At its twenty-ninth sitting, held on 13 July, the Committee on Labour, Ex-Servicemen’s and Social Issues discussed a report of the Social Security Sector at the Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Social Policy on the implementation of legislation and other regulations covering the field.

Presenting the report, ministry officials said that social security was funded from the national budget and lottery proceeds, as well as that UNHCR provides funding for housing refugees.

The sitting heard data on the exercise of general social security rights, such as additional income support, nursing support, work rehabilitation funding, care at a social security institution or foster care, and other social security-related services of general interest.

Special attention was paid to statutory rights regulated and provided by local authorities, including one-off financial assistance, day care, home help, equipment for providing care at social security institutions, temporary care at halfway houses, social work necessary to ensure the exercise such rights, as well as other rights that can be stipulated by cities and municipalities as they see fit. The Social Security Development Strategy, adopted by the Serbian Government, and setting strategic development goals and aims for social security, received special praise.

The sitting also discussed the manner of electing members of the Commission on Assessing Entitlement to Extraordinary Monthly Assistance. Under a Government decision, four members are to be elected by the National Assembly, while three are to be delegated by the Serbian Union of Ex-Combatants of the People’s Liberation War [in normal countries known as World War Two]. It was resolved that Committee members should nominate candidates for membership, and that four of them should be selected at the Committee’s next sitting...