Two years of reaching out to the people of Serbia

Now the outreach campaign has been such a success that it has become one of the Mission's major activities, with more than a dozen projects launched in the past year.

These include assistance in setting up a youth centre in Aleksandrovac and an NGO resource centre in the central town of Cacak. While such projects may be small, they can make a big difference to the lives of the inhabitants.

The Mission also uses the outreach campaign to highlight a series of ongoing OSCE projects in the municipalities. Thus, a visit to the eastern Serbian town of Knjazevac was used to officially launch Serbia's first Business Incubator Centre.

The launch of the Centre, which aims to assist the creation of small- and medium-sized enterprises, received nationwide coverage, prompting many calls from other municipalities for information on how to create their own such centres.

The outreach campaign has so far involved visits to more than 50 municipalities and meetings with over 500 members of local government, the judiciary, the police, NGOs and the media.

"Vital opportunity" to meet citizens

"For us, these visits are a vital opportunity to meet the people outside the capital," says the Head of the Mission to Serbia and Montenegro, Ambassador Maurizio Massari.

"Their hospitality is tremendous, and they are always grateful that we make the effort to visit them and listen not only to their problems, but also to their hopes and plans for the future."

But the campaign is about more than just promoting the work of the Mission to an audience that ranges from religious leaders to high school students. It also offers a unique opportunity to see where the OSCE, despite its limited capacity, can make a real difference to those living in the more isolated communities.

Economic problems in rural areas

For the casual visitor to Belgrade or the coast of Montenegro, Serbia and Montenegro may give the impression of relative prosperity. The reality in the countryside, however, is often very different.

Many municipalities are still struggling with the legacy of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, including such factors as the decline of local industries and low levels of foreign investment.

The trips by the Head of Mission are usually organized through by preparatory visits by the Mission's Senior Political Advisor, Stelios Beys-Kamnarokos.

"The municipalities take these visits very seriously. The protocol, timing and issues to be discussed all have to be planned very carefully to make them a success," he says.

One additional benefit of the outreach campaign is that it brings together Mission members from various departments in a single project, helping to build team spirit.

Helping isolated communities

The campaign also supports a variety of activities to help those in need. One example is a series of small book donations to a number of school libraries in isolated regions in Serbia.

Books in Serbian and some minority languages were donated to encourage young people to read both modern and classic literature, especially by regional authors.

The disabled in Serbia and Montenegro have also benefited from an auction of paintings by young disabled persons, co-organized by the Mission and the Miroslav Zotovic hospital in Belgrade.

The auction raised around 1,500 euros, which went towards buying new medical laser equipment and other smaller items for the clinic.

Supporting tolerance, reducing ethnic tension

In some municipalities, tensions persist between the different ethnic communities. An OSCE-sponsored municipal tolerance award of 5,000 euros helps communities implement projects to develop cultural events or invest in new facilities available to all.

The OSCE helped support the establishment of a Centre for Support of Women and NGOs in the town of Kikinda in Vojvodina, while in the eastern Serbian town of Pirot, the funds are being used to build a children's playground and buy equipment for a Roma information centre.

"Looking at the big picture, these efforts may appear small," says Mission Spokesperson Mathias Eick. "But they give those communities the feeling that they have not been forgotten and that their own initiatives can attract outside support."