18Nov2016

CENTRE Newsletter

The Human Security Conference participants payed tribute to Svetlana Djurdjevic-Lukic

Ms. Mary Martin, a Senior Research Fellow at London School of Economics (LSE) paid tribute to Svetlana Djurdjevic Lukic, co-founder of the Center for Public Policy Research (CENTRE) who recently passed away, at the Human Security Conference. The conference was held on November 3th and 4th in Belgrade.

“Svetlana’s contribution to the field of human security, and her focus on security threats that Serbian citizens face in their everyday dealings has produced a long lasting impact. Thanks to her work, CENTRE established itself as one of the pioneering think-tanks in Serbia dealing with the vulnerable groups' security. In particular, the nexus between illegal firearms and domestic violence was one of the key issues that occupied Svetlana’s attention,” said Ms. Martin, adding that Svetlana and her work will be remembered - “Svetlana was graced by strong commitment and compassion. Her research regarding human security issues was characterized by diligence and passion, leaving a permanent mark in the field.”

Svetlana Djurdjevic-Lukic was one of co-founders and the director of the Belgrade-based think tank Public Policy Research Center until her sudden death on September 24. She tragically passed away only a few days prior to her oral presentation of the PhD thesis at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade. Her thesis entitled "The Role of the UN in the Building of Peace: The case study of East Timor" was based on the field work conducted in North Timor where she was working as a researcher of the LSE team. Svetlana’s PhD thesis will be published by CENTRE early next year.
 

 

CENTRE'S ACTIVITIES

On November 14, the CENTRE’s team presented a policy brief which is the main outcome of qualitative research on youth’s and women’s perception concerning firearms possession. The research was conducted within the project “Firearms Possession and Human (in)Security: Impact on youth and gender based violence.” In the presence of notable experts in this field, and colleagues from the partner OCDs, the key findings and recommendations were discussed at the CENTRE’s premises. Svetlana Djurdjevic Lukic actively worked on this project. The project is supported by the CLAIM! Citizen's Network for Peace, Reconciliation and Human Security for the Western Balkans and Turkey within the grant which EU awarded this Network in 2012.
 

On November 17 and 18, the European Commission, the EU TACSO P2P Program and Media Department of the OSCE in Serbia, in cooperation with the EU Delegation in Republic of Serbia Conference organized  the conference Speak-Up! Follow Up-On the Eve of the New Media Strategy, a follow up of the conference Speak Up!3 which was initially held in Brussels. Tanja Jakobi, a CENTRE’s member and ad interim director, together with Petar Jeremic (UNS, the Alliance Releases) as keynote speakers spoke on a topic "Editors, Owners, Journalists and Citizens: The transformation of the profession in the time of crisis."
 

A policy brief on women’s participation in the political life of Serbia and their impact on gender-sensitive political discourse, written by the young Centre’s collaborator Marija Todorović, will be presented in the mid December at CENTRE’s premises. Taking in consideration CENTRE’s previous research when it comes to the election monitoring in 2014 and 2016, this brief represents a continuation of CENTRE’s efforts to advocate inclusive and gender-sensitive policies. The policy brief is produced and published under the auspices of the organizational development grant from the Think Tank Fund of the Open Society Foundation.  
 

In the presence of key stakeholders, policy makers and CSO representatives, the CENTRE is to present draft findings of its research conducted within the project “How does Security Sector Reform Affect Human Security in Serbia? Reassessing the impact on LGBT population” on November 28. The study is based on qualitative research and sought to identify impact of implemented security sector reforms since 2011 on the LGBT population. It is also a follow-up of an earlier CENTRE’s publication “Vulnerable Groups and Security Sector Reform: LGBT Case Study” (2011) which for the very first time examined the security of LGBT population in the context of their relationship with the police and army. Both projects were supported by the the Democratization Department of the OSCE Mission to Serbia. This year findings will be publicly disseminated in the Media Center Belgrade at the end of December of 2016. Svetlana Djurdjevic Lukic and Jelena Radoman cooperated closely on both projects.
 

CENTRE’s members, Branka Andjelkovic and Maja Kovac are the leading researchers of the latest National Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) "Social Capital: The invisible face of community resistance to the risks of natural disasters." Under the auspices of the UNDP, the promotion of findings is scheduled for the beginning of December. The report explores the importance of formal and informal social networks and information sharing practices at generating prompt responses to the crisis in municipalities in Serbia which were affected by floods and other natural disasters in the last ten years.

Furthermore, the authors are to produce two policy briefs inspired by this research. The first policy brief addresses the question of whether it is necessary to formulate separate local strategies in order to further strengthen local capacities to respond to natural disasters. Those strategies would also contribute to decreasing negative social and economic impacts on local residents. The second brief aims at advocating a new Law on Volunteering, which should regulate the issue of volunteering in cases of emergencies.
 


Filip Stojanovic is a new member of CENTRE. He earned an MA from the Faculty of Security Studies of the University of Belgrade in 2016. He successfully defended the thesis entitled "The Conceptualization of National Interest in Security Studies." He graduated from the same faculty. During his studies, he was actively engaged in several research centers. Mr Stojanovic worked as a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Security Studies at several courses such as Intelligence and Security Services, Security Systems and Security Studies: An Introduction in the period of January-October 2015. Moreover, he was an intern at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Serbia on project Increased Resilience to Respond to Emergency Situations. He completed the program of a winter school on International Relations “The Current Political and Security Issues in International Relations” organized by the Institute for International Economics and Politics as the best student. Filip Stojanovic is especially interested in human security, security sector reform, national and urban security. During his previous research, he has published several scientific papers in academic journals in the category M53, as well as several policy papers.

 

CENTRE'S NEW PROJECT

CENTRE is currently implementing three new projects in the field of human security and social policies.
 

At the end of September CENTRE has begun the implementation of the project “Addressing Firearms Misuse and Impact on Gender-based Violence through Civic Action and Policy Advocacy” supported by the Embassy of Kingdom of the Netherlands in Belgrade within MATRA program. The research relies on the CENTRE previous engagement in the field of human security and vulnerable groups' human rights. CENTRE's team will conduct interviews, focus groups and analyses of media reports on GBV and firearms possession. The overall objective is to mainstream it in relevant strategic documents, public discourse and consequently influence future policy making, especially in the in the context of the EU integration, such as Chapter 24, new Law Against Family Violence, new Law on Weapons and Ammunition, Strategy against small arms proliferation, NAP on the implementation of the UN Resolution 1325 - Women, Peace and Security. The project was created by the former CENTRE's director, Svetlana Djurdjevic Lukic who recently passed away. Svetlana was among a few regional experts for small weapons and light arms.
 

CENTRE and the Forum Roma of Serbia (FRS) have joined efforts to find public policy modalities of reintegration of Roma returnees under the Agreement on readmission of persons residing without authorization, both on the local and national level.  The focus of the project “Documenting new experiences of ‘Otherness’ and advocating for successful integration of Roma migrants through better education/employment policies” is focused on exploring new options for employment of Roma returnees in partnership with European and national business associations and through proactive policies towards the EU partners to open opportunities for seasonal employment of Roma returnees to the EU through legal channels. Additionally, the team will conduct the research of public discourse related to the Roma returnees’ (through media and statements of relevant policy makers). The findings of the research will be used to initiate a discussion within civil society, public institutions and the general public about the new forms of discrimination against Roma returnees and the possible effects of the influx of migrants and austerity measures in Serbia. The project implementation has begun in November.
 

 

A follow-up of the project “The Impact of Socio-Economic Structure of Rural Population on Success of Rural Development Policy” focuses on the promotion of the results of this scientific regional project on rural development in the Balkans. It is one of the first research efforts to tackle economic and social aspects of the subject, in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia. Field research has begun at the end of November and is simultaneously done in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia. It should provide answers to the following questions: How much farmers know about rural development programmes and subsidies offered in each of the three countries? How they evaluate application process? How they evaluate their experience with using measures of rural development programme? What are the key motives behind their decision to apply or not apply for measures of rural development programme? Who supports and advises them on rural development programme? In addition, this research will help us to map and to determine structure of formal and informal social networks which farmers use in order to advance production at their farms; motives and reasons for cooperation with other farmers, as well as motives and reasons behind farmers' decision to participate or not participate in organizations and/or associations in rural areas. The project is funded by the Regional Research Promotion Programme in the Western Balkans (RRPP). The Association of Agricultural Economists of Republic of Macedonia (AAEM) as a leading project partner co-partnered with CENTRE and individual researchers from the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, University of Sarajevo.

 

Tanja Jakobi, ad interim Executive Director

As of October 2016, Tanja Jakobi performs a duty of the CENTRE’s interim Executive Director. Ms. Jakobi joined the CENTRE in autumn of 2010 as a communication specialist, and later advanced to become a researcher and project manager. Ms. Jakobi is a seasoned journalist and editor with 25+ years of experience in Serbian media. She also served as a foreign correspondent and contributor to the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Institutional Investor. In the last three years, she has been intensively engaged in research related to the precarious work of journalists, media workers’ activism, public discourse and vulnerable groups. In addition, she has been engaged as an editor in several research projects related to implementation of the official Media strategy and policy recommendations for the formulation of the new one. Ms. Jakobi is a frequent interlocutor of domestic and foreign media.