Respect for human rights, rule of law and respect for diversity must be imperative at any time and moment, every day, year and decade, said Commissioner for Protection of Equality Brankica Jankovic at the conference “The Impact of the Corona virus Pandemic on Human Rights in Serbia “, held on the occasion of International Human Rights Day.

Jankovic pointed out that we live in a time with many challenges that were unimaginable only a year ago, but it must not be an excuse to leave anyone behind or not to do everything to make citizens feel truly equal and protected from discrimination. “During the last 5 years, our institution has placed the topic of equality on top of the social and political agenda in our country and it should not remain just a modern message that sounds good, it should be true realistic and implemented” Commissioner emphasized. She added that pandemic legacy should be an acknowledgment that citizens, with all their differences, are the most important for every society, because being different does not mean being a less human.

At the opening of the conference organized by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue in cooperation with the UN Team for Human Rights in Serbia, spoke Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, President of the Parliament Ivica Dacic, Minister Gordana Comic, UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia Francoise Jacob, Head of the Council of Europe Mission in Belgrade Tobias Flesenkemper and Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Sam Fabrizi. The ministers of health, labor, family care, as well as representatives of the Ombudsman,  Commissioner for Personal Data Protection and representatives of civil society organizations dealing with the protection of human and minority rights spoke about the challenges and the next steps.