Serbia

06.11.2006 Viktorija Vojnic-Hajduk and her son Ivan were found in their decrepit house in Subotica, several days after they both died of hunger, report the Belgrade based media.

01.11.2006 The Team for Implementation of Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) started a new initiative dedicated to better exchange of information and strengthened cooperation between the civil society and state institutions, as well as stronger participation of civil society in all stages of PRS implementation.

31.10.2006 The Referendum on the New Constitution of Serbia succeeded, reports CeSID on the basis of its exit poll conducted on a representative sample of 600 ballot stations. 51.6% of all registered voters voted for the New Constitution. In absolute numbers, that is 108,000 votes more than the required threshold.

27.10.2006 Marijana Pajvancic, professor of Constitutional Law at Novi Sad University, said last night, at the “Boycott, Of Course!” debate held at the Museum of Vojvodina, that the referendum process won’t be controlled properly, having in mind that the Referendum Commission members come solely from the ranks of political parties that support the New Constitution.

26.10.2006 The Intiative for Boycott of the Referendum on the New Constitution, started by Vojvodina based non-governmental organizations, demanded from the state authorities to start ex officio investigation on the incident in Tuesdays’ rally in Belgrade, accompanied with insults on a whole nation, the NGO and political party activists who support the boycott of the coming Referendum.

25.10.2006 The 4th Annual Assembly of the Federation of NGOs in Serbia(FeNS) was held in Belgrade, October 21-22, with participation of over 150 representatives of member-organizations.

23.10.2006 The Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID) will follow the turnout and the results of the referendum on the Constitution of Serbia on a representative sample of 600 ballot stations, the voting procedure and any eventual violations of law and proper procedures.

23.10.2006 The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) will open a office by the end of this year, having in mind Serbia’s problems with age structure of the population and the “brain-drain” issue.

21.10.2006 More than 20 nongovernmental organizations from Serbia signed the open letter to Hans Ola Urstad, Head of OSCE Mission to Serbia, demanding explanation of the view that the coming referendum on the new Constitution is democratic.

21.10.2006 Approximately a quarter of Serbian population (one million and a half, 24.2%) uses internet, shows the survey conducted by the Centre for Study of Information Technology (CEPIT), an institution working under the auspices of the Belgrade Open School.