The Poverty Reduction Committee held its twenty-second sitting on 21 February. The sitting was chaired by Snezana Stojanovic-Plavsic, and attended by officials of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Implementation Team of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Committee members agreed on the Committee’s plan of activities for 2006, regarding both the timeframe for holding sittings and the manner of discussing legislation currently undergoing Assembly procedure (laws foreseen by the Poverty Reduction Strategy and those with an impact on poverty-related issues).

The session also discussed results of the Committee’s co-operation with the Poverty Reduction Strategy Implementation Team. Plans for 2006 call for the engagement of an advisor to assist the Committee in considering legislation from the point of view of poverty reduction, as well as for work on joint projects with Government Ministries, non-governmental organisations, local authorities, businesses, and trade unions. According to the Poverty Reduction Committee, co-operation with other Assembly Committees is of special importance for implementing the Strategy.

UNDP officials underlined that harmonising Serbian legislation with EU standards would be a key part of future co-operation. Seminars, public discussion panels, study visits, and professional consulting services are to be made available to the Poverty Reduction Committee and other Committees co-operating with UNDP. Employment, education, balanced economic development, and development of local social services were singled out as key poverty reduction issues.