Mary Warlick and Antje Rothemund visit GSA stand at CSO Fair

Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), like every year so far, is taking part in the 3rd Civil Society Organisations Fair (CSO Fair) which opened today on the square of Nikola Pašić in Belgrade and which lasts for two days.

Focus of GSA’s presentation this year is the initiative to introduce hate crime into the Criminal Code of Serbia. In addition, numerous activists at GSA stand are giving out materials related to this subject, which was created with the aid of OSCE Mission to Serbia, as well as other promotional materials, and they are talking with citizens on topics related to LGBT human rights and acquainting them with the work of the Gay Straight Alliance.

After the Fair was opened, GSA stand was visited among others by H.E. Ms Mary Warlick, the US Ambassador, and H.E. Ms Antje Rothemund, Head of Office at the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade. They spent some time talking to GSA activists about the initiative to introduce hate crime into the Criminal Code. The US Ambassador told the activists that this initiative is very good and that it is important that it be realised, and she told them to keep up the good work.

On the second day of the Fair, on Friday 25th May 2012 from 3 to 4 p.m, GSA is organising the panel discussion “Hate crime in the Criminal Code – why we need it and what it would change”, which is going to be held on an open stage on the square of Nikola Pašić. Speakers at the panel include representatives of state institutions, OSCE Mission to Serbia, experts from the academic community, and representatives of YUCOM and GSA.

The two-day CSO Fair is organised for the third year in a row by the City of Belgrade’s Agency for European Integrations and Cooperation with Civil Society with the aim to allow non-governmental organisations to present themselves to the citizens of Belgrade, to colleagues from the civil sector, to the representatives of local self-government and state institutions, to the funding community and the media. This year’s Fair is entitled “Self-Initiative”.

Info Centre GSA

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube