Projects
People's Parliament achieves its program objectives via implementation of projects. Here are some of the most successful projects, out of more than forty independently-realized projects and several dozens of partnership projects that were implemented from the organizations' founding day.
Project title: "You have the right to know".
Location: Jablanica County.
Year: 2006.
Theme: The primary objective of this project was to motivate local governments and public administration institutions to appoint persons in-charge for responding to requests for information of public importance, as well as to acquaint citizens with the Law on free access to information of public importance.
Project title: Youth center.
Location: Leskovac.
Year: 2005–2006.
Theme: Foundation and management of Youth center in Leskovac is a project of the People's Parliament that aims to contribute to young people needs for alternative educational activities and generally a need for a youth-serving place in the town in which young people can spend their free time designing activities for other youth and/or participating in activities that are designed for them.
From the time when Youth center started to work several hundreds young people attended or are attending different kinds of computer courses, seminars and lectures on topics such as youth employment, sport, sexual health, etc., as well as other more informal activities.
Project title: "We need an ombudsman".
Location: South Serbia.
Year: 2005.
Theme: The primary objective of this project was to motivate local governments and public administration institutions to establish local ombudsman institutions in accordance with the Law on local self-government. Moreover, general public was informed on ombudsman institution and its purpose.
Project title: Confidence building measures for local NGOs from multiethnic communities. The prospectus offered by the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
Location: Multiethnic communities in northern, western, eastern and southern parts of Serbia.
Year: 2004.
Theme: Main project purpose was to strengthen human resources of local NGOs from four multiethnic communities in Serbia in order to make these organizations more active protagonists in process of monitoring and supporting the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in our country. Other project objectives were embodied in overall project tendency to initiate and support majority-minority dialogue in local communities influenced by this project, as well as to inform local public on elements of the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
Project title: Balkan Multiethnic Youth Parliament.
Location: Palic-Serbia.
Year: 2003-2004.
Theme: This project is an ongoing effort by People’s Parliament, started with Multiethnic Youth Parliament seminar in 2001, to acquaint young leaders of different nationalities and religion from the Balkan region with root issues surrounding interethnic tension and regional security and stability concerns.
Balkan Multiethnic Youth Parliament is the place for strengthening of regional stability, information dissemination, cultural exchange and active cooperation among network’s member’s organizations, institutions and individuals concerned with regional security and stability.
On this occasion, Balkan Multiethnic Youth Parliament was organized in the form of 6-days seminar.
Project title: Youth employment initiative in Serbia and Montenegro.
Location: Serbia and Montenegro
Year: 2003.
Theme: This project was implemented within global YES campaign (YES 2002-2012) that is supported by People's Parliament from the moment it was initialized in Alexandria, Egypt, during the end of 2002.
More information about this project that was implemented by People's Parliament during the year of 2003, and our continuous efforts in areas related to youth employment issues in Serbia, as well as the global YES campaign itself, can be found at www.yesweb.org Internet presentation.
Project title: Ombudsman-the pillar for citizen's rights.
Location: Four Counties in southeastern Serbia.
Year: 2003.
Theme: Main project purpose was to motivate municipalities from four Counties in southeastern Serbia to establish local ombudsman institutions according to the Law on local self-governance. Also, general public was introduced with the concept of ombudsman institutions functioning and its role.
The project consisted of round tables with executives of southeastern Serbia municipalities, public campaign (billboards, posters, brochures, etc.), TV shows, technical assistance schemes.
As the direct result of this project, during June, the first municipal decision on establishment of local ombudsman institution in Serbia was adopted by Leskovac Municipality.
The project is the beginning of efforts initiated by People's Parliament to technically, logistically and in any other means possible, help municipalities from Serbia (primarily those from southeastern Serbia region) to establish fully functional and effective local ombudsman institutions.
Project title: Human rights for future decision-makers.
Location: Nis-Serbia.
Year: 2002-2003.
Theme: Objectives of this project were to make students aware, in details, of international conventions and treaties that regulate human rights, as well as to motivate them, as future decision-makers, to involve them selves in the process of incorporating these conventions into national legal system. Project consisted of 8 seminars, "best essays" competition and publication of "essays book".
Project title: Multiethnic Youth Parliament.
Location: Leskovac-Serbia.
Year: 2001-2002.
Theme: The project tends to gather and acquaint young leaders originating from different nationalities, religion and communities with root issues surrounding tensions between different nationalities, as well as history, legal and political position, level of social and economic development and religion of the biggest nationalities in Serbia. Multiethnic Youth Parliament is the place for discussion, information dissemination and cultural exchange embodied in four and a half-days Training program, creation of informational six-language Internet presentation and creation of e-mail discussion group.
Project title: Pre-election strategies for Belarus organizations.
Location: Belarus-Minsk.
Year: 2001.
Theme: The project's main objective was to support efforts of pro-democratic forces in Belarus just before the presidential elections in that country. It consisted of two-days forum in Minsk on issues and modalities of, in that time, prospective GOTV campaign realization, exchange of experience over the Internet among activists of NGO's and issuing of publication serving as a manual for voter animation pre-election campaign realization.
Project title: Education of councilors from Municipality of Leskovac.
Location: Municipality of Leskovac.
Year: 2001.
Theme: The project's main objective was to educate selected group of Councilors, through six trainings, in areas as politics, civil society, human and civic rights, public relations, corruption, economic development, interethnic relations.
Project title: "Changes start with us all".
Location: Municipality of Leskovac.
Year: 2000.
Theme: The project's main objective was to make a break through media blockade in Leskovac. During nine months of project duration, 90 000 copies of "Changes start with us all" bulletin was distributed.
Project title: Parliament Club.
Location: Municipality of Leskovac.
Year: 2000.
Theme: The Parliament Club was a local democratic initiatives resource center. During nine months of functioning, the Parliament Club was practically the only free place available for seminars, tribunes, foundation assemblies, round tables, etc., organization. The benefits from existence of such place were enormous for pro-democratic forces at the local and at the national level. Looking at the fact that in the premises of the Parliament Club, during nine months of its functioning, more than 35 different events were organized, speaks for it self. To mention some:
- Tribune "Croatian wining formula - How HDZ was defeated,
- Tribune "Influence of the Law on information on free media and journalists of those media",
- Presentation "Program for Serbia salvation",
- Aphorisms evening "Bapsi and friends",
- Exhibition of the promotional material of NGO's, trade unions, "Resistance" movement,
- "NGO management" seminars.
Project title: "Get out and vote" campaign
Location: Jablanica County.
Year: August-September 2000.
Theme: In relation to presidential, federal and local elections that were held on September 24, 2000, People's Parliament implemented massive "Get out and vote" campaign on the territory of five Municipalities in Jablanica County.
This campaign consisted of activities designed to motivate citizens to turn out to polls through direct communication between People's Parliament activists and citizens. Activists, in direct contact with citizens, have influenced the increase of interest to turn out to polls and also have informed citizens about their rights as voters.
Campaign included following activities:
- Stands placement in center of Leskovac for twenty four days where promotional material of campaigns "Get out and vote", "Exit 2000" and "Its Time" was distributed.
- Twenty-day telephone campaign, designed in a form of survey. Telephone campaign included more than 2 000 households located in town outskirts and villages, places that were less covered by other activities.
- Five "Forums Of candidates". During these happenings, citizens from Leskovac met with candidates for local government and had the opportunity to "get their questions answered"
- Five-day exhibit of caricatures from Predrag Koraksic-Corax
- Rock concert in the center of Leskovac. There was about a thousand young people present. Many of them were first-time voters.
- Party "Don't gamble-vote" More than 250 young people from Leskovac were present in this event. During the party, a prize-game was organized for the participants. Lucky winners received more attractive pieces of Campaign's promotional material.
- Distribution of the brochure "Voters guide". First of all, the brochure was intended for the citizens of the municipality of Leskovac, for their education and for getting information about everything concerning the election process and voting, legal rights of citizens and also extreme importance of the election as well as the bodies that are supposed to be constituted. It was a 12-page brochure, with illustrations of remarkable Yugoslav caricaturists. It was distributed to the citizens of Leskovac in 18000 copies.
- Twenty-days "Door to door" campaign.This activity we emphasize as especially successful.
- People's Parliament activists visited about 4000 households and in direct contact with citizens, motivated them to turn out to polls, talking with them and handing them promotional materials.
- Race through the town streets named "First one to voting box". This race gathered about 20 participants and few hundred spectators. Winners received prizes in the form of T-shirts, caps, bags and pencils.
- "Save Serbia and vote" (Predrag Koraksic-Corax, Zarko Trebjesanin, Bozo Prelevic and Ratko Bozovic)
- "Voting as a way out" (People's Parliament activists)
- "Control of election process" (four workshops for education of polling board members)
- "Save your vote" (three workshops that enabled activists to implement pre-election campaign more efficiently)
- "Unimportant Heroes" (guest-director Goran Markovic)
- "Whistle stronger than a baton" (production-ANEM)
During these campaigns realization, according to our estimates, about 400 000 peaces of different materials were distributed (pencils, caps, T-shirts, leaflets, badges, pole-posters, nine sorts of stickers, drawing pads, small bags, sacks, little sugar bags that said "Make your life sweeter-on September 24th Vote", posters and brochures (12 and 4-pages ones).
Our very precise estimate was that we have distributed about 1500 kg of promotional material, mostly in direct contact with citizens.
Results of this hyperactive campaigns speak for themselves:
- 78.9 % was the voters turn-out on territory of Leskovac Municipality,
- 83 % was the response of voters in city itself, where the campaigns have been even more intensive.