Respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, are the very foundations of the democratic society. The importance of active participation in the census and free declaration of nationality of members of minority communities contributes to the preservation and development of their own identity, and greatly affects the quality of support and policies created at the state level, which aim to improve the position of members of national minorities.
Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue of the Republic of Serbia, in cooperation with 23 national councils of national minorities and with the support of the project “Support for Strengthening Rule of Law in the Republic of Serbia”, is implementing the campaign “All of us, together, make Serbia” during October 2022, which aims to encourage members of national minorities to participate in the census and freely declare their nationality. The campaign is carried out in media with national and local coverage, as well as in media that broadcast programs in the languages of national minorities. For each of the 23 national minorities in the Republic of Serbia, TV and radio spots, posters and leaflets in the language in use have been prepared.
Support for the campaign was provided by the project “Support for Strengthening Rule of Law in the Republic of Serbia” (EU FOR THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION AND FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS), as part of activities aimed at improving the position of national minorities, which were financed by the EU and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and development (BMZ), whose implementation is in charge of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. One of the goals of the project is to raise the awareness of members of national minorities about the importance of participating in the upcoming Population Census.
The census of the population, households, and apartments in the Republic of Serbia, under the slogan “Participate in the census – leave a mark” lasts from October 1 to 31, 2022. In addition to households and apartments, the census will include citizens of the Republic of Serbia with residence or residence in the Republic of Serbia without regardless of where they will be present during the census, permanently settled foreigners, as well as those granted temporary residence or residing in the Republic of Serbia at the time of the census.