Organized by the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society and partner civil society organizations led by Belgrade Open School, a conference "Dialogue a Step Closer to Citizens" was held on November 1, 2019, at the Palace of Serbia.

While opening the Conference, Žarko Stepanović, Acting Director of the Office, recalled that “Since its establishment, the Office has sought to foster dialogue between the state and civil society on important social issues, creating different models of cooperation and supporting state administration to actively involve civil society in their work and decision-making processes, but also empowering civil society to be an equal partner to the state in decision-making." He added that 10 years after the passing of the Law on Associations, civil society continues to strengthen its capacities thus becoming an indispensable contributor to the state in almost all areas of social development, and as such it is an essential partner in the reform processes carried out within the framework of accession to the European Union.

Emphasizing the importance of the donor community, Stepanović pointed out that the Conference was realized with the significant support of the European Union Program Europe for Citizens, for which the Office is a national contact point, and recalled that 46 projects with leads from Serbia were approved under this program over the past 7 years in the total amount of 3.3 million euros, while over 460 beneficiaries from Serbia became partners in multiple projects.

"The great interest for this event speaks of the existence of a will, but also existence of a real need to talk openly. That is why I would like to bring and convey from this Conference the message about the importance of dialogue, because it is the first prerequisite for us to get to know each other better, to strengthen our mutual trust" concluded Stepanović.

Besides the Acting Director of the Office, the participants were addressed by Ivan Bošnjak, State Secretary at the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government, Brankica Janković, Commissioner for Protection of Equality, Vesna Đukić, Director General of Belgrade Open School, Ekmel Çizmecioğlu, Program Manager for Civil Society and Human Rights in the EU Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, and Shanley Pinchotti, Director of the Office for Democratic and Economic Development within the USAID Mission to Serbia.

After introductory speeches, through three sessions and with the participation of 120 representatives of civil society and state administration bodies, the situation in the civil sector and environment for the work and operation of civil society organizations was discussed ten years after the Law on Associations was adopted.

The realization of the Conference was supported through the European Union Program "Europe for Citizens" and by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through support to the project "Active Citizens: A Better Society: Advocating for Cooperation and Democratic Development".

More materials from the Conference will be available in the coming days via the profile of the Office https://www.facebook.com/governmentOCDrs and the Europe for Citizens Program https://en-rs.facebook.com/EFCrs/ on social networks.