Within the Programme of German development cooperation "Inclusion of Roma and other marginalized groups in Serbia", implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in cooperation with the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue as a political partner and the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs as a key partner with the support of the GFA Consulting House, the Association of Coordinators for Roma Issues launched the project "Establishment of a social enterprise / cooperative".

On that occasion, on April 29th 2022., in the ceremonial hall of the Assembly of the Municipality of Osečina, the founding assembly of the agricultural cooperative - a producer of colored fruit from the village of Jalovik was held. The goal of establishing this cooperative is to strengthen the capacity of the Roma population, as well as to improve their position in the labor market. With the idea of ​​overall social inclusion, this newly formed cooperative represents a cooperative of all citizens of the municipality of Osečina.

We had the great honor to host the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry Mr. Darko Božić, President of the Cooperative Union of Serbia Nikola Mihailović, representative of the GFA consulting house Mr. Miodrag Shrestha and President of the Cooperative Union of Southern Serbia Mr. Dejan Mitić . On that day, in the settlement of Konjic, with raspberries farmers, the guests had the opportunity to visit their agricultural farms.

The door of his house, on behalf of the Municipality of Osečina, was opened to us by its president, Mr. Nikola Tomić, who gave full support to this initiative. The cooperation with the coordinator for Roma issues, was also emphasized by Mr. Siniša Muratović, where joint efforts are being made to improve the position of Roma in this municipality. On this occasion, the cooperative members had the opportunity to convey the problems they are facing, and some of the worst are the lack of water supply infrastructure, poor road infrastructure and the problem with electricity.

Association of Coordinators for Roma Issues