At today’s session, the Poverty Reduction Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia discussed the report on the Committee’s activities during a parliamentary visit to Israel. At the invitation of the Speaker of the Knesset, and based on the Memorandum on Co-operation between the United Nations Development Programme and the National Assembly. The delegation on the visit to Israel was made up of Snezana Stojanovic-Plavsic, delegation head and Committee chairperson, and Committee members Toma Busetic, Donka Banovic, Radojle Bukvic, Snezana Pantic-Aksentijevic, Leila Ruzdic-Trifunovic, and Predrag Mijailovic.

After an exhaustive presentation of the results of the first parliamentary visit to Israel, the Committee resolved to form a working group made up of members of the delegation that visited the Knesset. The aim of the working group is to establish contacts, as soon as possible, with the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Policy, the Ministry of International Economic Affairs, and the Ministry of the Diaspora, in order to present projects demonstrated in Israel and discuss the possibility of implementing similar projects in Serbia. The most positive experience from Israeli practice, and one that would be of great use in suppressing poverty in Serbia, is implementation of the Mahalev Project, which was preceded by several years of preparation through analyses of welfare and employment programmes from several countries, whose best practices were then adopted. The project is expected to result in an 85% reduction in unemployment in Israel.

The Committee’s session also discussed the Report on the Implementation of the Proposals of New Legislation Aimed at Reducing Child Poverty in Serbia Project, financed by the OSCE Development Fund. One phase of the project could not be implemented because of objective difficulties; therefore, OSCE funding is to be diverted into the preparation of a brochure about activities of all Committees that took part in the joint project supported by the Development Fund.

At the next session, to be held next week, the Committee is to discuss the report of the PRSP Team attached to the office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Miroljub Labus, on the implementation of the Serbia Poverty Reduction Strategy.