implementation of the recommendations of the un …...implementation of the recommendations of the...

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMSEXPERIENCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

GOVERNMENT REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

OFFICE FOR HUMAN AND MINORITY RIGHTS

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

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This publication aims at bringing closer the Republic of Serbia’s experience in the processes of implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations human rights mechanisms.

Our country has so far undergone three Universal Periodic Review (UPR) processes and submitted a large number of reports to the UN treaty bodies.

In these processes, we have faced and are still facing the difficulties that, we believe, we have in common with most other countries with the same obligations arising from the core UN human rights instruments.

Acting on the recommendation of the second cycle of the UPR which was passed in January 2013, the Government of the Republic of Serbia established a special body - the Council for Monitoring the Implementation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms.

Members of the Council are representatives of the most important government departments, with the primary responsibility for fulfilling the recommendations. In addition, representatives of the Parliament and independent human rights institutions, as well as representatives of civil society organizations also participate in the work of the Council. Civil society organizations have made a significant contribution to the dissemination of human rights ideas, and we consider their participation in the work of the Council important. The establishment of the Council initiated the establishment of the CSO

Dr Suzana PaunovicPresident of the Republic of Serbia

Government’s Council for Monitoring the Recommendations of the UN human

rights mechanisms


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Serbia is committed to improving the situation regarding human rights and we see the interactive processes of considering the reports before the Human Rights Council and

the UN treaty bodies and acting on the recommendations obtained from those pro-cesses as an extraordinary opportunity to achieve the goals.

Platform for Cooperation with the UN Human Rights Mechanisms, and the Council sees the Platform as a partner in this process.

We have opted for an approach characterized by transparency and inclusivity. Transparency means that monitoring and reporting processes take place in the presence of expert and general public, while inclusivity means that all the key actors are participants in these processes.

It is also necessary to point out that the Council has adopted the Plan of Implementation of Recommendations, which contains all the recommendations we have received and which clearly defines the responsibilities of a respective line ministry for their implementation. In addition, the Plan is linked to the 2030 Agenda and strategic development goals. It is particularly important to mention that we have started the process of developing an electronic database which will enable the focal points to enter, following consultation within the respective department, relevant information on the fulfilment of recommendations which falls within

the remit of specific departments. The database will be available to both expert and general public and aims at improving transparency and bringing our work on meeting the recommendations up to date. In November 2018, the Council organized a regional conference in Belgrade in which we exchanged experiences on these issues with the Balkan countries. Meetings were also organized with representatives of Austria, Belgium and Finland. We believe that it is of great importance to exchange good experiences, but also information about the issues that countries face.

Finally, I would like to emphasize cooperation with the United Nations Human Rights Team in Serbia and the OSCE Mission to Serbia who have been providing considerable support to the Council and Office of the Government of the Republic of Serbia from the beginning of the process.

We are determined to share our experiences with others and to look at their experiences in order to successfully overcome obstacles and challenges together.

The Republic of Serbia is a State Party to eight of the nine core international human rights treaties.1 Serbia is obliged to report to the United Nations treaty bodies and the UN Human Rights Council in the Universal Periodic Review (hereinafter: UPR) process. In January 2013, Serbia went through the second cycle of the UPR before the UN Human Rights Council. Of the 144 recommendations received in the process, Serbia accepted 137.

One of the accepted recommendations - 131.4 states that Serbia should consider establishing a body to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of human rights mechanisms.2 The recommendation was accepted as shortcomings in the implementation of the recommendations were identified not only as the weakest link in the chain of reporting to UN bodies, but also as a serious obstacle to fulfilling Serbia’s human rights obligations.

THE PATH TOWARDSESTABLISHINGTHE NATIONALMECHANISM

THE PATH TOWARDS ESTABLISHING THE NATIONAL MECHANISM

1 The core human rights treaties ratified by the Republic of Serbia are: (1) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (with the first

and second additional protocols); (2) International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; (3) Convention on the Elimination

of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Optional Protocol to the Convention; (4) Convention against Torture and Other

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Optional Protocol to the Convention; (5) International Convention on the

Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; (6) Convention on the Rights of the Child with two optional protocols; (7) Convention on

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol to the Convention; and (8) International Convention for the Protection of

All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. 2 The recommendation reads as follows: “Consider establishing a national organ to monitor implementation of the recommendations of UN

human rights mechanisms”.

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The process of establishing a local mechanism on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Serbia was led by the Office for Human and Minority Rights, with considerable support from the United Nations Human Rights Team in Serbia and the OSCE Mission to Serbia. All the necessary activities were undertaken to define the working methodology and to develop and adopt a body establishment study. A working group consisting of representatives of key ministries and hired experts was formed, with the task of working on the proposal to establish a national mechanism.

In the second half of 2013, consultations were held within the executive branch aimed at: • reaching a broad consensus on the

implementation of recommendation 131.4, and• proposing a methodology, action plan and

timeframe for developing a draft document on the national mechanism, including its the makeup and responsibilities.

In 2014, consultations were also held with

representatives of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality of the National Assembly, civil society organizations, independent human rights institutions and other relevant actors.

Consensus was reached that there was a need to establish a national body to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of international mechanisms related to human rights and the following conclusions were reached on the continuation of the process of establishing the national mechanism:

• The body should be established by the Government of the Republic of Serbia;

• The members of the body should be senior representatives of key ministries and other relevant government institutions;

• Other relevant actors should be involved in the body’s operation;

• The main principles for the functioning of such a body should be the involvement of all relevant actors, as well as its public operation and decision-making.

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PARLIAMENT

NEGOTIATINGTEAM

INDEPENDENTBODIES

PUBLICAUTHORITIES

OTHERACTORS

UN AND OTHERINTERNATIONALORGANIZATIONS

CIVILSOCIETY

OFFICE FOR HUMANAND MINORITY

RIGHTS

COUNCIL

THE PATH TOWARDS ESTABLISHING THE NATIONAL MECHANISM

ESTABLISHMENT AND THE FIRST FIVEYEARS OFTHE COUNCIL

The Government accepted the proposed model and, by its decision of 19 December 2014, established the Council for Monitoring the Implementation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms (hereinafter: the Council).

The Council was established for a period of five years.

The tasks of the Council are to: • review and monitor the implementation of the

recommendations received by the Republic of Serbia in the process of the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council and the recommendations of the United Nations treaty bodies - the Committee on Human Rights, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Committee against Torture, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on

Enforced Disappearance; • propose measures to implement the

recommendations received; • give opinions on the progress of human rights in

the reporting period; • provide expert explanations on the human rights

situation and the results achieved through the implementation of the recommendations.

The Council has a president and nine members. Members of the Council are appointed by the Government from among elected and appointed officials in the ministries responsible for justice, foreign affairs, home affairs, labour, employment, veterans’ and social affairs, education, science and technological development, health, culture and information, public administration and local self-government, and for European integrations.

Representatives of other government bodies and organizations and associations may be invited to attend the Council meetings.

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The Council is obliged to submit a report on its work to the Government every 90 days.

The Office for Human and Minority Rights provides expert and administrative-technical support to the Council.

The Council’s constituent session was held in March 2015 and a total of seven sessions have been held so far.

The Council’s key achievements so far are as follows: • establishing a functional mechanism for

monitoring the recommendations of the UN human rights treaty bodies;

• involvement of all relevant stakeholders in the work;• facilitating discussion of the reports prepared and

submitted to the UN human rights mechanisms; • considering the reports of the Republic of Serbia’s

delegations on participation in the sessions of the UN Human Rights Council in the UPR process

ESTABLISHMENT AND THE FIRST FIVE YEARS OF THE COUNCIL

Session of the Council for Monitoring the Implementation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms.

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as well as participation in the dialogue before the committees;

• improving the reporting process under UN human rights mechanisms;

• organizing public hearings on relevant topics;• establishing a network of civil servants as human

rights focal points in relevant institutions and their deputies;

• building the capacity of the officials involved in these processes;

• improving communication between the departments as well as between departments and other relevant actors;

• improving cooperation with civil society organizations;

• developing and adopting a Recommendations Implementation Monitoring Plan;

• setting up an initial database which will contain all recommendations and activities for their implementation.

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Session of the Council for Monitoring the Implementation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms.

COUNCIL’S ACTIVITIES

ACTORS’ CAPACITY BUILDING


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The Council is also active in organizing trainings ded-icated to building the capacities of both the Coun-cil members and focal points in relevant institutions/departments, as well as that of other civil servants, members of civil society organizations, and other ac-tors whose participation is important for the process of fulfilling the assumed obligations in the field of hu-man rights protection. Special attention was paid to building the capacity of focal points and their deputies. In the past, they par-ticipated in trainings on the UN human rights system, on reporting procedures under relevant UN mecha-nisms, on the particularities of the universal periodic

review, on the functioning of the Recommendations Monitoring Plan and on entering relevant data into the Plan, on the work on developing relevant perfor-mance indicators and monitoring the implementation of the recommendations compared to performance indicators, the UN 2030 Agenda and strategic sus-tainable objectives, as well as on the database and the role of focal points in the work on this segment.

Trainings were carried out by means of holding work-shops and round tables. In addition to focal points and deputy focal points from relevant executive in-stitutions, these events were also attended by rep-resentatives of the National Assembly, civil society

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organizations which actively participate in the work of the Council and which are signatories to the Mem-orandum of Cooperation with the Council, represen-tatives of the Ombudsman and the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, the United Nations Human Rights Team in Serbia, the OSCE Mission to Serbia, and other actors.

Two trainings were organized and held in 2017 with the aim of enhancing participants’ knowledge of the UN human rights system and its functioning, with focus on the obligation of periodic reporting on the treaties, on the Universal Periodic Review and best practices in implementing the recommendations ob-tained from UN human rights mechanisms: (1) rep-resentatives of the national mechanisms of Belgium and Finland for reporting and monitoring the recom-mendations were invited to the training in Belgrade to present their countries’ approaches and experiences in relation to the third cycle universal periodic review, and (2) training in Sabac was dedicated to learning

about the human rights indicators and the possibili-ties of including them in the Recommendations Mon-itoring Plan.

In 2018, the Council organized two workshops (in Vrdnik and in Sremski Karlovci), in which relevant ac-tors discussed indicators as a way of measuring the implementation of the recommendations. In these workshops, indicators for the thirty recommendations received from different UN mechanisms were consol-idated.

A workshop on «Indicators for the successful imple-mentation of the recommendations of the UN human rights treaty bodies» was held in June 2019 in Novi Sad with the aim of improving the work on the indica-tors. One session of the workshop was dedicated to the sustainable development goals and the UN 2030 Agenda and the way of linking the process of imple-menting the recommendations and the Agenda 2030.


THE THIRD CYCLE OF THE UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW - 2018


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It has already been mentioned above that in the second cycle of the UPR (2013) Serbia received a recommendation to consider the establishment of a body to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the human rights mechanisms and that, following that recommendation, Serbia established the Council in 2014.

Serbia entered the third cycle of the UPR, in which it was scheduled to present the report in January 2018, with an established and operational Council for monitoring the implementation of the recommendations of UN mechanisms.

The inclusion of the Council as a new and very significant actor brought about a shift in the way of preparing the universal periodic review report.

The change in the reporting process for the UPR and all efforts undertaken are aimed at improving the process, avoiding mistakes that occurred earlier, raising the level of transparency and enabling appropriate contribution of all stakeholders to the reporting process, improving coordination both within the executive branch and with other relevant actors. All this meant that the whole of 2017 would be dedicated to the third cycle of the universal periodic review.

Public hearing on the participation of the Republic of Serbia in the third UPR cycle – National Assembly, February 2018

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In March 2017, the Office for Human and Minority Rights established a working group to coordinate the UPR process and prepare the Republic of Serbia’s report.

By October 2017, the Working Group had held nine meetings and multiple consultations with all relevant stakeholders.

In order to better prepare for the third cycle of the UPR, in November 2017, the Council organized a visit to UN institutions and civil society organizations active in the UPR process, based in Geneva. This visit was supported by the United Nations Human Rights Team in Serbia and the OSCE Mission to Serbia. A delegation of Council members, representatives of civil society organizations and international organizations in Serbia met with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for UPR and the treaty bodies, the UPR Info and attended UPR sessions before the UN Human Rights Council.

The draft report was prepared by September 2017 and made publicly available on the Office for Human and Minority Rights website.

After the Government’s adoption of the report, it was presented to the UN Human Rights Council in January 2018.

Following the third cycle of the UPR, the Council, together with the National Assembly’s Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality, organized a public hearing in the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia on the results of the dialogue before the UN Human Rights Council.

The experience of the third cycle shows that the establishment of the Council and its role in the preparation of Serbia’s report greatly contributed to the improvement of the participation of the Republic of Serbia in the third cycle of the UPR compared to the previous two participations (in 2008 and 2013).


INCLUSION OF RELEVANT ACTORS IN THE WORK OF THE COUNCIL

COOPERATION WITH THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

National Assemblyof the Republic of Serbia


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From its inception, the Council has received strong support from the National Assembly.

Representatives of the National Assembly Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality attended all sessions of the Council and participated in all the Council’s activities to date.

This maintains a direct link between the executive and the legislative branch and strengthens the parliamentary oversight function in monitoring the implementation of the recommendations.

It is very important to emphasize that a public hearing has been organized in the National Assembly on the occasion of each UPR cycle, as well as that public hearings have been organized in the National Assembly on other issues relative to the promotion of human rights in the Republic of Serbia.

THE ROLE OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS

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In accordance with the Council’s Rules of Procedure, representatives of the Ombudsman and the Commissioner for Protection of Equality have the right to attend each session of the Council and the Council forwards them session materials.

The participation of these institutions in the work of the Council is of great importance.

Since 2010, the Ombudsman has been accredited with the UN as the national institution for the protection of human rights, which gives him/her the opportunity to participate in the work of the UN Human Rights Council and to actively participate in the activities of the UN treaty bodies.

As national human rights institutions/independent bodies also make recommendations to the state institutions, their practice and experience could be crucial to the work and activities of the Council.


PARTICIPATION OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS IN THE COUNCIL’S WORK

The Council and the Office for Human and Minority Rights respect the role of civil society organizations in the development of a democratic society and their contribution to the dissemination of the human rights ideas.

A number of meetings and consultations were held with CSOs in 2014 and 2015 to define the appropriate role of civil society organizations and their participation in the work of the Council.

The draft Memorandum of Cooperation included the following solutions:• two permanent CSO representatives will

participate in the work of the Council;• other CSO representatives may be invited to

attend Council meetings;• CSOs can enter comments/suggestions in the

Implementation Plan;• CSOs may, through their permanent

representatives, submit reports on the status

of implementation of the recommendations and request the Council to submit those reports to the Government together with the Council report;

• CSOs’ involvement in the work of the Council does not preclude the possibility of CSOs submitting their shadow reports to UN human rights mechanisms.

In May 2017, nine civil society organizations signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Council and the Memorandum was opened for further signatures. By July 2019, a total of 14 civil society organizations had signed the memorandum.

COOPERATION WITH CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS


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In July 2018, civil society organizations, which have considerable experience based on reporting to the UN Human Rights Mechanisms and monitoring the implementation of the recommendations, established the Platform of Organizations for Cooperation with the UN Human Rights Mechanisms.

The Platform points to the need and importance of a continuous and evidence-based reporting process, monitoring the implementation of recommendations addressed to the Republic of Serbia by the mechanisms and interaction with Government bodies

to monitor the implementation of UN human rights recommendations.

The Council sees the Platform as a partner on the CSO side in the process of implementing the recommendations.

The Platform representatives have participated in all Council activities to date.

We assess the cooperation with the Platform as good, and we hope that it will be intensified and improved in the coming period.

CSO PLATFORM FOR COOPERATION WITH UN HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

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Since 2018, the Council and Office have been involved in the UNICEF project and the CSO Coalition for Children’s Rights led by the Centre for the Rights of the Child, working on the implementation of the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The project resulted in the Coalition for the Rights of the Child matrix, which contains all the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child received in the last reporting cycle.

Given that the Committee’s recommendations are complex and, in most cases, consist of a number of specific recommendations, all the recommendations in the matrix are specified and reduced to precise recommendations. For each specific recommendation, CSOs gave their views on the bodies responsible for their implementation, as well as indicators for each recommendation.

After reaching a consensus between the CSOs, the matrix was discussed with the representatives of the Council and the competent state authorities.

The Council also organized a workshop in Novi Sad in June 2019, which considered the proposed indicators and achieved a high degree of consensus on the competencies of the authorities and the proposed indicators.

The agreed indicators will be subject to approval by the Council at the forthcoming Council meeting, which would allow these indicators to be included in the Recommendations Implementation Monitoring Plan.

This form of cooperation with CSOs highlighted the need to separate sub-recommendations and make recommendations more specific. It also proved to be a way of ensuring very good co-operation and communication between representatives of relevant departments and civil society organizations. UNICEF support has been very important and has contributed to a focused and effective approach to this issue.

The Council and the Office plan to support a similar approach in the process with CSOs dealing with women’s rights with the support of the UN Women Office in Serbia.

COUNCIL’S COOPERATION WITH CSOs ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS FROM INDIVIDUAL UN CONVENTIONS/INSTRUMENTS


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The Council has established excellent cooperation with international organizations and, right from the start, this process has enjoyed considerable support from the United Nations Human Rights Team in Serbia, as well as the OSCE Mission, which has recognized the importance of these issues.

We would also like to highlight the support we received from UNICEF and the UN Women Office in

Serbia for project activities for cooperation with civil society organizations on recommendations for child rights and women’s rights.

We hope to continue our support and cooperation with international organizations, without whose assistance this process would not lead to the results achieved so far.

RELATIONS WITH INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

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DEVELOPING AND RUNNING THE RECOMMENDATIONS IMPLEMENTATION MONITORING PLAN


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The Council prepared a Recommendations Monitoring Plan, a document that incorporated all the recommendations received from UN human rights mechanisms. This document should considerably facilitate acting in these processes and, as a functional action plan, contain the answers, or at least relevant information necessary to provide answers to the key questions:

• How does a specific recommendation read? • Who is responsible for its implementation/

fulfilment? • What does the fulfilment of each specific

recommendation mean and how to achieve it? • What is the schedule of fulfilling each specific

recommendation?

The plan should: provide an overview of the recommendations and the status of their fulfilment at all times, clearly indicate the plan of activities for achieving a specific goal and, in this regard, improve coordination in the implementation process, serve as a source of relevant information on the status of implementation of the recommendations and thus improve the process of preparing periodic reports to the UN treaty bodies, as well as enhance communication and coordination between Council members and all other actors involved in the process.

Additional factors that contribute to effective implementation are availability of implementation outcome data for each phase of the recommendation cycle, constant monitoring of the implementation

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CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (CRС)The Committee considered the combined second and third periodic reports of Serbia (CRC/C/SRB/2-3) at its 2179th and 2180th meetings (see CRC/C/SR.2179 and 2180), held on 24 January 2017, and adopted the following concluding observations at its 2193rd meeting (see CRC/C/SR.2193), held on 3 February 2017.

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38. The Committee recommends that the State party establish a system to track all cases involving child marriag-es among ethnic groups, particularly Roma girls, and provide child victims with shelter as well as appropriate rehabilitation and counselling services, and develop aware-ness raising campaigns highlighting the harmful con-sequences of child marriage.

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18 (38) - 1 Developed mechanism for early identification of child marriage risk for professionals in the field of social protection, education, health care and police

18 (38) - 1 Conceptualized system for monitoring child marriage

18 (38) - 1 Number of reported cases of child marriages, especially those including Roma girls, on an annual basis (referring to those cases that Centers for social works are reported at the end of the year when the monitoring system is conceptu-alized)

18 (38) - 1 Number of prosecuted cases and convictions related to child marriage (it is necessary to include this indicator since many Centers for social works after numerous sent complains not being prosecuted giving up on launching further complains. Public Prosecutor offices should be more aware of this topic)

18 (38) - 1 Percentage of girls and women who were married or married as children (before age of 15 and before age of 18)

18 (38) - 2 Number of child victims provided with shelter (shelter), on an annual basis

18 (38) - 2 Number of child victims pro-vided with counseling services, annually

18 (38) - 2 Number of programs and amount of funds dedicated for support programs for children at risk of child marriage and their families

18 (38) - 3 Number of awareness cam-paigns on the harmful effects of child marriages

18 (38) - 3 National Coalition of Key Stakeholders to Fight Child Marriage Established

Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere Targets:1.3 Implement nationally appropriate social

protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.

1.b Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gen-der-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication actions.

Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girlsTargets:5.2 Eliminate all forms of violence against

all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including traffick-ing and sexual and other types of exploitation.

5.3 Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries.Targets:10.2 By 2030, empower and promote

the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.

Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclu-sive institutions at all levels.Targets:16.2 End abuse, exploitation, trafficking

and all forms of violence against and torture of children

16.3 Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all


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plan and introduction of amendments to the implementation plan in line with the progress made. A clear division of roles of all relevant institutions must be established as a precondition to the successful implementation of the recommendations.

The next steps will include not only continuing to work on mapping out all recommendations and entering information on competencies to fulfil specific accepted recommendations, but also the ability to divide recommendations into thematic clusters within the Fulfilment Plan, such as national minorities, specific issues related to Roma, LGBTI population, the judiciary, gender equality-related issues, etc. The reason for grouping the recommendations is that different UN human rights mechanisms give identical or partially similar recommendations for a particular issue or position of a particular group. These divisions should improve the efficiency and quality of periodic reports, and should be a good basis for efficient implementation and creation of priority action lists.

The indicators are gradually being introduced into the Recommendation Fulfilment Plan and should provide timely, up-to-date, realistic and specific information on the recommendations implementation status. Indicators, in this regard, should be ancillary tools rather than formulate new goals and create obstacles in the implementation process. It should be noted here that the progress in developing the indicators is a result of the collaborative work of the representatives of the government departments with the civil society, UN agencies and the OSCE Mission.

Finally, the introduction of the column stating the link to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030 should contribute to taking into consideration the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 target values contained in the UN 2030 Agenda when meeting the recommendations. The core dimensions of sustainable development (economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection) should undoubtedly be taken into account in this process. The relevant Sustainable Development Goals should be identified for each specific recommendation and taken into account when considering and fulfilling each of the recommendations.

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DEVELOPING A DATABASE


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The Council has started to set up an electronic database to meet its ambitious goals.

The recommendations fulfilment monitoring plan will gradually be transformed into an interactive, transparent and cross-referenced database that will be constantly improved and updated.

The database will exist in electronic form and its establishment was initiated by the Council and the Office for Human Rights and its development is supported by the United Nations Human Rights Team in Serbia.

The database will include an updated monitoring plan for the implementation of the recommendations,

which the focal points will be able to access and will be obliged to provide up-to-date information on the fulfilment of the recommendations for which their institutions are responsible, as well as to enter all information relevant to the implementation/fulfilment of a specific recommendation.

There will be general and unrestricted access to the database, both to the expert and the general public, in its part which is of public interest. It will be a place where everyone will be able to get acquainted with Serbia’s current obligations towards UN human rights mechanisms, as well as the level of implementation of specific recommendations, the bodies responsible for fulfilling the recommendations, as well as the activities undertaken.

REGIONAL CONFERENCE, BELGRADE, NOVEMBER 2018

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A regional conference entitled «Practices in Reporting to United Nations Treaty Bodies for the Protection of Human Rights and Monitoring the Implementation of Recommendations» was held in Belgrade in November 2018.

This event was also an expression of the aspiration of the Government of the Republic of Serbia to initiate a dialogue on good practices and next steps in the process of implementing the recommendations received from the UN treaty bodies.

In addition to representatives of the Republic of Serbia, the conference was attended by representatives of

Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, representatives of non-governmental organizations, as well as representatives of international organizations which supported the event.

The conference presented international aspects of reporting, implementation of UN treaty body recommendations, experiences and good practices from the countries in the region, steps towards improving national monitoring and implementation mechanisms, as well as mechanisms and practices developed in the Republic of Serbia.


WORKING ON A COMMON CORE DOCUMENT


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The Council organized a working group to draft a new Common Core Document as it was assessed that Serbia needed a new document like this due to the passage of time.

The working group includes representatives of all relevant government departments, the parliament and the judiciary. Expert support has also been provided.The CSOs will also give their contribution.

The new document is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.

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ACHIEVEMENTS,CHALLENGESAND NEXTSTEPS

The establishment of the Council is not only a formal fulfilment of recommendation 131.4 obtained in the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review, but also an expression of the Government’s serious efforts to improve the reporting processes and to act on the recommendations of the UN human rights mechanisms.

It also works towards improving cooperation between the government institutions themselves, as well as state institutions and other relevant actors in the process, with the aim of increasing transparency

of the reporting process, as well as raising public attention and awareness regarding human rights issues.

One of the more pragmatic outcomes will also be the collection of information needed for the EU negotiation process, especially for Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights).

The most important goal of establishing the Council is not only to formally fulfil the recommendations received, but to raise awareness of the importance of


ACHIEVEMENTS, CHALLENGES AND NEXT STEPS

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human rights and to improve the protection of human rights in Serbia.

We hope that the mapping and grouping of recommendations and the clear division of competencies for the implementation of the recommendations between government institutions will lead to the creation of a list of priorities for implementation.

The processes to date have highlighted the need to view the recommendations received from most UN committees as complex recommendations that, for better, easier and more successful implementation, should be seen as several separate recommendations. These sub-recommendations often have different implementing authorities, as

well as different performance indicators. Developing performance indicators is expected to improve the recommendations implementation process.

In that sense, the recommendations implementation plan will be improved.

All of these will provide strong support to the reporting processes and a solid basis for making appropriate decisions about what the best activities to implement specific recommendations are (including prioritizing those activities), and what the appropriate timeframes for those activities are.

The Council’s adopted model provides an opportunity to appropriately include all relevant actors in the process.

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THE FOLLOWING PRIORITIES HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED FOR THE COMING PERIOD:

continued coordination of the activities of competent departments in which the Council has a critical role;

the recommendations of the UN human rights mechanisms will be linked to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs (creating visible links between the recommendations received from the treaty bodies and the UPR process with the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda, to support a common approach to prioritizing in human rights and other areas);

continued introduction of human rights indicators, with the aim of establishing quality and useful tools for measuring progress in the carrying out of the Implementation Plan. By the end of 2020, performance indicators should be defined for more than half of the recommendations received;

further development and improvement of the electronic database and training of focal points and their deputies for work on the database;

continued capacity building of focal points and other participants in the process. The Council, with the support of current partners, will continue with intensive trainings and workshops;

Continued improvement of cooperation with CSOs and other relevant actors. This applies in particular to cooperation with the CSO Platform;

continued cooperation with partners from international organizations.

There are proposals to include recommendations coming from UN special procedures in the work of the Council. The same could apply to human rights mechanisms outside the UN system, such as the Council of Europe mechanisms. There are also ideas coming from CSO representatives that the Council should extend its jurisdiction to individual petitions before the UN treaty bodies.

For the time being, the Council has opted for a step-by-step approach and has first strengthened and

continues to strengthen its foundations. All of the above capacity-building activities of the Council serve to achieve full functionality.

It is to be expected that in the coming period the Council will move towards expanding its remit, but this should not be rushed. We believe this is a sensible approach, as some steps still need to be taken to improve the implementation of existing UN mechanisms’ recommendations.


implementation of the recommendations of the un …...implementation of the recommendations of the...

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