Abstract
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In February 2002 a new Law on Local Self-Government was adopted, giving way to modest progress towards decentralization of local government in Serbia. In an attempt to promote successful ethnic diversity management on local level and meet the EU integration requirements, Article 63 of this Law envisages an establishment of the Councils for Interethnic Relations. However, apart from stating the obligation of an establishment of this institute in all ethically diverse local government units (as defined by the Law), and that the Council’s role should be to “consider the minority right issues and promote ethnic equality, in accordance with the Law and the municipal statute”, the text of this Article fails to provide any further guidelines as to what the competences, roles and functions of such a council should be.
In the period March-November 2006, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to Serbia, provided training and technical support to the establishment of the councils for interethnic relations in 13 pilot municipalities, within its broader project of Promoting Ethnic Equality at Local Level, in partnership with the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) and with the support of Local Government and Public Reform Initiative/Open Society Institute (LGI/OSI) Budapest, Hungary.
The initial focus of the project was to build the capacity of relevant municipal representatives for ethnic diversity management through the Councils for Interethnic Relations, although it was understood that broader awareness-raising is necessary to sensitize the participants towards the modern concepts of multi-ethnicity and diversity and that the training and action planning were the first steps in the long-term institution building process, as well as systemic focusing on three main areas - protection of minority rights, mainstreaming diversity and conflict resolution and prevention.
This paper is an attempt to make one step forward from the usual capacity-building and institutional-development approach in assisting municipalities to effectively manage ethnically diverse communities, and add a new perspective to the role of the Councils for Interethnic Relations. Their potential input will be discussed within a broader context of development and the changing agenda of Serbian local governments. The author will attempt at taking a more integrated approach to mainstreaming ethnic diversity and exploring ways of the councils’ taking up a more proactive role, by engaging in the overall community development planning. Involvement in activities such as environmental protection, poverty reduction or economic development strategic planning, or delegating their members to participate in the work of strategic planning or economic development commissions and other relevant bodies on municipal level, not only will they effectively address some of the minority group issues but, they will contribute to the overall community progress and development.
The Councils for Interethnic Relations in Serbia should ensure that certain standards and rights are respected and that conflicts are mitigated or eliminated but, their primary role is to create the conditions for pleasant, comfortable life and amicable relations among various ethnic groups on day-to-day basis. Although the concept of mainstreaming diversity on local level is still novel to Serbian multi-ethnic municipalities, they are beginning to understand that, it leads towards more sustainable outcomes and, ultimately, towards a truly “diversity-friendly community”.
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