenging environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the continued efforts of the Serbian authorities to align with European standards and the substantial support of their partners – the European Union and the Council of Europe – the second phase of the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022” program will continue Problems in these areas as they adapt to current epidemiological circumstances. This has been underlined in today’s times second meeting of the beneficiary’s steering committee of the joint EU / CoE program.

Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Council of Europe office in Belgrade underlined an important role played by all beneficiary institutions, partners and civil society actors in the implementation of the program. “I would like to thank the Serbian authorities and the European Union for the excellent cooperation that has developed over the years. The Council of Europe office in Belgrade is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Thanks to the strong partnerships that have been built over the past two decades, we have continued to deliver tangible results despite the difficult environment over the past year, ”he concluded.

Jadranka Joksimović, Minister for European Integration of Serbiasaid that the reform of the rule of law is one of the most important issues for Serbia and its citizens. “The support program of the Council of Europe and the European Union provides the necessary expertise for reforming the judiciary and the rule of law, for combating trafficking in human beings and discrimination and protecting vulnerable groups, and for high standards when it comes to freedom of the media and freedom of speech Our European partners are striving for the common goal, namely the EU membership of Serbia as a democratic, sustainably developed and efficient state “, emphasized Joksimović.

Ambassador Sem Fabrizi, Head of the European Union Delegation to Serbia agreed that strengthening the rule of law and human rights is a priority for ensuring a better life for the citizens of Serbia. “The EU works with all relevant Serbian interest groups and international partners. Cooperation with the Council of Europe is extremely important, especially under the Horizontal Facility, to help develop better legislation, train more law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges and ensure better protection for crime victims, ”said Ambassador Fabrizi.

Pilar Morales, Head of Programs in the Office of the Directorate General for Programs of the Council of Europe reaffirmed the commitment of the Council of Europe together with the European Union to continue to support Serbia in its reform processes. “The flexibility of the Horizontal Facility allowed for concrete adaptation measures while respecting its main objective: helping the authorities to ensure better protection of the rights of Serbian citizens in line with European standards, especially in difficult times,” she concluded.

Gordana Čomić, Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue of Serbia Today more than ever, people need the ideas that laid the foundation for the Council of Europe. “Peace among people, dialogue, human rights and new solidarity are the only things that will lead us out of this global pandemic with more compassion and humanity and less injustice and inequality. We owe it to future generations, “she concluded.

“The Ministry of Justice has made significant progress on the reform agenda of the Republic of Serbia and has shown that the joint support of the Council of Europe and the European Union throughout the” Horizontal Facility “program in recent times is undeniably important on our way to full membership in the EU” said Jelena Deretić, Deputy Minister of Justice of SerbiaThis underlines some of the programme’s objectives in the area of ​​justice. “The EU / Council of Europe program addresses the deficiencies of the judiciary in Serbia in terms of ethics and integrity, undoubtedly provides support in strengthening the rule of law and creates a solid basis for further improvement of the Serbian legal framework,” concluded Popović.

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The joint program “Horizontal Facility II” of the European Union and the Council of Europe was set up as a cooperation initiative to help beneficiaries in the Western Balkans and Turkey to comply with European standards.

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the implementation of the activities, remarkable results were achieved in the second year of implementation.

In the area of Strengthen the independence and accountability of the judiciaryImportant work has been done to prevent undue influence on individual judges and the judiciary as a whole. Given that the use of digital space has increased significantly during the pandemic, the program has also initiated the development of guidelines for the ethical use of social networks for judges and prosecutors. The process of enforcement of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Serbia has been improved through this program, and the first draft of the strategy for further developing the system of criminal sanctions enforcement 2021-2027 has been prepared. This document pays particular attention to the protection of vulnerable groups such as minors, women, the elderly and people with intellectual disabilities.

When it comes to them Freedom of expression and mediaA significant contribution has been made to train judges, prosecutors, lawyers and police officers and to strengthen their ability to protect and guarantee freedom of expression and the media in accordance with European standards, with a special focus on the safety of journalists. Important work also addressed media accessibility for people with disabilities, media literacy and pluralism.

The initiatives in Combating Discrimination This included promoting diversity and equality in Serbia by assisting the Commissioner for Protection of Equality in monitoring hate speech in the media and providing expertise to strengthen the ability of local authorities to incorporate LGBTI rights into their policies and statutes . With regard to preventing and combating trafficking in human beings in Serbia, the program helped train various professional groups (judges, prosecutors, law students, labor inspectors, educational advisors) and strengthen their ability to recognize human trafficking, provide assistance and protect victims. To ensure quality education for all, the program focused on training educators from all 60 Serbian schools participating in the program, as well as exchanges between students from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.

As part of the 70th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights, the office of the Council of Europe in Belgrade and the office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Belgrade organized an online panel discussion on environmental disputes and human rights in Serbia on March 10, 2021, which was attended by over 80 participants. The event was preceded by an expert discussion for legal professionals organized in September 2020 as part of the action “Strengthening effective legal remedies against human rights abuses in Serbia”, carried out under the joint program “Horizontal Facility for the European Union and the Council of Europe” became Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022 “.

While the right to a healthy environment is not explicitly set out in the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled over 300 cases related to environmental protection to date. However, only one of these cases was filed by a Serbian citizen. In this discussion, the underlying reasons were assessed and the path taken by human rights protection mechanisms to raise the profile of environmental protection cases before Serbian courts was examined.

Natalia Kobylarz, Senior Attorney in the Register of the European Court of Human Rights, presented the relevant environmental case law of the European Court of Human Rights and highlighted cases of environmental concerns that are most relevant to the Serbian context. In particular, she stressed that the Court of Justice has given increasing priority to cases related to the environment and climate change. The following panelists, Nebojša Zelenović, former Mayor of Šabac, and Jovan Rajić, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Institute for Renewable Energy and Environment, presented the challenges they faced in pursuing environmental protection in their respective fields.

This event took place at a time when the issue of environmental protection is becoming more and more important in the public debate in Serbia and in Europe in general. The panellists agreed that the human rights path to environmental protection has advantages that have not been fully exploited in the Serbian context. They expressed the hope that the panellists would raise their awareness of the overlap between the environment and human rights in order to transfer these findings into their work despite the outstanding challenges.

The recording of the discussion is available on the website Facebook pages of the Council of Europe office in Belgrade

and from Heinrich Böll Foundation office in Belgrade.

50 trainees of the 10th generation of the Justice Academy of the Republic of Serbia have started the HELP course (human rights education for members of the legal professions) to introduce the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights. This year, the course was listed as compulsory as part of the Judicial Academy’s annual program for initial education. Young lawyers from Serbia are the first group to attend the updated version of the HELP course, which started on March 31, 2020.

The course is carried out in cooperation with the Judicial Academy of the Republic of Serbia and HELP in the Western Balkans as part of the European Union and Council action “Strengthening effective legal remedies against human rights violations in Serbia” Joint European program “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2020 “.

In the coming period, the course participants will have the opportunity to broaden their knowledge, among other things, of the structure and interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights, the functioning of the European Court of Human Rights and the duration of the application submitted to the European Court of Justice, as well as the process of enforcing the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.