We are thrilled to announce that 3 months after beginning the ‘Dogodine u Prizrenu’ project, we have successfully completed the gift giving portion with deliveries to Serbian enclaves in KiM on Savindan (Jan. 27)! Our teams in the Diaspora worked tirelessly since November to acquire gifts and our local teams in the Balkans spent the majority of the last month delivering thousands of gifts to Serbian children in dozens of locations across the region.

In Serbia we focused on the south with the Kursumlija municipality and Serbian population centers in Kosovo and Metohija as the main recipients. In Krajina, our teams visited the Kistanje and Knin municipalities and surrounding villages. In Republika Srpska we focused on Banja Luka and in Montenegro we helped a family in Podgorrica. Schools and Churches were used as primary distribution centers and each delivery was documented daily on our social media.

As for the overall progress of the ‘Dogodine u Prizrenu’ project, we have now:
1. Submitted a petition signed by 150,000 people calling for the protection of Serbian cultural heritage in KiM at the United Nations.
2. Raised the issue of discriminatory policies against Kosovo Serbs 3 times at the United Nations; in New York, Geneva and Vienna.
3. Held events on every continent to raise awareness of the daily struggles Serbs face in Kosovo and Metohija.
4. Broke the blockade imposed by Kosovo authorities on food imports from Serbia with an emergency delivery of food supplies.
5. Delivered Christmas presents to underprivileged Serbian children in Kosovo and Metohija and throughout the region.

This week we expect our container with $700,000 worth of medical supplies to clear customs in Nis and for our team to visit Prizren and make a symbolic donation to the Monastery of the Holy Archangels, finally concluding the project. This has been our largest, most difficult and most rewarding project since 28. Jun was funded 7 years ago. We want to thank our supporters from the bottom of our hearts for helping us throughout this entire journey.

After our delivery to Kursumlija last week, the Christmas present portion of our ‘Dogodine u Prizrenu’ project rolled on with thousands of gifts being distributed to children in the Knin and Kistanje municipalities in Krajina, Banja Luka in Republika Srpska and to Kosovska Mitrovica.

With YOUR help we were able to deliver Christmas gifts to 730 kids in Kursumlija and the surrounding villages yesterday! We delivered to two kindergartens and and a pre-school, with every child under the age of 10 in the municipality receiving a present. Kursumlija is one of the poorest towns in Serbia, and we were told that this was the first Christmas gifts one kindergarten had received since it opened 40 years ago. Our members noted that the locals were extremely hospitable and grateful, welcoming them with food and drink at every village they visited.

Having delivered Christmas presents to Republika Srpska last week, Krajina and Kosovo and Metohija are next in the gift portion of our ‘Dogodine u Prizrenu’ project. Along with our medical and humanitarian deliveries, we estimate that we will donate $1 M in aid to Serbs in need during this Holiday season.

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28. Jun today became the first Serbian humanitarian organization to circumnavigate the blockade imposed by Kosovo authorities on food imports from Serbia. A truck filled with emergency food supplies sent by 28. Jun’s branch in Montenegro arrived to Kosovo today, where it was received by local 28. Jun members who immediately began to give out the goods. 20 pallets of flour, cooking oil, canned food and vegetables were distributed to Serbian food banks and kindergartens ravaged by the blockade. Humanitarian foundation ‘Covekoljublje’ of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro of the Serbian Orthodox Church assisted with the delivery and 28. Jun’s Special Consultative Status with the the UN was utilized to pressure the Kosovo authorities.

A second, 40-foot, 8-ton container filled with medical equipment and supplies worth over $700,000, sent by the organization from Louisville, Kentucky, is expected to arrive to Serbia within the next few days. Shipments of Christmas gifts from 28. Jun teams in Switzerland, Germany and Austria have also reached their destinations and distribution has begun. 28. Jun estimates it will donate $1 M in aid during the Holiday season. On the policy front, 28. Jun delegates gave speeches at the UN three times in the past month, at the UN Headquarters in New York, Vienna and Geneva, about the escalating humanitarian situation in Kosovo and submitted a petition signed by 150,000 people calling for the protection of Serbian cultural heritage in KiM.

28. Jun’s delegation saw part of their speech about the escalating humanitarian situation in Kosovo cut short at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna on Friday. Tamara Pavlovic and Mia Milanovic were scheduled to address the UN’s Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on behalf of the humanitarian organization. After much delays, Ms. Milanovic managed to deliver her speech despite interruptions by the chair. However, Ms. Pavlovic had her microphone abruptly cut off one minute into her speech as she elaborated on the injustices endured by Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.

After briefly touching on resolution number 1244 of the UN Security Council which cemented Kosovo and Metohija as part of the Republic of Serbia, Ms. Pavlovic continued: “To date, no one has been held accountable for the shameless and unfortunate desecration of the Serbian cultural identity, murder of Serbian children, women and men, including politician Oliver Ivanovic, and as a result crimes against the Serbian minority continue to become considerably worse.” She barely managed to complete the last sentence before the camera was switched off of her and her microphone was cut by the presiding chair.

Luckily, Ms. Milanovic was able to deliver several points stating: “Today I would like to bring your attention to the pending humanitarian catastrophe in the province at this very moment. At the administrative crossing between Kosovo and Serbia, taxes on imported goods have been raised 100%. This means that crucial supplies from Serbia, which support food banks and hospitals, are running out fast.” She concluded by warning the commission that the territory “continues to descend into a bastion of drugs and crime” and that “even in war zones urgent humanitarian aid passes more freely than it does in Kosovo today.”

Last week, 28. Jun members delivered a speech decrying the gross violation of human rights endured by Serbs in Kosovo to the Human Rights Council’s Forum on Minority Issues at the UN in Geneva. At the conclusion of the speech a petition signed by 150,000 people calling for the protection of Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo was submitted to the chairwoman. Despite attempts to silence it, the organization today released a statement saying it will “continue to utilize its Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations to shed light on humanitarian issues in the Western Balkans.

28. Jun members delivered a powerful speech at the United Nations in Geneva today decrying the gross violation of human rights endured by Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. The Human Rights Council’s 11th Session of Forum on Minority Issues panel stood silent as 28. Jun’s Director for Central Europe, Saveta Tomovic, unleashed a blistering speech condemning the treatment of Serbian minorities throughout the Balkans. At the conclusion of the speech a petition signed by 150,000 people calling for the protection of Serbian cultural heritage in KiM was submitted to chairwoman Rita Izsak-Ndiaye by 28. Jun member Djuro Roncevic.

Full transcript of Speech:

Madam President,
Honorable Delegates,
Most Esteemed Guests,

It is an honor to be with you in my home country as a representative of 28. Jun to provide you with our expert analysis on minority issues in the Western Balkans as experienced by an international humanitarian organization.

The region has endured multiple conflicts in recent memory which have resulted in forced population movements and left minorities vulnerable. Our inaugural task was to tackle the antecedent stigmatization of local populations by correcting common prejudices. A multistakeholder initiative is difficult to pilot if the population in distress has been widely portrayed as antagonistic— like the Serbs have been— for the past quarter century.

Ironically, today, ethnic Serbs are by far the most discriminated minority in the Western Balkans and face sustained and methodical campaigns which aim to eradicate their culture in Croatia and in the unrecognized state of Kosovo. Serbian minority populations face such extreme discrimination that even humanitarian aid— a universal human right— has been blocked at the border if the the designated recipients were Serbian.

However, we remain confident and optimistic as our lobbying of international bodies, like this one, has in some cases forced domestic actors to allow us to do our work free of ethnic bias and religious discrimination. In order for the Western Balkans to move forward from post-conflict recovery the international community, along with NGOs such as ours, have to address the issues through the human rights approach.

We would now like to submit a petition to the Chair, signed by 150,000 people from around the world, which cautions against the legitimization and passive approval of cultural genocide in the Western Balkans as witnessed in Kosovo where 156 Serbian Orthodox Churches were completely destroyed. We implore bodies of the United Nations like UNESCO and the HRC to protect the cultural identity of minorities because it is the anchor of their security.

28. Jun will continue to fight for minority rights in the Western Balkans because in order for us to do our humanitarian work, people of all ethnicities need to be able to live freely and with dignity in a shared homeland.

Thank you.
I yield the floor to the President.

28. Jun delegations made their first official visits to the United Nations in New York, Geneva and Vienna since the organization was granted Special Consultative Status with the UN’s Economic and Social Council. The accreditation allows 28. Jun to send up to 30 representatives to attend international conferences where they can make written and oral statements, organize parallel events, network and lobby, participate in debates and panel discussions and meet official government delegations.

In New York, 28. Jun had the honor of being invited to a high-level side event at the United Nations General Assembly 73rd session which was attended by Secretary-General António Guterres, incoming President of the General Assembly and H.E. Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés. In Geneva, 28. Jun members attended the 39th session of the Human Rights Council where high-level discussions were held on various human rights related issues, such as the right to privacy, rights of persons with disabilities, rights of minorities, and rights of children. In Vienna, the 28. Jun delegation attended the 62nd IAEA General Conference where important resolutions were adopted to further strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency’s work in nuclear science and technology, safety, security, safeguards and technical cooperation.

Consultative Status with the ECOSOC also means 28. Jun has the opportunity to express its views and influence the work of the Council by providing expert analysis, helping monitor and implement international agreements, helping raise public awareness of relevant issues and by playing a major role in advancing United Nations goals and objectives.