CONFERENCE

SOLIDARITY IN TIME OF CRISIS

in Belgrade, September 26 2017

Venue: Dorćol Platz, Dobračina 59.

The conference about solidarity is the final part of the project “Celebrating Solidarity” which Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation implemented during 2016. and 2017. with partners from 5 countries with the support of the European Union’s „Europe for Citizens Programme“.

Participants at the conference had an opportunity to listen the speech of Serbian basketball player, Natasa Kovacevic who is running the Foundation dedicated to promotion of female sport and support to serious injured athletes.

Marina Tadić, representative of The Office for Cooperation with Civil Society which is also the point of contact of „Europe for Citizens Programme“ has also spoken to the guests and shared information about the support that organizations from Serbia got through this programme.

During the conference the results of the “Celebrating Solidarity” project were presented as well as activities which were conducted with partners from Radio Kit Foundation (Poland), DemNet (Hungary), Multi-Kulti Collective (Bulgary), MladiInfo (Macedonia), Partners Albania, (Albania) i Ana i Vlade Divac Foundation (Serbia).

The representatives of all organizations were presenting project activities – creating audio and video stories about solidarity among individuals, Research on Solidarity Among Young People, but also the festivals of Solidarity in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania and Serbia.

The important part of this conference was dedicated to media and individuals who are leaders of solidarity in Serbia. During the first panel they talked about how much media are important for encouraging solidarity, informing and engaging citizens and companies in projects which support vulnerable individuals or groups. Journalist from Albania – Orinda Huta, Macedonia – Ognen Janeski also participated in the conference and shared their experiences about solidarity in the time of crisis.

On the other panel participants, met individuals who through their own efforts are helping people around them and some of them already have the activities in the whole region.

Humanitarian activities of this leaders of solidarity drive media attention, but they also motivate other people and companies to help and show solidarity.

A part of the conference was the travelling photo exhibition which could be seen in 10 cities in Serbia which and was created in cooperation with the Tanjug news agency whose photographs took photos in the times of crisis such as while catastrophic floods in May 2014. and the emigrant crisis which escalated in Europe in the summer of 2015.

Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation is thankful to everyone who was a part of the conference and shared beautiful and inspirational stories about solidarity and about how we can change society to become better.

We would like to share part of the letter which we got from one of the participants, of the conference. “Today’s conference, for me personally, was “the ocean” of the inspiration, proof that people who care really exist, that people who are ready to give the last atom of their strength when they now that they are doing the right thing, no matter how impossible the goal may seem”, Adrian Nikačević, country director, Jesuit Refugee Service.