4.5 Mission to Serbia
co-operation with the MoI’s Criminalistics Investigation
Directorate and its Service for Drug Addiction Prevention
and Narcotics Suppression, from March to October, the
Mission organized five training events in Belgrade for 126
school police officers. The topics covered included the
risk factors for young people with a drug dependence, the
application of police powers within a school environment,
and the prevention of drug use. The MoESTD, MoH and
MoSY, and UNODC Office in Belgrade contributed to the
training by providing their expertise on issues related to drug
use prevention, treatment and care.
Training for School Police Officers on prevention of drug
abuse and violence among schoolchildren and improving
safety of schools, Belgrade, 28 August 2019. (OSCE)
Community Policing, Police-Public
Relations and Crime Prevention
In 2019, the Mission continued its co-operation with the
MoH, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological
Development (MoESTD), and MoSY in the implementation
of the project “Prevention of risky behavior among children
through sports and education”, also known as “To success,
together!” The project aimed to create an environment that
provided positive alternatives for school pupils to resist
pressures that can result in delinquency, violent extremism,
drug abuse and peer violence.
In this context, from 4 February to 27 March, the Mission
organized two training courses in Belgrade where experts
from the MoESTD and CSO CEPORA trained 15 volunteers
from six schools from Belgrade, Kragujevac, Leskovac, Niš,
Novi Pazar and Novi Sad who were involved in the project.
The training covered the primary prevention of violence,
styles of learning, prevention of digital violence, violence
at sports events, risk factors and prevention of addictive
disorders in adolescence, resilience and peer pressure, and
application of drama techniques in the education of children
and youth.
Furthermore, on 11 May, 150 children from six primary
schools participated in a school football tournament in
Kragujevac, marking the closing of the second year of
the project. On 13 December, the Mission organized an
educational sports event in Kragujevac for some 120 children
from four primary schools, marking the final completion of
the project.
To support national efforts in preventing drug abuse
among schoolchildren and improving safety in schools, in
84
In line with the Mission’s support to local initiatives that
promote police-public partnerships through the Safety
Council (SC) mechanism, on 19 February, the Mission
organized a public presentation for 16 members of the
Novi Pazar SC on positive practices in the functioning of
Municipal Safety Councils (MSC). Participants explored
ways of improving the functioning and impact of its work and
its co-ordination with city administration.
On 19 March, the Mission gathered SCs from two
multicultural cities - Novi Pazar and Sombor - to promote
the SC model developed in co-operation with the Standing
Conference of Towns and Municipalities. Taking place in
Sombor, the event served as an opportunity to foster closer
partnerships and exchange of best practice between citizens
and local police in the development of local safety strategies.
From 17 to 19 June, the Mission organized a networking
event in Novi Sad to strengthen the capacity of 20 members
from nine MSCs31 in the design and implementation of
violence prevention activities for youth and children. During
the event, participants exchanged best practice in improving
local safety of youth and children.
From 12 to 14 October, in co-operation with the Zemun
MSC, the Mission facilitated a two-day football tournament
in Belgrade as part of the project “Be a supporter, not a
hooligan”. The project aimed to raise awareness among young
people about ‘fair play’ and decent supporting during sports
matches, and of the consequences when public properties are
destroyed and physical violence used. Six primary schools
from Zemun participated in the tournament, which was
preceded by educational sessions held in local schools by the
members of the SC and the respective school.
From 21 to 22 November, the Mission organized a meeting
of MSCs in Niš to promote voluntary firefighting at the
local level. In total, 20 municipal officials and police officers
31
Čačak, Leskovac, Niš, Novi Pazar, Pirot, Šabac, Surčin, Zemun, and Zvezdara.
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents