Draft-Law on Citizens Associations Announced

08 November 2005

Loncar announced that Government and Parliament would soon discuss draft Law on citizens associations. Passing the Law is an important step in the process of democratization of Serbian society, its integration process and fulfilling its obligations of membership in Council of Europe, Loncar said at the conference on the Draft-Law on citizens associations.

Zoran Loncar

The Law would be an important input for civil society development and state institutions partnership relationship with third sector, Loncar said, adding that "the draft is a good example that NGO's aren't antigovernment or antistate organizations, as sometimes is misunderstood".

He said that, besides Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, OSCE, CE and numerous organizations participated in drafting the Act.

Head's of OSCE Mission in SCG Deputy, Douglas Wake reminded that NGOs have huge role in fight against totalitarian regime in Serbia, and that the are observers of governmental and other institutions work. Civil society is a viachle for changes in society. NGOs are the voice of citizens, he said.
The goal of new Act is to enable citizens to play an important role, to develop and to be "the healthy voice" of society's development.

Head's of Council of Europe Office in Belgrade Deputy, Nadia Cuk sad that NGOs have direct influence on democratization and affirmation of civil society. She said that CE is accepting NGOs as the partners for a long time, thus having more than 400 organizations directly involved in CE's work, policy making and activities.

Miljenko Dereta of Citizens initiative said that new Law would help in changing public opinion towards NGOs. It will also enable to determine the exact number of NGOs in Serbia, which is estimated to be between 5 and 27 thousands, he said.