The Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit (SIPRU)

Governamental organisation

The Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit (SIPRU)  http://socijalnoukljucivanje.gov.rs/en/category/documents/

The Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit is mandated to strengthen Government capacities to develop and implement social inclusion policies based on good practices in Europe. Furthermore, the SIPRU provides support to the Government to coordinate, monitor and report on the efforts of the Government of Serbia in the field of social inclusion. The Unit supports the building of capacities and processes with the aim of a more effective development and implementation of social inclusion policies in all public administration bodies, so that the Republic of Serbia is enabled to report on: establishing the monitoring system based on social inclusion indicators, developed and integrated social inclusion policies, strengthened and development capacities of public administration to implement and report on the social inclusion process, as well as on the established and sustainable unit which shall represent a mechanism for coordinating further development and reporting on the social inclusion process. The social inclusion policies are mainstreamed in the regular activities of relevant institutions of the Government of the Republic of Serbia at all levels. Thus the priorities of the social inclusion process shall be reflected in the processes of regular activity planning and budgeting. The processes to be developed are based on the knowledge and good practices of European countries, as well as the experiences of the Republic of Serbia collected during the development and implementation of national policies, including the relevant documents such as the National Program of Integration of the Republic of Serbia into the European Union and the Poverty Reduction Strategy. The Swiss Confederation is providing support to the Government of the Republic of Serbia to enhance the social inclusion process in the Republic of Serbia, in the period 2009 – 2017, through the project entitled “Support to Improve Social Inclusion in Serbia”.

Ivan Sekulović Manager ivan.sekulovic@gov.rs Ivan Sekulović graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Belgrade, where he finished specialist studies in the European Union law. He founded several non-government organizations as a youth and student activist and launched several magazines. He was a student of the Belgrade Open School from 1999 through 2000. He worked as a journalist for the Ekonomist weekly since 2000. He was engaged as European integration advisor in the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Affairs from 2006 through 2009. He has worked in the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit since 2009 to improve the utilization of European funds for vulnerable population in Serbia. He has extensive training experience in the field of project management and European policies in the field of social inclusion. Jelena Milovanović Deputy Manager, Youth Employment Initiative jelena.milovanovic@gov.rs Jelena Milovanović graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade and holds an MA in public administration, local government and public policies at the Faculty of Political Sciences. She worked in the European Movement in Serbia from 2001 through 2006. She worked as a member of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Implementation Focal Point from 2006 as Coordinator for Economic Development and Employment. She has worked in the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit since 2009, tackling economic issues with a focus on employment, social entrepreneurship and rural development, and recently she became the contact person for the Youth Employment Initiative. Dragana Jovanović Arijas Deputy Manager, Roma Inclusion Coordinator dragana.jovanovic@gov.rs Dragana Jovanovic Arijas graduated from the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Belgrade, where she completed studies in Social Politics and Social Work. She gained valuable experiences and knowledge about children rights and interculturality within the “EmPower” program of Pestalozzi Children Foundation from Switzerland. Her professional experience was developed in civil society organizations (Group 484, Centre for interactive pedagogy, Centre for Youth Integration-CYI, Centre Е8 etc) and in cooperation with international organizations and foundations (UNICEF office in Belgrade, Open Society Institute, Roma Education Found, Pestalozzi Foundation, OSCE etc.). She has been a member of the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit since 2016, where she contributes to the social inclusion of Roma with special focus on education. She believes that everyone is entitled to the right of equal chances to fulfil their full potentials, as well as to a support system in achieving this goal. She speaks English and Spanish and hopes that one day she will learn Romani language as well. Lidija Kuzmanov Employment and Economic Development Coordinator lidija.kuzmanov@gov.rs Lidija Kuzmanov graduated from the Department for International Economy and Foreign Trade at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade. She completed the courses of the International Monetary Fund entitled “Fiscal Programming and Policies” (2011) and “Macroeconomic Forecast” (2012). She started her career in the Republic Development Institute, where she worked as an advisor for investment and international competitiveness from 2008 through 2011. She worked in the Ministry of Finance as an investment advisor from 2011 through 2012. She was a representative of Serbia at the macroeconomic development conference in China (2009). She has worked as the Economic Development Coordinator in the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit since 2012. Dragana Malidžan Vinkić Education Coordinator dragana.malidzan@gov.rs Dragana Malidžan Vinkić graduated at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Belgrade, acquiring the title of Professor of Serbian Language and Literature. Between 2006 and 2015 she worked at the “Isidora Sekulić” primary school in Pančevo as a Serbian language teacher, while between July 2015 and October 2016 she worked at the Social Inclusion Group of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, as an Associate for Inclusive Education. She has been a member of the Network of Support for Inclusive Education since 2010. Since October 2016 she has been working as the Education Coordinator of the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit. During her professional development she actively worked on the inclusion of children and students from vulnerable groups in the regular education system and contributed to raising awareness on the importance of education for every child, regardless of their diversity. Bojana Ružić Coordinator for European Integration and International Cooperation bojana.ruzic@gov.rs Bojana Ružić graduated from the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Belgrade at the Department of Political Science, gaining her first work experience in the Municipality of Savski Venac between 2008 and 2010. Between 2010 and 2016 she worked as Project Coordinator at the “Center for Democracy” Foundation, working on projects in the field of European integration, economic and social rights. During the period 2014-2016 she was a member of the Programme Council of the National Convention on the European Union and Coordinator for the working group monitoring negotiation chapters 2 – Freedom of Movement for Workers and 19 – Social Policy and Employment, and is the author of several analyses in these fields. She was also involved in the work of the mechanisms for the cooperation of civil society and the public sector in the planning and use of international development assistance – the Sectoral Civil Society Organizations (SECO) in the fields of human resources and social development, representing a mechanism monitoring the process of implementation of reforms related to education, employment, social inclusion, healthcare and youth. She has been working at the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit since December 2016, holding the post of Coordinator for European Integration and International Cooperation. Biljana Mladenović Economic Analyst biljana.mladenovic@gov.rs Biljana Mladenović graduated from the Faculty of Economy of the University of Belgrade at the Department of Economic Analysis and Policy. She was awarded the MA degree at the Department of Fiscal and Monetary Management and has entered PhD studies at the same faculty. Biljana started working in 2008 in the Republic Development Institute as junior advisor for fiscal system and public finance policy. She joined the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit in 2009 as Economic Analyst. She has authored different economic analyses in the field of social inclusion and took part as a member of the project team developing the microsimulation “tax-benefit” model – EUROMOD, called SRMOD, in 2009. Aleksandar Rončević Program Coordinator, Youth Employment Initiative a.roncevic@gov.rs Aleksandar Rončević graduated from the Department of International Relations at the Faculty of Political Science of the University in Belgrade in 2009, where he subsequently attained the title of Graduate Master of Politicology for International Politics. From the moment of completing studies he started to work on the issue of strategic planning and coordination of public policies at the central level of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, participating in all three phases of reform until the end of 2015. He joined the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit in November 2015, as part of the project “Support to the Implementation of ESRP Focusing on Employment Policy and Increasing Youth Employability”. As program coordinator he manages the thematic grant scheme “Support for Innovative Approaches to Increasing Youth Employment and Employability”. Jovana Đinđić Programme Assistant jovana.djindjic@gov.rs Jovana Đinđić graduated from the Faculty of Media and Communications of the University Singidunum in 2013, where she completed studies in Communications. She obtained her Master’s degree in Social Cognition at the University College London (UCL). Jovana was an intern in the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit from March to September 2016. During her internship she provided support to Unit members in the fields of LGBT rights, education, and Roma inclusion. From October to December 2016 Jovana was an intern in Group for Social Inclusion in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. Jovana has been engaged as Programme Assistant in the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit since December 2016. Andrea Andrijašević Procurement and Finance Coordinator andrea.andrijasevic@gov.rs Andrea Adrijašević graduated from “Braća Karić” University, Faculty of Management of Belgrade, where she finished Master studies in marketing and public relations. She worked as a consultant for projects financed from the World Bank loan- as Administrative Assistant in the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia (2010-2013) and as Team Assistant in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Serbia, National Water Directorate (2008). She worked as Finance and Sales Assistant in “City Magazine Roularta” Ltd. Belgrade from 2008 through 2010. In 2013 and 2014, she worked as Administrative Assistant and Public Relations Coordinator in “Healthy Future Consulting” which deals with public health issues. She has been a member of the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit since August 2014 and she tackles the issues of procurement and finance.