The action “Combating discrimination and promoting diversity in Serbia” will be focused on providing continuous support to the legislative and policy reforms aimed at combating discrimination and protecting the rights of national/ethnic/linguistic minorities; strengthening capacities of beneficiaries in countering hate speech and hate crime; promoting and protecting the rights of vulnerable social groups, including youth, Roma, and LGBTI persons.

It intervenes in line with the standards and recommendations of  the  Council of Europe, notably those of the European Commission against Racism  and Intolerance (ECRI) and those  of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ACFCNM). It aims at supporting the beneficiaries in Serbia in their effort to comply with Council of Europe standards and European Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process.

This action is implemented within the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” running from 2023 until 2026.

What are the goals and objectives of the action?

The goal of the action is to improve functioning of anti-discrimination mechanisms and their accessibility by vulnerable groups, in line with the European standards and best practices.

Who benefits from the action?

• people of Serbia
• national and local authorities, including the law enforcement agencies
• education professionals
• national minorities and other vulnerable social groups such as youth, Roma and LGBTI+ population
• civil society organisations engaged in promoting and protecting human rights

How does the action work?

• by providing legal and strategic support to institutions
• through capacity building activities
• through peer-to-peer exchanges with regional and European partners
• by organising awareness raising initiatives and public discussions on selected anti-discrimination topics
• by supporting civil society organisations and local authorities by small grant schemes, to enhance their capacities to tackle discrimination and reach out to the people
• by supporting inter-institutional dialogue on issues of pertinence to equality, to foster co-operation among partners and to enhance the dialogue between state and non-state stakeholders
• the action builds on the best practices and results of co-operation under previous two phases of the programme: action “Strengthening the protection of national minorities in Serbia” (2016 – 2019) and “Promotion of diversity and equality in Serbia” (2019 – 2022)

What do we expect to achieve?

• institutions of Serbia and CSOs strengthen their capacity to combat different forms of discrimination, hate speech and other human rights violations against vulnerable social groups
• relevant ministries/institutions at both central and local level improve the social dialogue and increase the public participation of national minority groups in decision-making processes
• the people of Serbia acquire greater understanding of diversity and become more aware about the dangers of hatred, intolerance and racism to the social cohesion, as well as the ways how to better address them

What is the budget of the action?

The total budget of the actions is 800 000 EUR.

The budget allocated to the overall Horizontal Facility programme amounts to ca. 41 million EUR (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe).

How to get more information?

• Council of Europe: Inclusion and anti-discrimination
• Horizontal Facility website and e-mail address

About the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye

The “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” is a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe that enables the Western Balkans Beneficiaries and Türkiye to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.