OSCE Mission to Serbia fosters dialogue between civil society and parliament

BELGRADE, 7 April 2009 - Eleven non-governmental organizations presented advocacy initiatives today to the National Assembly in Belgrade in an event that formed part of a programme supported by the OSCE Mission to Serbia.

The programme aims to strengthen a co-operative political culture and to give civil society organisations the opportunity to discuss locally identified problems and proposed solutions with parliamentarians.

"Although considerable progress has been made in increasing accountability and transparency of democratic institutions in Serbia, opinion polls show that citizens' trust in politicians still needs to be improved," said Daiana Falloni, Governance Adviser at the OSCE Mission to Serbia. "This initiative aims to foster a constructive political dialogue between citizens and parliamentarians, and to increase the public's trust in their elected representatives."

Slavoljub Djordjevic, a representative of the NGO "Roma Information Center" in Kragujevac, used the event to call for the opening of local offices where citizens would be able to discuss their concerns with parliamentarians.

"This is of great importance for resolving some of the burning issues at the local level," he said. "It will also strengthen links with our representatives in the Parliament."

Other matters raised during the event, which was financed by the U.S. Government, included environmental protection, disabled people's rights and access rights of refugees. Best practices and ways to improve communication and co-operation between local and republican level were also discussed at the meeting.