Serbian lawmakers on Saturday approved a long-awaited law that aims to shed light on the fate of hundreds of children whose parents fear might have been stolen from birth clinics throughout the Balkan country.

The bill passed on a 136-0 vote in the 250-member assembly. Two lawmakers abstained. The high number of absent lawmakers was unrelated to the bill, but an ongoing boycott of parliament sessions by opposition parties and other reasons.

The Balkan Policy Research Group (BPRG) and Kosovo – Serbia Advocacy Policy Group (KSPAG) is seeking the services of an external consultant(s) for the final evaluation of the “Promoting and Communicating Benefits of the Kosovo-Serbia EU Facilitated Dialogue” project funded by the European Union.

Document “Integrating the Western Balkans – Completing Future Europe” represents a set of recommendations by Serbian think tanks and civil society organizations specialized in European integration on how to effectively improve the EU enlargement framework. It is based on experience in monitoring, analyzing and participating in the EU accession process of Serbia and other Western Balkan countries.

On Friday, December 20, 2019, with the support of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights organized a conference “The Protector of Citizens in the Context of EU Integrations”, where a comprehensive study on the effectiveness of the institution of the Protector of Citizens, analysis of competencies of this institution, with particular reference to judicial competencies, as well as an analysis of the institutional framework of work and the position of local ombudsmen in the Republic of Serbia.

On Wednesday, October 16, 2019, the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights, gathered local ombudspersons in Kragujevac, as part of the project ”Protector of Citizens in the Context of European Integration“,  supported by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. The aim of the meeting was to share experiences related to the availability of information concerning the work of the Institution of the Protector of Citizens and local ombudspersons through a joint discussion.

Despite intense government and media stigmatisation, working together to protect the rights of citizens of Serbia, the House keeps sending the message that the civil sector is not divided.

The Kosovo and Serbia Civil Society Organizations have held a regular Consortium meeting discussing achievements of the implemented activities related to promoting and communicating the benefits of the technical agreements of the Pristina-Belgrade technical dialogue.

On Thursday, May 30, 2019, the Lawyers’ Committee for Human organized second training on Representing the rights of persons with disabilities in the procedures of deprivation and restitution of legal capacity in the premises of the House of Human Rights and Democracy in Belgrade.

On Tuesday, May 28, 2019, the attorney-at-law of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights Kristina Todorovic and Teodora Tomic held training on Representing the rights of persons with disabilities in the procedures of deprivation and restitution of legal capacity in the premises of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina. The training gathered experts who work in the Center for Social Work and lawyers who represent persons in procedures where it should be decided on their legal capacity.

Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights attended the final conference of the RARE project “Change of Discourse, Change of Practice: Roma as a Human Resource” held in the Assembly of Vojvodina. Aside from the experiences of the Roma Inclusion Office and the Know How Center, their experiences also presented organizations and partner institutions from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania.