Inclusion of Citizens in Social and Political Life Through Advocating the Right to Petition and Submit Recommendations
Joint project of YUCOM and Heinrich Böll Stiftung  

Funded by: Delegation of the European Commission to the Republic of Serbia, European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR)

The overall objective to which the action will contribute is to undertake democratic reform by advocating for enhanced political representation and direct participation of citizens in governing and decision-making processes at all levels and branches of power through adopting necessary legislation and establishing functional mechanisms for regulating the right to petition and submit recommendations.

Specific objectives that the action aims to accomplish are:
• Assessing efficiency of existing mechanisms for accomplishing the right to petition and recommend;
• Raising awareness level about the need to respect the right to petition and submit recommendations as basic means of exercising direct democracy, which provides for more active participation of citizens in everyday political life and decision-making processes;
• Raising awareness level about the Board for Petitions and Recommendations of the National Parliament and the constitutional right to address this body;
• Raising awareness level of decision-makers at national and local level about the importance of respecting this aspect of human rights in the light of approaching accession to the EU by putting in place adequate legislation to address the present problems.

Duration of the action will be 12 months, and the Activities are categorized in six groups:

• Research & analysis of the present condition – includes interviews, surveys, research of legislation and practices of countries in the region and the EU, etc. The key objective of this set of activities is to reveal where Serbia stands in terms of normative and legislative settings for launching and processing civic initiatives and petitions. The research will help in defining the baseline in this area of human rights in the country, which will enable us to pinpoint where Serbia stands vis-à-vis other countries in the region. A report with a summary of results will be prepared, which would also be used in further activities.

• Workshops – YUCOM and Heinrich Böll Stiftung legal experts will deliver one-day workshops regarding preparation of petitions and recommendations in Belgrade and four other cities in Serbia (including Presevo as a regional center for municipalities of the southern part of Serbia with sizable Albanian population). Participants of the workshops, represented from all segments of local society including representatives of decision-makers, political parties, non-governmental organizations, youth, minorities, etc., will have understood how to exercise their right to petition and submit recommendations. Fifty (50) petitions/recommendations in total will be sent out to relevant institutions, after which the progress of the institutions in reacting to these initiatives would be monitored. In that way, in addition to a training component, this set of activities contains a research component as well, as the results monitoring will be included to the report to be prepared from the above set of activities (timing of activities is coordinated).

• Informative sessions, panel discussions – The objective of this set of activities is to present the results of research (study, analysis and survey) and workshops to decision makers and NGOs, and through series of informative sessions (including online sessions, conference calls and contact in person) and discussions, to outline recommendations both for decision makers and citizens for improving the present state of low direct citizen participation in decision making. All relevant opinions and recommendations obtained in this phase will be used in preparation of necessary legislative changes (amendments, new laws and bylaws), using also results of previously described sets of activities.

• Internet portal www.uticaj.rs was developed in the goal of informing citizens about their right to petition in Serbia and in the world (especially EU) and as a means writing, publicizing and signing petitions (recommendations, proposals and complaints). 

• Preparation & printing of publication – Following completion of research (Activity Groups 1 and 2) and panels/informative sessions which will result in drafting recommendations for legislative improvements to the present condition (Activity Group 3), a publication will be prepared with of all previously conducted activities (including the report). It will also be translated into Albanian and Roma languages and distributed to interested parties and relevant stakeholders.

• Establishing a call center – This activity is designed to support citizens and all interested parties who wish to get informed about the process for submitting a petition or recommendation to decision makers and mechanisms in place to monitor the petitions/recommendations once filed. The Call Center will be promoted in the media, on the websites of YUCOM, Heinrich Böll Stiftung, as well as of other partner organizations (including Human Rights Defenders network, which is currently in the process of development under another EU supported action). The Call Center will be operated from the premises of YUCOM by its legal experts who will have participated in the project. The services provided through this activity will include: legal advice and guidance on the petitioning and submittal of other civic initiative documents to decision makers; assistance in preparation of petitions and other related initiatives; advocating for the petitions and other submitted cases to the relevant public institutions and exercising public pressure through media coverage.

• Conference Organizing – Towards the end of the Action cycle, the final conference will be organized at which YUCOM and Heinrich Böll Stiftung will present the activities undertaken by the project and results achieved. Invitations will be sent to all those who participated in the Action, but also to representatives of other human rights non-governmental organizations, members of the Parliament (it will be particularly addressed to the members of the Board for petitions and recommendations), members of the Government and relevant ministries, ombudsman, international organizations and civil society in general. Because of planned promotional campaigns, raising awareness level of the problem in the public and among decision makers and high visibility of the action in general which will be achieved by this time, it is accepted that the conference will be well attended and that it will also be addressed by key figures in decision making (including members of the National Parliament and the Government).