Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Action plans to help Serbs and other non-Albanian population in Kosovo-Metohija

Belgrade, 22 November 2007

Serbian Minister of Labour and Social Policy Rasim Ljajic said that at the government’s session held today it was agreed that all ministries design action plans to help Serbs and other non-Albanian population in Kosovo-Metohija in the event of a unilateral declaration of independence.

Rasim Ljajic

Ljajic told a press conference that agreement was reached that action plans should be submitted until the next session. He explained that the action plan of his ministry, among other elements, includes providing pension to Serbs and other non-Albanian population in the province.

He said that the fifth installment of the debt towards pensioners and social help for disadvantaged citizens worth a total of RSD 770 million will be paid on December 10 or 25.

Speaking on strikes by employees in judiciary and education, the Minister said that employees are above all dissatisfied over the amount of salaries, but he added that the state has serious limitations in that matter.

The agreement reached by Justice Minister Dusan Petrovic with representatives of judiciary trade unions gives a good direction for resolving problems, said Ljajic and pointed out that it is necessary to economise in state administration and other public services.

Ljajic said that the government at its session today adopted the report on the situation in homes for children and adults with special needs which states that the report made by the NGO Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI) on the situation in institutions for psychiatric care in Serbia is inaccurate, due to which a false impression was created about these institutions.

He stressed that it was proposed at the session that an international committee should be founded which would have access to all social welfare institutions in Serbia and inspect the situation.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the Ministry of Health established that according to the MDRI the number of people who use these services is 11,350. This figure is incorrect. The institutions have the capacity to house 5,927 people, and on November 20 there were 5,702 people accommodated in them, of which 1,143 were children, said Ljajic.

He stressed that the MDRI grossly violated the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, which does not allow publication of photographs of children without consent of parents or guardians.

According to Ljajic, these photographs do not reflect the conditions in institutions where children live, but rather show the state of the children’s health, since the coefficient of the children and adults photographed is from 20 to 30.

The Minister also said that the MDRI report is inaccurate in stating that children were extracted from their biological families and put in institutions. He explained that children were placed in homes at the request of their parents, and that this was the last resort, since the state first tries to place these children in adoptive or foster families.

The MDRI report is right to say that these institutions in Serbia are overbooked, overcrowded and understaffed. It is also a fact that hygienic conditions in certain institutions are regrettable, said Ljajic.

He said that the state will take concrete measures to improve the situation. These measures will include fast transformation of social welfare institutions and closing down of a few. The strategy for reform of the social system will be revised and development of alternative accommodation will be considered.

The Minister said that the state will allocate larger funds for these purposes in the future.

Nevena Karanovic

State Secretary at the Serbian Ministry of Health Nevena Karanovic presented a report which the government adopted at its session today and stressed that the inaccurate information contained in the MDRI report also includes that there are 46 psychiatric hospitals in Serbia, whereas the fact is there are only five such establishments and 46 departments for short term hospitalisation in municipal hospitals.

Karanovic said that the MDRI report incorrectly states that the Serbian government does not have a plan for preventing unnecessary hospitalisation of thousands of people with special needs since the government adopted a national strategy for developing mental health care on January 19, 2007.