OSCE Mission launches training course on minority issues for Serbian officials

BELGRADE, 19 May 2005 - The OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro today began a training course for Serbian government officials on integrating the aspirations and concerns of various minorities in Serbia in government policies on culture, education, media and labour.

Some 30 civil servants from the State Union Council of Ministers, Serbian government ministries and the Vojvodina Executive Council are taking part in the course.

National as well as international experts from Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia will share their experience in implementing international conventions and discuss best practices in the field, including the Decade of Roma Inclusion in neighbouring countries.

"The OSCE Mission has been helping the Serbian and Montenegrin governments strengthen the legal protection of minorities, as stipulated in international conventions which they have ratified," said Hannelore Valier, the Head of the Democratization Department of the OSCE Mission. "We are working with government officials to implement these policies so that it leads to a greater inclusion of minorities in all levels of government."

The course is based on the 1999 Lund Recommendations of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, which focused on the effective participation of national minorities in public life.

Training sessions will take place every week until 6 July.