Beyond its globally recognized work on small arms control, UNDP SEESAC advances gender mainstreaming in security sector reform by supporting regional cooperation among the Ministries of Defence of four Western Balkans countries — Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. 

More than a year since its launch, In Their Sneakers has been the foundation of projects nurturing creativity in coming up with solutions for forcibly displaced people to effectively integrate into local communities. Serbia, over the years, has seen significant forced displacement both within its borders and among its neighbours in the region. It currently hosts more than 3,000 refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants.

As a coordinating agency, the RCO seeks to strengthen cooperation between UN entities on issues related to economic development and climate change resilience. It looks at ways to strengthen the UN system by financing and implementing cross-cutting programmes.

Alexandra seized the opportunity to serve as a national UN Volunteer Youth Engagement Officer with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Serbia. The assignment sparked her will to contribute to UNICEF’s mission, especially as a young person herself. Now, as she finishes her assignment, Aleksandra describes her experience as crosscutting and most enriching.

The team of UN Volunteers in Serbia comprises 65 such dedicated young Roma as Silvija, Kristina and Meti. They have been trained to become activists, fighting for the inclusion of Roma, against discrimination and social injustice and supporting the vulnerable members of the Roma community. 

UN Community Volunteers Milena Reljic, David Georgiev and Nikola Josipovic are busy with initiatives related to the COVID-19 outbreak, as many other development workers are. They help Roma communities, to which they also belong, to tackle COVID-19 global challenges, and ensure that the interests of the Roma are given due attention and delivered upon.

Roma belong to the largest ethnic minority in Serbia and are still among the most deprived communities, often facing discrimination, social exclusion and unequal access to employment, education, housing and health services. The 2017 Regional Survey on socio-economic position of vulnerable Roma in the Western Balkans, commissioned by UNDP, showed that the biggest challenges for social inclusion of Roma in Serbia are their high unemployment and inactivity rates. While the education aspect has improved for Roma, it is not resulting in their employment.

In the Republic of Serbia, Roma are the largest ethnic minority and remain one of the most disenfranchised communities, often facing discrimination, social exclusion and unequal access to employment, education, housing and health services. UNDP's 2017 regional survey on the socio-economic position of Roma in the Western Balkans highlighted that although education among Roma has improved, one of the biggest challenges for the social inclusion of Roma in Serbia was the high level of unemployment.

My name is Jelena Maric Lukovic. I serve as national UN Volunteer Resilient Programming Assistant with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Republic of Serbia.

"I am Chihiro Saito – international UN Volunteer from Japan serving with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Serbia. I work as Associate Field Officer in a team that responds to the refugee and migrant situation in the country. As part of my assignment, I visit Reception and Transit Centers where most refugees and asylum seekers are housed. I am responsible for ensuring asylum seekers’ basic social service needs are met and human rights respected. I have attained so much knowledge and experience working with asylum seekers and refugees.