VISIT OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISIONER FOR REFUGEES TO THE EUROPEAN AFFAIRS FUND OF AP VOJVODINA

Director of the European Affairs fund of AP Vojvodina, Aleksandar Simurdić, hosted the representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), headed by Francesca Bonelli, the head of UNHCR office in Serbia. Today’s meeting was opportunity to discuss topics of common interests in order to strengthen cooperation between entities from territory of AP Vojvodina.

Cooperation with local self-government units has been recognized as one of the areas of cooperation that can greatly contribute to resolving issues related to asylum seekers, refugees, internally displaced persons, migrants and stateless persons in AP Vojvodina and,  in this regard, frameworks to involve local levels in the dialogue.

Given the fact that we are on the threshold of the new Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, during the meeting the importance of strengthening cooperation between entities at the provincial and the local level was emphasized, in order to define priorities and facilitate fundraising through external sources of funding to address the issue above.

In the light of UNHCR’s mission to improve various aspects of inclusion and integration, the need to raise children’s and young people’s awareness of the importance of inclusion and respect for diversity was emphasized, along with the set of benchmarks for chapter 23 and 24 and proposed frameworks for networking with educational institutions on the territory of AP Vojvodina, in order to implement the mentioned educational activities.