A meeting of the Business Advisory Board of UNICEF Serbia held

Belgrade, 25 October 2022 – The Building Human Capital for Long Term Prosperity report and the Climate landscape analysis and its impacts on children in Serbia were presented at the meeting of the UNICEF Business Advisor Board.

UNICEF Representative in Serbia, Deyana Kostadinova, reflected on the challenges faced by children around the world, including in Serbia.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has reversed years of development and progress. War in Europe, climate change and complex humanitarian crises are also contributing to us being off-track in terms of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, we know that the contribution of business is essential for achieving both the Paris Climate Agreement targets and the SDGs. And many businesses are stepping up with innovations, developing business models and investing assets that can contribute to sustainable development. Responsible and sustainable business practice is one of the most important means for working through these challenges”, said Deyana Kostadinova.

Jovana Vasic, a representative of UNICEF’s Youth Advisory Board, also addressed the Business Advisory Board.

“Young people are looking at businesses and have high hopes of you. We think that formal education does not prepare us for the modern labour market, we feel insecure about our future and are concerned about finding jobs. The main reason is the lack of working experience, so young people see internships as the best tool to inform and orientate us in the labour market”, said Jovana Vasic.

She asked the members of the Business Council to share information about the Promoting Youth Employability through Internships programme with their colleagues, as well as with other companies, and to use their influence to help companies get involved by providing internships for young people who can apply for them through the Biram uspeh (I Choose Success) platform.

The mission of the UNICEF Business Advisory Board is to encourage the wider business community to become more involved, for the benefit of children. Board members are helping the work of UNICEF Serbia with their time, knowledge, financial investments and business contacts to support programmes and initiatives that improve and protect the rights of children in Serbia.

UNICEF presented the priority programmes and activities being implemented in Serbia, within which it expects the support of the members of the Business Advisory Board.

Members of the UNICEF Business Advisory Board in Serbia are: Vesna Bengin, BioSense Institute; Jelena Bulatovic, Serbian Association of Managers; Marko Cadez, Chamber of Commerce of Serbia; Robert Coban, Color Press Group; Anja Aleksic, ComTrade Group; Darko Petrovic, Banca Intesa; Nebojsa Djurdjevic, Digital Serbia Initiative; Dragan Filipovic, Generali Insurance; Milana Jevic Gledovic, Delhaize Serbia; Neven Marinovic, Smart Kolektiv; Mike Michel, Yettel; Jovana Milutinovic, Nordeus and Milica Socanac, Nelt Group. 

With their business experience, the members provide guidelines for creating strategies for greater involvement of businesses in improving the position of children, participate in the promotion of child rights at business meetings and in interaction with the media, in order to contribute to raising awareness about the position of children in Serbia and ways to better protect and respect their rights.