Tillbaka till hemsidan
November
- GORNJI MILANOVAC: The soup-kitchen in Gornji Milanovac closed yesterday because it ran out of foodstuffs and funds, so the 120 beneficiaries are left without their only daily meal.
The soup-kitchen was set up 11 years ago and the number of beneficiaries varied between 120 and 230.
The president of Gornji Milanovac Municipality, Drazimir Marusic, says that the municipal budget is full of money and that a proposal was submitted a long time ago for financing the soup-kitchen with 1,66 million dinars but the final decision hasn't been made yet due to "political conflicts which have led to such situation that some social groups are literally starting to starve".
"Glas javnosti", 2. 11. 2006.
- SJENICA: It was minus 9 degrees in Sjenica yesterday. This small town has the same average annual temperature as Moscow.
"Glas javnosti", 2. 11. 2006.
- BUJANOVAC: Mile Kostic, the new owner of the "Integral" Company in Bujanovac who, according to some documentation, also owns the "Stara Ciglana" facility, has requested from the Commission for Refugees to move out the 63 internally displaced Serbs who were housed there after they had left Kosovo.
Sinisa Kovacevic, local commissioner for refugees, says the displaced Serbs will have to be moved to another collective center after the winter, unless "Integral" demands that it be done before.
Most of the people in "Stara Ciglana" have accepted such a solution, except for a couple of old people who would like to be moved to an old people's home, Kovacevic says.
He says the new owner of the "Integral" Company has come to his office several times and requested for the displaced Serbs to be thrown out of "Stara ciglana" but he has never produced any papers to prove his ownership of the facility. The ownership of Stara Ciglana will be determined in court. The next court hearing in the case "Integral" versus the Commission for Refugees is scheduled for November 16.
There are 1.600 internally displaced Serbs and 213 internally displaced Roma from Kosovo registered in Bujanovac, who are housed in 4 collective centers.
"Glas javnosti", 1. 11. 2006.
- CACAK: A recent joint research conducted by the local self-government in Cacak and the Social Work Center showed once again that the Roma are the most destitute ethnic and social community in Serbia. For the first time in more than 10 years, the research established the exact number of Roma on the territory of Cacak Municipality and a social chart was created to help with solving the social problems of the only ethnic community in Cacak Municipality.
Milorad Parezanovic, coordinator of the research, says that the results have arrived from all the local communities of the Municipality, except for three - the Sveti Sava local community where quite a large number of Roma live and the local communities of Mrcajevci and Zablace. According to the results, there are 101 Roma families currently living in Cacak Municipality, or a total of 416 members, of which only 37 are employed or receive pension, which means that only every 10th Roma has a job; 97 of the Roma in Cacak Municipality are preschool and school children.
Parezanovic says that the living conditions of the Roma are alarming. In most cases, they live in unhygienic housing units without water and electricity. Due to such living conditions, for example, several cases of hepatitis and scabies were reported in the local community of Sajmiste. "After we completed our research, we had a meeting with the representatives of the local self-government and the Social Work Center and we discussed the ways to help our fellow citizens because we mustn't let any of the inhabitants of Cacak Municipality to live in medieval living conditions at the beginning of 21st century", Parezanovic says.
"Danas", 2. 11. 2006.
According to the experts, death comes after three weeks of starvation. The mother had a stroke several months ago and she was paralyzed. Ivan had an ulcer which was bleeding but he couldn't afford any medicines. The doctors believe that the son died first and the mother then just waited immovable to die.
Their neighbors say they feel guilty but they had no idea that Ivan and his mother needed help. One of their neighbors, Jozef Braun, says that Ivan and his mother were very private people, they didn't socialize with anyone so their neighbors didn't know how difficult their situation was. He says that Ivan was a very good carpenter and electrician, but he had no formal school diploma so he worked for very small fees just so he could buy something to eat for his mother and himself.
"Glas javnosti", 3. 11. 2006.
- NOVI PAZAR: According to a research conducted by the Economy and Finances Department of Novi Pazar, the average monthly living costs for a family of four in Novi Pazar in September was 30.993 dinars and the average monthly salary was 44,68% of that amount - 13.958 dinars.
The September average salary in Novi Pazar was 62,7% lower than the average salary in Serbia which was 22.259 dinars.
"Glas javnosti", 3. 11. 2006.
- NOVI SAD: Vojvodina's Government has assigned a million dinars for the purchase of 25 kitchen stoves and 4 lawn mowers for the returnees to Croatia.
"Danas", 3. 11. 2006.
- PRISTINA: 56 people are infected with hepatitis A in the municipalities of Kacanik and Djeneral Jankovic in Kosovo, report the news media in Pristina.
Despite the warnings by the health authorities, the children in these settlements still drink the unclean water from the water system.
The experts of the Public Health Institute in Urosevac are in the field doing everything they can to advise the inhabitants of the two settlements of the ways to stop the epidemic from spreading.
"Danas", 3. 11. 2006.
The mayor of Subotica, Geza Kucera, has issued a statement about the case saying that what the president of the County Court Edit Der Seregelj said, who investigated the case, are incorrect because they are not based on facts, but on an arbitrary interpretation of the events. "Her comments are not facts, but her personal impressions. The official police statement doesn't confirm her statements. We think that in their desire for sensations, the news media have significantly contributed to the creation of a false image of the events, to blow them up and inflict moral damage to the local self-government. The death of the two people is a tragic event indeed, but at the same time, it is also a motive for a revision of the methods of administering aid to the most destitute persons and to improve their care, and the results of similar efforts would be much more efficient if we worked together on the solution of the problem and not against one another", says the mayor's statement.
Ljiljana Popovic, director of the Social Work Center, says that the Center didn't have a complete insight on the situation of the Vojnic Hajduk family, because due to the fact that the late Viktorija had a monthly pension of 9.332 dinars, she and her son couldn't be covered with the obligatory form of social welfare. Popovic says that their field teams network is functioning well and most socially vulnerable persons are covered, but the network should definitely be improved, in order to get a better insight on the situation of the most destitute social category.
Mihajlo Pece, director of the Red Cross in Subotica, says that the activities of the Red Cross, when it comes to the distribution of meals through soup-kitchens, decreased significantly when foreign donors withdrew, but around 320 or more meals are still distributed regularly thanks to the funds provided by the municipality and the donors. He has confirmed that Viktorija and Ivan Vojnic were put on the list of soup-kitchen beneficiaries for this season also, pointing out that their field teams never for a second lost sight of the situation of Ivan Vojnic and his mother.
The results of the autopsy, which would tell us more about what caused Viktorija and Ivan Vojnic's death, haven't come in yet, but the public has already accepted the version that the Vojnic family died of starvation.
"Danas", 9. 11. 2006.
- GNJILANE: Two days ago Dragan Antic of Serb nationality was beaten up while waiting in line outside the Reifeisen Bank in the center of Gnjilane. He is a mentally ill person, he lives in Pomes and he came to Gnjilane to pick up social welfare from the bank.
While waiting in line, which is only formed for Serbs because Albanians always have priority, Dragan Antic objected and one of the bank security guards attacked him. The guard was soon joined by several Albanian men, claim the eye witnesses. They punched and kicked Antic while he was lying on the pavement outside the bank, near the city theater. The Serbs who were there only watched in silence what was going on, fearing if they reacted reacted they might get beaten up, too.
There are around 50 Serbs living in Gnjilane close to the Saint Nikola orthodox church.
UNMIK has passed a regulation providing for each Kosovo's citizen who turns 63 and for persons unfit for work to receive social welfare of 40 euros a month.
"Glas javnosti", 9. 11. 2006.
- GORNJI MILANOVAC: The journalists of Gornji Milanovac have appealed to the public to support the continuation of the work of the local soup-kitchen. It has been calculated that it would be enough for each town's inhabitant to donate 3 dinars a month to finance the preparation of 120 daily meals for the most vulnerable citizens.
"Glas javnosti", 9. 11. 2006.
- GRACANICA: The Serb National Council of Kosovo has reported that the orthodox church in Kacanik has been demolished and uknown persons have tried to torch the front door of the church in Stimlje but a police patrol stopped them.
"Glas javnosti", 7. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: Srdjan Sajn, president of the Roma Party, said yesterday that in Serbia there are 203.000 Roma children aged up to 14, of which 60% are living in unbearable conditions and many eat food waste from garbage containers.
On his visit to the Roma in Zemun, on the occasion of the formation of the candidates list for the upcoming parliamentary election in Serbia, he said that the state must feed all the children in Serbia because lots of them are living on the verge of starvation. He pointed out that those who want Roma's votes must know how the children in Serbia live, "instead of competing who will be the first to find out the responsible for the tragic death of the two persons in Subotica".
"Glas javnosti", 6. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: Child allowance in September was 1.431 dinars per child. and it was 1.861 dinars for single parents and children with special needs. October allowance is to be paid this month and it will be increased, but no one knows by how much yet. The last time the child allowance was increased was in April.
Every child aged up to 19 has the right to child allowance, if at least one of its parents applies and if the parent is Serbia's citizen, has registered residence in Serbia and has the right to health care through the Health Care Institute of the Republic of Serbia.
"Glas javnosti", 6. 11. 2006.
- CACAK: Cacak Municipality has financed the purchase of 1.200 cubic meters of firewood for the 400 most vulnerable families; 700 cubic meters are already distributed and the remaining 500 cubic meters are to arrive in a couple of days.
The local Social Work Center is in charge of the distribution of the firewood. The director of the Center, Stana Marinkovic, says that the public assistance allowance (MOP) beneficiaries have the right to free firewood, but also any other socially vulnerable family who applies for help from the Social Work Center.
"Glas javnosti", 5. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: Although going to elementary school is mandatory in Serbia, still more than a million of Serbia's inhabitants don't have elementary education. More than 70% of the illiterate are persons aged over 65. The remaining 30% are much younger people who have abandoned school and the most numerous are Roma who abandon school at the age between 10-15.
Dusanka Vukovic, a pedagogue of the Social Work Center in Belgrade, says that there are children who don't go to school because their parents are going through a divorce so they often change places of residence and schools. "Some parents work and older children have to look after their younger brothers and sisters so they can't go to school. Still the largest percentage of the children who drop out of school are Roma children and the main reason is poverty. They lack basic living conditions, their parents can't afford to buy them books and clothes. The Center is trying through counselling to get the parents to realize that their children need to be included in the education process and we often help them financially. We give them one-time cash aid or help them obtain the documentation necessary for their children's enrollment in school - birth certificates, citizenship certificates... Apart from the Roma, we also get lots of IDPs who lack some of the required documentation for the enrollment of their children in school", Vukovic says.
"Glas javnosti", 5. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: It is estimated that around 600.000 people in Serbia are starving, i.e. according to the records of the World Bank, 9,1% of Serbia's population is living below the poverty line.
"Glas javnosti", 4. 11. 2006.
- KOSOVO: The internally displaced families who have returned to Kosovo and have no income, as well as the family members of missing and kidnapped persons, will be receiving regular monthly cash aid from now on - decided the Government of Serbia. As of this month, the returnee families in Kosovo will start to receive 4.500-9.000 dinars a month, and the members of the families of missing and kidnapped persons will receive monthly amount equal to the minimum monthly wage in Serbia which is 8.600 dinars.
"Blic", 7. 11. 2006.
- KOSJERIC: The construction of 10 apartments for refugees has started in Kosjeric. The project is financed by the European Reconstruction Agency and the Municipality has provided a location. The apartments are to be finished next May.
"Blic", 7. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: The Gorani Civic Initiative political organization has been founded recently in Serbia. The president is Cerim Dragas. The party has announced its first congress to be held in the Sava Center in Belgrade on November 19th, to decide which other political party the Gorani Civic Initiative will form a coalition with for the next parliamentary election.
"Danas", 4.-5. 11. 2006.
- SUBOTICA: According to the records of the Social Work Center in Subotica, the number of persons who need help in order to survive and who can't even provide basic necessities for themselves, has increased by around 20% from last year. There are 1.500 such families at the moment, i.e. it is the number of the MOP beneficiaries, but the actual number of destitute citizens is probably larger because for various reasons, a certain number of the poor can't get to the proper authority to have their difficult economic situation registered.
Among the MOP beneficiaries, the most numerous are unemployed persons of which 300 are unfit for work; there are also 6 pensioners and 5 socially vulnerable farmers.
The total number of unemployed persons in Subotica municipality is around 19.000 and there are around 30.000 pensioners. The average monthly pension is a little under 10.000 dinars.
A special category of vulnerable persons is children with special needs, the children whose both parents have died (there are 197 such children; their number has increased) and children without parental care (their number hasn't increased compared to last year).
NOVI PAZAR: The soup-kitchen in Novi Pazar opened 15 years ago. The Red Cross has been having problems supplying basic foodstuffs in the last 12 months so the project is constantly at risk of being closed.
"We have 700 beneficiaries and while we were receiving support from the donors, we prepared 500 meals from the donations and we provided the remaining 200 meals ourselves. Now all the meals depend on us. We can't count on the help from the Red Cross of Norway before the flour from Serbia's Govrenment arrives. The basic foodstuffs are currently provided by local donors and the municipality is providing the flour", says Ljiljana Kostic, secretary of the Red Cross of Novi Pazar.
The soup-kitchen of the Muslim humanitarian society of Merhamet was working until a year ago. Both soup-kitchens were preparing a total of 1.500 meals a day. Since the Merhamet soup-kitchen closed, the most destitute citizens have turned to the Red Cross soup-kitchen, so now the Red Cross has received more than 1.600 applications waiting for a positive decision to be granted the right to half a liter of cooked meal and half a loaf of bread per person per day.
The social situation in Novi Pazar is far from good. There are more than 20.000 unemployed persons; in September, 1.228 persons received some kind of public allowance from the Social Work Center.
The average net salary in Novi Pazar in September was 13.958 dinars which could only cover 44,68% of the average monthly living costs for a family of four members.
BELGRADE: According to the records of the Red Cross, 4,2% of Belgrade's population is destitute and around 7.000 persons get their only daily meal in the soup-kitchens.
The most vulnerable are the citizens with low education level, old persons, children, households with 5 or more members, refugees, Roma and disabled persons.
"Socially vulnerable citizens from all the 17 Belgrade municipalities will be getting free daily meals in 2007 as well - for this purpose 170.500.000 dinars are assigned from the city budget", said the mayor of Belgrade, Nenad Bogdanovic and added that the program will continue for as long as it is necessary.
ZRENJANIN: The soup-kitchen in Zrenjanin closed several years ago, although the town has a need for this form of aid. The situation is such, that free food would mean a lot, says Vesna Stankov, director of the local Social Work Center. The last time food aid was distributed was in 2004, when the municipality distributed aid in food and goods. Since then, the social welfare consists of the public assistance allowance (MOP), one-time aid in firewood, aid for handicapped persons and accommodation for old persons.
"Danas", 7. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: 53-year-old Milorad Sapic of Serb nationality has been shot in the head on the doorstep of his house in Letnica, when unknown persons opened fire at him from hunting weapons, reported the Coordination Center for Kosovo.
He was given first aid in the ambulance station in the nearby village of Vrbovac and then he was transferred to the hospital in Vranje.
Sapic moved to his father-in-law's house in Letnica on March 17th, 2004, when his own family house in Vitina was torched.
There are two Serb families living in Letnica today. Until 1999, the majority of the inhabitants were Croats, and today it is Albanians who have moved in from Macedonia.
Police investigation is underway.
"Glas javnosti", 10. 11. 2006.
- SARAJEVO: Reisu-l-ulema Mustafa Ceric, president of the Islam Religious Community of Bosnia&Herzegovina, has warned that "those who come to Bosnia&Herzegovina should know that the rules of the Islam Community reign here and who can accept it is welcome, and who cannot, he didn't have to come in the first place and, of course, doesn't have to stay either", FONET news agency reports.
Mustafa Ceric said this after the recent incidents between the vehabia and other believers in Novi Pazar, Radio Free Europe has reported.
"Glas javnosti", 10. 11. 2006.
- NOVI PAZAR: One of the major projects of the Bosniak National Council is the construction of the Center for Bosniak Studies in Tutin. The project will cost 10 million dinars and the Center will have a book store, a library, a TV studio and a cabinet for scientific projects.
Esad Dzudzevic, chairman of the Council's executive board, says that they are counting on 16 million dinars from the budget of the Republic of Serbia - 16% of the amount is to arrive from the Ministry of Culture and the rest from the municipal budgets of Novi Pazar, Sjenica, Tutin, Nova Varos, Priboj and Prijepolje.
"Glas javnosti", 10. 11. 2006.
- NOVI PAZAR: In Sandzak municipalities (six in Serbia and six in Montenegro), more than 500 people were infected with tuberculosis last year and since the beginning of this year 300 new tuberculosis patients have been registered.
Such an increasing trend in Sandzak when it comes to TB is caused by the ever growing gap between the rich and the poor, insufficient efforts on the early detection of the disease, deficiencies in diagnostics and treatment, but also inadequate medical infrastructure.
Most new patients are persons over 50.
Around 83% of the new patients are cured, the disease has returned in 9% of the patients and the treatment was unsuccessful in 2% of the patients.
The biggest problem when it comes to the early detection of the disease is that it is still considered a shame to have tuberculosis so patients don't go to a doctor until the disease weakens them completely.
"Glas javnosti",10. 11. 2006.
- PRISTINA: Steven Schuck, deputy chief of UNMIK, and Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku, have agreed that Kosovo Minister of Return, Slavisa Petkovic, should be replaced, reports the Pristina "Ekspres" daily in Albanian.
According to this newspaper's sources, the reason for Petkovic's replacement is abuse of the budget funds.
"Glas javnosti", 11. 11. 2006.
- KRALJEVO: IDPs from Kosovo whose properties are usurped by Albanians will have the opportunity to collect rent from the usurpers living in their houses and apartments or using their land in Kosovo, promised the representatives of the Human Resources Center and the Kosovo Property Agency.
The deadline for submitting applications is a month from now and Rade Ciric, coordinator of the Human Resources Center, warns IDPs not to give the original documents to anyone.
"Glas javnosti", 11. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: At yesterday's round table on the "Decentralization of Social Welfare" organized by the UNDP and the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policy, it was said that the local governments in Serbia don't assign enough funds for social welfare.
Lance Clark, UNDP coordinator for Serbia, said that less than 2% of the local budgets are assigned from social welfare.
Of the 167 Serbia's municipalities, more than 100 can't afford to provide adequate social welfare, Clark said.
The secretary of the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policy, Vladimir Ilic, said that there is still no definite answer to the question of how to enforce the local communities so they can enable the necessary social protection services to be accessible to all the beneficiaries.
The representatives of the municipal and state authorities, of various institutions and the NGO sector, also took part in the debate.
"Glas javnosti", 11. 11. 2006.
- VRANJE: Juvenile prostitution is flourishing in the south of Serbia. Vranje is one of the recruiting centers for girls aged 14-16. There is organized transportation by vans or special vehicles from various settlements in the south of Serbia to Gnjilane. Since all the girls are underage, they have false personal ID cards which they use to cross the Kosovo border. They are transported by Serbs to a location close to Gnjilane, where Albanians take over. They get a gram of heroin and 50 euros per night. They only get a break to have a cigarette. In the morning they are transported back home. Their clients are from young boys to old men over 60, says N.A. a friend from school of one of the few girls who has decided, with her parents' help, to break away from drugs and prostitution.
"Glas javnosti", 12. 11. 2006.
- NOVI PAZAR: A university has been founded in Novi Pazar, so now around 2.500 students from this municipality and the neighboring municipalities in Serbia and Montenegro are getting education in Novi Pazar.
"Danas", 13. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: The project of vaccination of Roma children in the Roma settlements in Belgrade's municipality of Palilula has started successfully. More than 70 children aged up to 5 were vaccinated yesterday.
"We are really pleasantly surprised by the turnout. The Roma living in the 'Deponija' settlement have taken seriously the importance of vaccination for their children", says Ljiljana Petrovic, a nurse and the coordinator of the program.
No one knows exactly how many Roma are living in the 'Deponija' settlement. Ljiljana Petrovic says there are 121 local Roma families and another 67 internally displaced Roma families from Kosovo. Free vaccinations will be administered every Wednesday until the end of November. Next month the children from the Roma settlements in the municipalities of Borca and Krnjaca will be vaccinated and their parents will be notified timely.
The "Dr Milutin Ivkovic" Health Center in Palilula pays lots of attention to the health care of the Roma population. In June a campaign was organized of promotion and improvement of health care for the Roma of the Jabucki Rit settlement. Around 120 Roma living in bad hygienic conditions were examined and it was determined that many of the children are incompletely vaccinated or not vaccinated at all, and that many of the adults suffer from chronic obstructive diseases.
"Danas", 13. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: Parliamentary election in Serbia will be held on January 21st, 2007.
"Danas", 11.-12. 11. 2006.
- NOVI SAD: The County Court of Novi Sad has found guilty the 15 members of the unregistered neo-Nazi organization of "Nacionalni stroj".
Goran Davidovic (born in 1975) from Novi Sad, the leader of the group who provoked an incident at an antifascist public debate at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad last year, is sentenced to a year imprisonment and Miodrag Stefanovic (born in 1985) from Odzake is sentenced to 6 months for inciting ethnic, racial and religious hatred and intolerance.
The rest are sentenced to 2-4 months imprisonment or to conditional punishments.
"Danas", 11. -12. 2006.
- KRALJEVO: The numerous Roma associations in the area of Kraljevo have been divided for years, and their differences and open conflicts have resulted in their difficult "access" to the funds from the municipal budget. Nearly all these Roma associations organize identical programs and they each claim to "have every right" to demand funds from the municipal budget. The municipal Social Department warned several times that the municipality would not finance the "whims" of the Roma leaders, but it didn't help.
So the president of Kraljevo Municipality, Dr Milos Babic, has organized a meeting of the representatives of all the local Roma associations and, after several hours of discussion, they came to an agreement to elect among themselves the members for the municipal Roma Community Council.
Zoran Petrovic of the "Ruka Prijateljstva" Roma association says he hopes that the most prominent Roma from the area of Kraljevo will be elected for the Council, and Slavko Markovic of the "Plavi Cvet" Roma association says that "everyone has to realize that our divisions damage the Roma themselves the most. Our divisions won't take us anywhere".
"Glas javnosti", 14. 11. 2006.
- PRISTINA: Around 15.000 Serbs in the municipalities of Pristina, Kosovo Polje and Lipljan were cut from electric supplies two days ago and it is unknown whey they will be reconnected because it depends on electric power surplus which is none for the moment.
"The power was turned off two days ago in the central power station in Pristina because we are classified in group C, i.e. the non payers group", said Ljubisa Bendic of the Electric Company of Serbia.
"Glas javnosti", 15. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: While on the one hand nearly 1,5 million people in Serbia are looking for a job or at least are registered as unemployed persons, on the other hand, the employers are having problems finding people to work for them. Everyone wants to work in an office, to have a company car and an extraordinary monthly salary, even though most unemployed persons don't have any extraordinary professional qualifications.
The unemployed are choosy when it comes to work, especially the officially unemployed shop assistants, construction workers, craftsmen, cooks, waiters, bakers etc. who work in the so-called gray zone and they make more money in the gray zone than they would earn if they had a regular employment, says Dragan Djukic, director of the Employment Sector of the National Employment Bureau.
So it is a big question whether the number of unemployed in Serbia is really around a million or half that figure, because some are only registered as unemployed persons so they can get benefits such as tax deductions, public assistance allowance (MOP), child allowance, health insurance..
The municipalities with the lowest average salary:
Svrljig - 6.640 dinars
Bela Palanka - 7.164 dinars
Lebane - 7.419 dinars
Bojnik - 7.826 dinars
Vlasotince - 7.958 dinars
Ivanjica - 8.564 dinars
Blace - 8.630 dinars
"Glas javnosti", 15. 11. 2006.
- VALJEVO: As part of the "Support for the Roma - the Solution for the Future" program, the small grants commission of the European Agency for Safety and Cooperation has granted funds to Valjevo Municipality for a project of including Roma children in preschool education. The project is worth 18.700 euros and it is aimed at creating the necessary preconditions for unimpeded schooling of Roma children.
The project will include the Roma settlements of Balacka, Grabovica, Dublje, Bair and the Local Community of "Nada Puric". The Roma Center for Democracy and the Roma Youth Association are in charge of implementing the project and the OSCE and Valjevo Municipality are their partners.
"Glas javnosti", 15. 11. 2006.
- KOSOVSKA MITROVICA: Unknown persons broke down the front door of the orthodox church in the village of Gojbulja near Vucitrn, they crashed all the inventory and took away the cross and some other things. The church was also robbed on April 16th.
There are 60 Serb homes in Gojbulja.
"Glas javnosti", 16. 11. 2006.
- NOVI SAD: Everything is prepared for the start of the implementation of the project "Improvement of the housing and socio-economic situation of the inhabitants of the Roma settlement in Opovo" in December, Vojvodina's government has annnounced.
"The project consists of renovation and reconstruction of the housing units in III Novo Naselje in Opovo where the majority population is Roma. The project also includes training for the Roma for various jobs and the construction of a center where they will be employed later. It has been found that more than 90 housing units in III Novo Naselje are inadequate and the project is aimed at their reconstruction in order to improve the living conditions for the Roma.
The project agreement was signed in September by the representatives of Vojvodina's Secretariat of Labor, Employment and Equality of Sexes and the Secretariat of Architecture, Urbanism and Construction, the Municipality of Opovo and the Roma Resource Center of the Ecumenic Humanitarian Organization.
"Danas", 16. 11. 2006.
- PRISTINA: So far 323 persons have been accused for taking part in the violent demonstrations in Kosovo in March 2004, reports the Pristina "Koha ditore" daily newspaper in Albanian.
"Glas javnosti", 17. 11. 2006.
- UZICE: The construction of 11 apartments for refugees and IDPs has started in Ceten near Cajetina. The project worth 17,5 million dinars is financed by Cajetina Municipality and the "European Perspective" NGO supported by the "Helenic AID" from Greece. The apartments are expected to be ready for occupancy by July 2007.
"Glas javnosti", 17. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: The average monthly salary in Serbia is a little over 20.000 dinars, the average pension is 13.440 dinars. At the beginning of this year, there were 2.029.000 employed persons and 999.000 unemployed persons, mostly young people aged 25-35.
"Glas javnosti", 18. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: The Government has recently granted 20 million dinars for the continuation of the soup-kitchen program, which means that free meals for the most vulnerable citizens in Bujanovac will not start before January 2007. According to Bratislav Lazarevic, secretary of the local Red Cross, the reason for such a long wait is the preparation and purchase of the food for the soup-kitchen has to be put up for tender.
The soup-kitchens had to be closed in September, because this year the Government had granted funds for only 3 months so the year 2006 is the first year when the soup-kitchen program lasted only 3 months - from June to September. Previous years the program lasted 6 months in all the soup-kitchens in Serbia.
"It is common for the soup-kitchens to be open during the winter, because it is much easier for everyone to get by during the summer, when the food is the cheapest, and the socially vulnerable need help during the winter the most. When the soup-kitchen program was cut off in Septbember, none of the 600 beneficiaries protested. But people come to us constantly to ask when the program will start again, because even the one daily meal from the soup-kitchen means a lot to some people", Lazarevic said.
According to him, there are many pensioners among the soup-kitchen beneficiaries in Bujanovac, and even whole families literally survive on the food they get from the soup-kitchen.
A commission of three members decides who gets the right to a free daily meal from the local soup-kitchen - a representative of the local self-government proposes 80% of the potential beneficiaries, a representative of the local Social Work Center proposes 10% and a representative of the local Red Cross proposes the remaining 10%.
Everyone hopes to get a free meal for New Year.
According to the Government's decision, the soup kitchens in Serbia will get flour, cooking oil, green peas, pasta, beans and vegetables. Some other foodstuffs will also be added to the menu thanks to the Norwegian Government who has decided to support the soup-kitchen program again, this time with 94.000 euros.
"Glas javnosti", 19. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: In Serbia around 1.500 people commit suicide every year. The suicide rate in Serbia is 18, only in Vojvodina it is 28,5. (The global suicide rate is 16, the European - 13.)
According to the Statistics Department of the Republic of Serbia, the persons who commit suicide are mostly men aged 40-50 or 70-80.
"Glas javnosti", 19. 11. 2006.
- VUKOVAR: During the recent exhumation in Zitnik (5 km from Gospic), 49 bodies were found of Serbs registered as missing persons, said Ruzica Spasic, president of the Vukovar Association of Missing and Kidnapped Persons. She said that they are all victims of the operation "Storm". What makes their identification difficult is that the bodies are in the final stage of decomposition and with no clothes whatsoever so it is even hard to determine their sex, Spasic said.
The cemetery in the Serb village of Zitnik had been neglected for years, covered in weed several meters tall. Spasic identified this cemetery back 1999 as a potential mass grave of Serbs and she reported the location to the competent state authorities. The authorities took 7 years to start the exhumation, which was carried out 10 days ago.
"While the state finances and provides maximum support for around a dozen Croat associations similar to ours, our association has to appeal every day for the basic technical support so we could keep working", Spasic says. She underlines that the only ones that help their association is the Sarajevo based International Commission on Missing Persons.
"Glas javnosti", 19. 11. 2006.
- KOSOVSKA KAMENICA: There was an explosion in the fifth-grade classroom in the "Trajko Peric" Elementary School in Ropotovo near Kosovska Kamenica yesterday morning, but none of the students and teachers were injured. It is believed that a bomb was placed in the firewood heating stove. The headmaster Gojko Ilic says that the blast took place at the moment the students and one of their teachers were about to enter the classroom.
"Blic", 22. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: There are several hundred organizations in Serbia dealing with the improvement of the situation of the poor, the refugees, IDPs, abandoned children and adults, but very few of them actually help those people. Serbia has 2.269 registered NGOs, of which 199 are humanitarian organizations, 290 are socio-humanitarian, 177 are human rights organizations and 53 are organizations dealing with refugees and IDPs; the Ministry of Social Issues which is charge of the NGO sector, has no information on the amount of aid that comes into Serbia through these organizations "because they are nongovernmental organizations and the aid doesn't go through us", says Jadranka Gvozdenovic of the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policy. "Our ministry directs the cooperation to our institutions, and the major foreign humanitarian organizations mostly realize their cooperation with our country through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs", says Gvozdenovic.
Serbia's municipality with the largest number of NGOs is the Belgrade municipality of Stari Grad (413), Novi Sad has 175 NGOs, Nis - 61, Uzice - 47.
"Glas javnosti", 20. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: In Serbia 12,7% of the children are poor, 25% of the refugees live below the poverty line and only 13% of the approximate 350.000 persons with disabilities have a job.
"Glas javnosti", 20. 11. 2006.
- GRACANICA: The Coordination Center for Kosovo promised aid in firewood for the 400 most vulnerable families in the enclaves in central Kosovo but it is not delivered yet. For many Kosovo's citizens, especially for the unemployed, the problem of heating is increasing every year. The humanitarian organizations, both the international and those based in Serbia, are less and less active in the Province.
The persons who get minimum wages from the state of Serbia (around 5.000 dinars) can only afford a little over a cubic meter of firewood, which is enough to heat one room for about a month. So many of them are in a dilemma whether to choose bread or heating.
Last winter the Coordination Center provided firewood only for the IDPs in collective centers (containers settlements), for the most destitute families and for the few returnees in the villages. The firewood was barely enough for two months.
"Glas javnosti", 20. 11. 2006.
- GORNJI MILANOVAC: After the local "GM Press" newspaper in Gornji Milanovac appealed to the public not to let any of the 120 soup-kitchen beneficiaries die of hunger, the local companies and private citizens have given enough donations for the soup-kitchen to open again. The donations are enough for the next 30 days. Then the local administration will take over the financing of the soup-kitchen.
"Danas", 20. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: According to the Ministry of Police, 164 traffic accidents took place in Serbia on Saturday, in which 3 persons died and 58 were slightly or severely injured.
"Blic", 20. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: According to Dr Milan Kovacevic, deputy director of the Statistics Department of the Republic of Serbia, as much as 1/4 of Serbia's population is in the poverty zone.
At the end of last year, 450.000-460.000 citizens (6,5% of the population) had the 10.000 dinars necessary for the basic monthly necessities, which is also a poverty line of a kind. If this line is only moved by 3.000 dinars, then 1/4 of Serbia's population is in the poverty zone.
"Blic", 20. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: One of the consequences of the abrupt process of social differentiation in the transitional Serbia is high poverty rate among children living in deprivation and without basic health and social insurance. According to the EU criteria, 1/3 of Serbia's two million children are living in poverty.
The fact that only two reporters were at the presentation of the results of a research on the situation of the children in Serbia, shows that not even the news media are too interested in this problem.
"I will tell you a story. A family with 4 children, the father works in the 'Cleanness' Public Utility as a street cleaner. The family lives below the poverty line. The father says 'we buy food for the children and my wife and I, we eat leftovers from garbage containers", said Dr Vuk Stambolovic, manager of the Insitute for Social Medicine in Belgrade.
"Danas", 21. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: The Government is to determine the general directions for the solution of the problem of the illegal Roma settlements in Serbia by mid January 2007 - this was said at the conference on "Consolidation and legalization of Roma settlements and housing" that started in Belgrade yesterday.
The director of the Human and Minority Rights Service, Petar Ladjevic, reminded that the Government had adopted the Action Plan for the housing of Roma in Serbia at the beginning of 2005, as well as the Action Plans for education, employment and health care for the Roma.
The secretary of the Ministry of Capital Investments, Milan Miljevic, announced that the Ministry plans to finance the construction of infrastructure in the Roma settlements in Serbia, in order to improve their quality of life.
The head of the Government's Secretariat for Roma National Strategy, Ljuan Koka, said that the Action Plan of the Serbian Government hadn't brought any results yet regarding the solution of the problem of the illegal Roma settlements. He said that according to some researches, there are between 600 and 1.000 Roma settlements in Serbia and that some of them are impossible to legalize, they need to be dislocated.
"Glas javnosti", 21. 11. 2006.
- NOVI SAD: Of the 277.878 unemployed persons in Vojvodina, as many as 20.000 are agricultural experts, announced Vojvodina's Secretariat of Labor, Employment and Equality of Sexes. In order to determine the employment possibilities for the unemployed agricultural experts, the Secretariat has organized a conference which is to be held in the Parliament of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina on November 23rd.
"Glas javnosti", 22. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: 51% of Serbia's population are smokers, 53% drink alcohol and 20% of the women use sedatives.
"Glas javnosti", 23. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: The Roma Renovation Movement has launched a campaign "Roma for Serbia" aimed at mass involvement of the Roma in the election campaign, the Movement has announced. The members of this political party, along with their coalition partners, will be promoting their political program in the Roma settlements, in the news media and in the official presentations across Serbia.
"Danas", 23. 11. 2006.
- SABAC: The OSCE will support the projects of the Roma associations aimed at the promotion of the equality of sexes among the Roma. The representatives of the OSCE Mission to Serbia have visited the Roma settlements in Drenovac and Culjkovic in Sabac municipality, as well as the suburb settlements of Trijangl and Kopljevic Mahala.
According to the official statistics, there are around 1.000 Roma living in Sabac municipality, but unofficial estimates are that the local Roma population is more than 10.000.
"Danas", 23. 11. 2006.
- JAGODINA: The Municipality of Jagodina has started the distribution of firewood for the 300 most vulnerable families. "160 Roma families will get firewood, and also the families whose income is below the national average in the Republic, families with 3 or more children and families with severely ill members unfit for work", said the head of the municipal Social Activities Department, Marinko Kiklic. "Given their situation, the Roma families will have the priority", Kiklic said. He pointed out that the amount of the firewood and the number of families are not strictly limited and "every day we have new families applying for the aid in firewood". This is the third year since the local administration in Jagodina provides free firewood for socially vulnerable families, free medicines, as well as school books for the children, Kiklic said.
"Danas", 23. 11. 2006.
- KRAGUJEVAC: According to the Statistics Depratment of the Republic of Serbia, the average salary in Kragujevac in October was 19.370 dinars or 2% less than September.
"Blic", 23. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: The Radio Television of Serbia has reported that according to recent statistics, 80.000 young people, mostly with academic education, left Serbia over the last 6 years. Also according to the official polls, 80% of the young people would like to leave Serbia.
"Glas javnosti", 24. 11. 2006.
- VRNJACKA BANJA: Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, president of the Coordination Center for Kosovo, said yesterday that according to UNMIK, only 5% of the displaced Serbs have returned to Kosovo.
"I have seen villages where only men live, and villages with only old people, and villages with inhabitants who are middle-aged or in their early 30s but there are no children", said Raskovic-Ivic at a seminar organized in Vrnjacka Banja for IDPs who participate in the work of the municipal administrations in Kosovo.
As reasons for such a small percentage of returnees, Raskovic-Ivic indicated the lack of safety, the lack of the freedom of movement, complicated administrative procedure and difficult economic situation.
"In the economic component, I also include the lack of access to employment for the returnees in Kosovo", she said and added that the Coordination Center has launched a number of projects for returnees to enable them to start their own small and medium-size companies.
It was said at the seminar that Serbia had assigned 15 million euros for the year 2007 for the construction of apartments in Kosovo to stimulate the return process to the Province.
The seminar was organized as part of the project "Support for the return and reintegration process for refugees and IDPs who are currently in Serbia". The European Union finances the project through the European Agency for Reconstruction and the UNHCR is cofinancing. The project is implemented by the Danish Refugee Council and some of the domestic NGOs.
"Glas javnosti", 24. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: The unemployment rate in Serbia is 28,18%; of the total number of unemployed (914.564) - 54,2% are women; 62% of the supported persons in Serbia are women.
"Glas javnosti", 24. 11. 2006.
- BELGRADE: The Roma Party has announced its participation in the parliamentary election in Serbia on January 27th, 2007.
"Blic", 24. 11. 2006.
- KRALJEVO: 250.000 dinars were raised yesterday at a donors' breakfast that the local Red Cross had organized in Kraljevo in order to raise funds for the soup-kitchen preparing 500 free meals for the most vulnerable citizens of Kraljevo.
"Blic", 24. 11. 2006.
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