4.5 Mission to Serbia week of May targeting an additional 100 police trainers. The MoI is planning to deliver this Communicational Skills and Conflict Management training to the entire police service in Serbia in the upcoming period by using these 200 police trainers. Throughout the year, the Mission organized various activities to assist police districts in implementing local safety action plans: t
From 30 March-1 April, the Jagodina Police District launched the implementation of the action plan on addressing the needs of hearing-impaired persons, which targeted, in particular, the Jagodina primary and secondary schools for children with disabilities. In addition, an expert trained 40 police officers in the basic use of sign language. t
On 20 April, the Cacak Police District launched the alcohol awareness action plan “Say No to Alcohol”. Local police, local self-government, the centre for social welfare, health institutions, civil society, and secondary schools presented the negative effects of alcohol consumption to 600 high school students. The project consisted of a series of 16 educational workshops facilitated by an expert. Similar activities continued throughout May. t
On 28 May, the Valjevo Police District launched the local safety action plan “Together toward the Problem’s Solution”. It focused on three local communities hosting asylum centres, aiming to improve the communities’ perception of migrants and building mutual trust. The project raised awareness through public campaigns on the legal procedures to obtain asylum. It also trained police officers to better assist asylum seekers. t
On 8 June, the Mission supported the action plan “I play fair even outside of the courtyard”, aiming to prevent peer violence in the context of sporting events. This project was implemented by the CSO “Spone” and the Serbian School Sports Federation, and supported by the Serbian Ministry of Youth and Sport. t
On 14 September, the Jagodina Police District and the Paracin local self-government launched the local safety action plan to improve safe driving among young people and graduates of secondary schools. t
From 15-29 September, the Sombor Police District reached out to 11 kindergarten students to acquaint children with the police and to talk to them about safety-related matters. t
On 25 September, the Nis Police District and the Niska Banja municipality launched a project to raise awareness on the protection of personal belongings. 76 t
In September, the Police Districts of Kragujevac and Jagodina organized Child Safety Olympics as part of their local safety action plan. They organized educational sessions and sports tournaments for approx. 160 participants from 16 local schools. Police also engaged CSOs, the Serbian Red Cross, the Health Centre, and the Sector for Emergency Situations as well as other public and private businesses. t
On 3 October, the Valjevo Police District organized Child Safety Olympics in the town of Ub. The purpose of the event was for police to educate youth on the importance of safety. t
From 14-16 October, the Pirot Police District finalized the implementation of the action plan “Prevention of Forest Theft” to educate local communities on how to prevent thefts of timber in forest areas in the Pirot municipality. t
On 15 October, the Prokuplje Police District finalized its project “For Life without Fear and Prejudice – Say No to Violence!”. The project focused on enhancing police co-operation with the local self-government, Youth and Children’s Office and Centre for Social Welfare through activities on preventing domestic violence. t
On 17 October, the Vranje Police District organized Child Safety Olympics in Vranje. The event gathered 200 people, including participants from 8 schools, CSOs, the Red Cross, the Health Centre, the Sector for Emergency Situations, and various public and private businesses. t
On 27 November, the Zrenjanin Police District finalized the implementation of the local safety action plan on fighting alcohol abuse. It raised awareness among high school students on the detrimental effects of alcohol consumption, reaching out to 15,000 citizens. Throughout the year, the Mission organized various activities to assist local self-government and police districts to develop police-public partnerships. Chronologically, the projects were implemented as follows: t
From 25-26 February, the Department met with representatives of six municipalities, which were involved in the 2014 assessment on the role of Municipal Safety Councils (MSC) in community safety. t
From 25-27 March, the Mission trained 15 members of the Paracin MSC. Representatives of the police, local selfgovernment, centre for social welfare, health institutions, and civil society received information about the main purpose and functioning of the Council as well as strategies on problem solving. The Mission also assisted