Commissioner for Protection of Equality Brankica Jankovic sent an Initiative to the Government of Serbia to amend the Decree on one-time financial assistance, which would include payment without filing an application, for the unemployed, people with disabilities who are beneficiaries of increased care allowance, parents, foster parents or guardians who are entitled to child allowance, as well as independent artists who in the previous period were completely unable to perform their activities.

At the same time, the Commissioner initiated a change related to enabling the payment of financial assistance for persons deprived of legal capacity, so that their guardians would submit a request on their behalf. It was also pointed out that after the abolition of the state of emergency, it may happen that a number of citizens do not meet the condition of having a valid ID card, because they were not able to extend it, and the proposal is to extend the deadline for them to apply after 5 June, and it was suggested to take into consideration to allow the possibility of payment of benefits without filing an application, and to employees earning a minimum wage.

The initiative was sent after the number of citizens and associations addressed the institution of Commissioner, stressing out that negative consequences of the pandemic affected some categories of the population more than other citizens of Serbia. The set of economic measures to support the Serbian economy affected by the consequences of the epidemic is good and important, and because of that jobs were saved in most cases, but not all were affected to the same extent, which is why these social groups are our most vulnerable citizens, concludes Commissioner.