OSCE Mission to Serbia supports marking of the International Tolerance Day

The First Regional Forum of South-Eastern European Equality Bodies’ was organized in Belgrade on 16 November 2016 to mark the International Tolerance Day.

The OSCE Mission to Serbia, in partnership with the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality of the Republic of Serbia, supported the Forum, which also included a ceremony for the Journalism Award for Tolerance.  

Forum participants, the equality body representatives from Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro, issued a joint statement defining their future co-operation, which will include regular meetings and thematic discussions, the exchange of good practices, and civil society networking. As a first step forward, a thematic discussion on discrimination in the labour market was held during the afternoon session of the Forum.

“This is the first meeting of equality body representatives from the region, aiming at reaching the challenging, but necessary ideal of ‘equality for all’. It takes place also thanks to the guidance by the Commissioner for Equality of Serbia,” said Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Andrea Orizio.  “It is important to strengthen the co-operation in the area of tolerance and non-discrimination. The OSCE Mission to Serbia is a strong supporter of activities in this domain and is ready to continue sharing expertise and best practices from the 57-participating states and to mobilize joint initiatives.”

As part of the Forum, the winners of the Annual Journalism Award for Tolerance were announced. The award, organized for the second year in a row, recognizes journalists for their best reports promoting tolerance and equality in three categories: print/online article, short radio/ TV report and longer radio/TV report.  The Journalism Award for Tolerance, supported by the Mission, was established in 2015 at the initiative of the Commissioner.

Participants in the event included some 200 representatives of equality bodies from the region, as well as of the media, civil society and academia.