October 15^th, 2016

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and President of the Coordination Body for Gender Equality, Mrs. Zorana Mihajlovic, has said that one of the priorities of the Government of the Republic of Serbia is to reduce violence against women, as well as to increase their economic independence and employment.

At a panel discussion on Gender Equality held in the City of Nis Assembly, Mrs. Mihajlovic said that women in Serbia are paid approximately 30 to 40 percent less for the same job in comparison with men.

She also pointed out that women should be much more represented in social and political life, as well as in the highest state positions.

Deputy Prime Minister invited women to be unique such as men are, thus contributing to the creation of a modern Serbia.

The Coordination Body for Gender Equality was established on the proposal of the Serbian Prime Minister, Mr. Aleksandar Vucic, and in no European country such a body is set at such a high level, because it is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister, she noted.
Mrs. Mihajlovic commended the Mayor of the City Nis, Mr.  Darko Bulatovic, for his great support to gender equality, considering the fact that Nis has a Safe House of a regional character.

The Chairman of the Assembly of the City of Niš, Mr. Rade Rajkovic, pointed out that the City of Nis has a large number of women participating in politics and  that a lot of them are at important positions.
The director of the Safe House in Nis, Mrs. Sonja Šćekić stressed out that women suffer violence for a long time because of their economic dependence on men, and stated that the most difficult situation is when mothers who suffer violence from their adult children come to the Safe House.

October 15^th

“The goal of the city management is to revive the abandoned and devastated sports terrains on the location of Small Trench in the Fortress which used to be used for recreation by Nis citizens for more than a decade, and which are now in a very bad condition”, said Nis City Council Member for Sports Branislav Kacar who visited the location together with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Predrag Perunicic. This project City plans to realize in three phases. The first phase includes basketball courts with stands and dressing rooms; the second one is about the reconstruction of volleyball courts, while the third includes football field and athletic track. The goal of this project is to provide multifunctional sports facility that will activate and encourage all children and youth, as well as all other citizens of Nis, to engage in sports and recreational activities. At the same time, new terrains for recreation, preparatory and competitive activities would be provided for volleyball, handball, basketball, gymnastics and athletics. Perunicic and Kacar also visited the location in Brzi Brod where the construction of an athletic track with all the athletic battlefields is planned. State Secretary Perunicic promised that the competent ministry will do everything to give the city support for the implementation of the reconstruction project for this sports complex, in order for it to be put into operation. Perunicic emphasized that the ministry’s goal is to make recreational sport a mass activity.

October 15^th

RS Minister of Youth and Sports Vanja Udovicic, accompanied by Nis City Council Member for Sports Branislav Kacar visited the DELI Center for Creative Activity in Nis, an area that represents an example of good practice in the country and the region as a successful mechanism for employment of young people. For this project, the Ministry of Youth and Sports allocated 2.3 million RSD in 2015, within the Public Invitation for Financing and Co-financing Programs and Projects for Implementation of the Objectives of the National Youth Strategy. DELI Center project in Nis is being implemented by the Organization PROACTIVE. The aim of the project is to hire young people and open new companies through the initial support that DELI Center for Creative Activity provides through the organization of internships and education of practitioners, lectures and open doors of DELI Center as well as study visits of young people from Nis, Prokuplje and Krusevac. This Center allows young people to save and strengthen their business precisely through cost savings, but also to prepare them, through various types of support, for the upcoming challenges of managing it. Minister Udovicic said that we should influence the thinking of young people and give them confidence that they could start their business through the concept that was created here. A large number of young people use DELI space programs, more than 1,000 young people go through various programs and events a month, and there are 12 tenants who have founded their businesses, 3 interns and 4 employees in new companies. “What we did here in Nis with very few resources gave a huge result. At the general level in the world, if 20% of young people get out of these kinds of premises, it is considered a successful concept. Today, we have the situation that 50% of the young people who left DELI, after a year, founded their own companies and hired new young people and thus gave a clear message to young generations that life and future can be based in their villages and that they do not have to think about leaving their hometowns in order to succeed,”said Minister Udovicic.

October 15^th

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic spoke, in Nis, who wanted to present their problems to the PM directly. Prime Minister Vucic said that some problems could be resolved, some could not. He said that the citizens mostly complained about the difficulties in solving health, housing, economic problems. He added that all those in political offices were actually paid by citizens and that they were obliged to make responsible and honest decisions and that people valued work, diligence and dedication. Vucic announced that the practice of talking with citizens would continue. One of the citizens who talked with the Prime Minister was Marina Adamovic, a woman in wheelchair who has been collecting help for sick people for years in the center of Nis. She asked the prime minister to provide an improvised facility to protect her in winter and from hot weather. More than 1,200 citizens from Nis and the surrounding area have applied to talk with the Prime Minister, and Vucic met with more than 20 of them, mostly with those who have the most difficult problems. The Minister of Labor and Social Care Issues Aleksandar Vulin and Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic were also present at the talks.

October 15^th

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said today at the start of the meeting with the ambassadors of EU countries in Serbia that European future belonged not only to Belgrade and Novi Sad, but also to all other parts of Serbia. He expressed gratitude to all the embassies and in particular to the Head of Mission of the EU to Serbia Michael Davenport on attending a meeting with members of the government in Nis. According to Vucic, the City of Nis is one of the most important and largest cities in Serbia, and not only the center of five districts, but also of the south and southeast Serbia. We will do everything in our power so that the citizens of this part of Serbia are equaled with other parts of the country, Vucic said. The meeting of the Prime Minister and members of the government with the ambassadors of the EU countries was held in the Officers’ Club in Nis.