Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and Nis City Council member Sasa Zivic spoke today at a reception at the City Hall with participants of the International Symposium “Living with Autism-from the perspective of the patient, parents and professionals” held in Nis. Mayor Bulatovic said that the local government will do everything in accordance with its capabilities to facilitate the social inclusion of people living with autism and participate together with the professionals in creating programmes that could help them achieve maximum individual progress. He pointed out that autism represented a condition that required greater care of society and all of us have to develop tolerance and raise awareness of the children, but also parents and the community in general about the need and importance of cultivating love, understanding and acceptance of diversity by providing support to those in need. Andy Shih who heads the association “Autism Speaks” pointed out that it community involvement was extremely important and the existence of high-quality multi-sectoral collaboration to ensure that people with autism may become members of the community who can contribute to its development. There are more than 500 people in Nis with diagnosed autism. Most of them are children. Their parents founded the association trying through its activities to improve their quality of life.

On the occasion of the International Go Tournament NIS OPEN 2017to be held on March 18th and 19th March in Nis honorary organizing committee met today at Nis City Hall. This tournament will mark 45 years since the founding of the first Go Club in Nis. The tournament will bring together more than 100 go masters in different categories and from several European countries. Nis City Council Member Branislav Kacar said on this occasion that City of Nis supported sports clubs and events that bring together participants from the country and from abroad.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic congratulated to all his fellow women citizens International Women’s Day. “The obligation of all of us who participate in the public life of the City of Nis, in decision-making processes and local policy creating is to create a society of equal opportunities for women and men. By what we are doing we will continue to affirm issues of social status of women and encourage activities that will continue to contribute to creating a society that gives everyone an equal chance. Today, all of us should be reminded that we need to ensure a better place in society for women and greater visibility in city management bodies. We have educated, valuable, dedicated and very brave women who must have the right to freedom of choice, equal working conditions and wages for the work they do, a life free of discrimination and violence, and the measure of success should not be gender but good ideas and hard work.”

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic accompanied by World Bank’s representatives and Novak Djokovic Foundation visited the primary school Milan Rakic to see the last phase of reconstruction and adaptation works being carried out in the old school building with the goal of opening the new kindergarten for over 100 boys and girls, 3-6 years old, from Medosevac and neighboring places. The Novak Djokovic Foundation provided funds in the amount of EUR 86,000 for the full reconstruction of the façade and interiors and equipping of the facility with modern furniture, didactic materials, books and toys, based on the project funding application the Foundation received during its 2015/2016 Call for New Projects.

The reason for the World Bank’s visit is the implementation of a new EUR 47 million Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Project in Serbia. The ECEC project will support an increase in preschool facilities and the availability of qualified teachers, and include measures to enhance access of vulnerable groups through a targeted grant scheme for participating municipalities. The Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care Project builds on the Early Wins for Lifelong Returns partnership to promote early childhood development that was launched by the World Bank and the Novak Djokovic Foundation in August 2015. This partnership combines the Bank’s deep knowledge and programs on ECD with the commitment of Serbian tennis champion Djokovic to bringing attention to the social and economic benefits of ECD programs for children around the world.

Despite the constant efforts the city authorities invest in order to provide best possible conditions for education and development of children attending preschools in Nis, this kind of help and support are always highly appreciated. We hope the construction works will be finished within the scheduled time-frame and that modern and fully equipped kindergarten for kids to learn, play and enjoy will very soon replace old, ruined and deserted facility – said Bulatovic.

The Faculty of Occupational Safety in Nis marked its 49^th anniversary.Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and Nis City Council Member Branislav Kacar attended the ceremony and congratulated the teachers and students on this significant jubilee. The Faculty of Occupational Safety is one of the 13 faculties of the University of Nis, which has been working successfully for almost half a century and which has so far educated many generations of engineers of health and safety and other related disciplines.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic with his associates visited the works on the reconstruction of the Health Care Center, the roof repairs, repair and replacement of waterproofing, repair of facades, replacement of worn-out carpentry and joinery, aluminum windows, refurbishing toilets, complete replacement of water and sewage installations, repair and servicing of air conditioning and landscaping are planned . “Thanks to the support of the Serbian government 106 million dinars will be invested in the reconstruction of the central building of the Health Care Center. I am convinced that the realization of this project would help achieve better energy efficiency, and therefore significant savings on energy costs and the employees will have better working conditions for providing adequate health services to patients, “as Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said. According to the director of Health Care Center Milorad Jerkan  theworks are proceeding according to plan, and they will be carried out in stages and will last 150 days. During this time the institution is operating at full capacity. The deadline for completion is July 7^th

On the occasion of Rare Disease Day the traditional event of posting messages of support on the improvised tree was organized at Shopping Center Forum with the intention to raise awareness about the challenges, hopes and needs of those living with rare diseases.

Founded in 2010, the National Organisation for Rare Diseases of Serbia is an umbrella organization bringing together different rare disease patient organisations. The main goals and activities are: representing rare disease patients and their problems, communicating with all of the stakeholders – Ministries of Health and Social Welfare, the Serbian NHIF, media, scientists, healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical industry representatives.

The Rare Disease Day 2017 theme was research. The Rare Disease Day slogan was ‘With research, possibilities are limitless’. It was an opportunity to call upon researchers, universities, students, companies, policy makers and clinicians to do more research and to make them aware of the importance of research for the rare disease community.

 Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic supported this event and wrote his message of support. “With this action we show humanity, but also the wish to, by our own example, raise awareness in others of solidarity with people affected by rare diseases. I will have the meeting with the representatives of the National Organisation for Rare Diseases of Serbia to discuss all aspects of institutional assistance that could be available to people suffering from rare diseases and I hope to find modalities to provide primarily psychological support to patients, ” said Mayor Bulatovic.

RS Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, together with the German Ambassador in Serbia Axel Dittmann, Mr. Ralf Maus Leoni Executive Vice-president, Mr. Clemens Sax, Managing Director of Leoni Serbia, Ms. Aleksandra Pesic, Deputy Director of Leoni Serbia and Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic laid the corner stone for construction of the third factory of company Leoni in Serbia, an investment worth €22 million, which will employ at least 2,200 people.

The Prime Minister said that the beginning of the work of the factory, which would produce cable systems for BMW, was expected in August. Vucic added that during the talks with the management of Leoni he said that the fourth factory should also be opened in Nisava District, and promised that this company will get better conditions by five per cent than before.
He said that company Leoni with 7,500 employees was becoming the largest employer in the manufacturing sector in Serbia, and underlined that he was very pleased that Nis is part of that and that old promise that the government would take care about Nis and that region was being fulfilled.

The company Leoni has a reliable partner in Serbia, a good cooperation with local and national authorities in the past and the good experience in doing business here for several years, which all led to the decision to build a third facility as Mr. Ralf Maus, Leoni Executive Vice-president, and Mr. Clemens Sax, Managing Director of Leoni Serbia said in their speeches on this occasion.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that the beginning of construction of Leoni factory in Nis was the great day for the city in which after a decade of economic stagnation the factories were being built again. He stressed the fact that Leoni received the building permit in less than 48 hours which showed that the local government is serious and supporting the economic policy of the Government of Serbia.

Japanese Ambassador to Serbia, His Excellency Juishi Takahara, visited the Nis. During his first visit to our city, Takahara met with the Mayor of Nis Darko Bulatovic, with whom he talked about intensifying cooperation. The mayor presented the projects with which the city intended to apply for support from the Embassy of Japan in our country. He thanked the Ambassador for the generous assistance that the Japanese people and Government of Japan provided to the citizens of Nis and Nis Health Care institutions, primarily in medical equipment. The Ambassador said that he was glad the citizens of Nis loved the Japanese culture and said that the cooperation would continue in many fields.

After the reception at the City Hall, the Ambassador and the Mayor visited the association Taka, which received a donation of the Government of Japan under the “grants in the field of culture” programme in the amount of 7 900 euros. Those funds were used to purchase 210 square meters of tatami workout mats for Aikido Club Dodjo in Nis.

The mayors, gathered at the fifth session of the Presidency of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, were addressed by the Minister Slavica Djukic Dejanovic and the delegation of the People’s Republic of China. On behalf of the Chinese delegation the members SCTM Presidency were greeted by Xie Yuan, the vice president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, one of the members of Republic of China delegation, which would, within a two-day visit to Serbia, have meetings with representatives of SCTM.

SCTM President and Mayor of Nis Darko Bulatovic stressed the importance of cooperation between Chinese and Serbian local governments and thanked the members of the Chinese delegation for a number of proposals on the modality of cooperation that could be realized in the near future. According to Mr. Bulatovic it is very important that good relations and cooperation between Serbia and China at the national level are duplicated at the local level.

The Minister without portfolio in the Government of Serbia Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic in charge of demographics and population policy took part in the work of the SCTM Presidency. She presented the future activities in the field of population policy in relation to the competencies and capabilities of local government, as well as cooperation with the SCTM in the area.