With the exhibition “Institucije kriju informacije kao zmija noge“, which took place at the Center for Cultural Decontamination on December 5, 2019, we marked the ending of the Future of Freedom of Information in Serbia project, implemented by Partners Serbia, in cooperation with the Law Scanner and the Bureau for Social Research (BIRODI), and with the support of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia.

The event was attended by representatives of academia, civil society organizations and the media, as well as researchers, students and future jurnalists who participated in the Project.

The exhibition of the caricatures, the work of Dobrosav Bob Zivkovic, aimed to satirically present some of the problems (and excuses) the media, researchers, civil society organizations and citizens face when trying to obtain information about the work of public authorities.

The event was opened by Ana Toskic, the Executive Director of Partner Serbia, and Ekmel Çizmecioğlu, the Program Manager in the field of civil society and human rights, as the representative of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, who both reflected on the situation regarding the availability of information of public importance and the results achieved within this Project.

As a part of the final event, a panel was organized on the topic “Who is Defending the Public in Serbia”, with speakers from the Office of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, journalist, activists and future journalists who participated in the Project.

During the project, Partners Serbia, together with partner organizations, defended the level of public’s right to know, while identifying new problems in this area and proposing solutions for improving the transparency of the work of the public authorities. Also, the Project provided support for future journalists to report on issues of public interest and monitor the work of the institutions.

More about the Project in video (in Serbian):