The meeting was attended by the head of the Interdepartmental Working Group for the implementation UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Minister without portfolio responsible for demography and population policy Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic Dejanovic.

Group Coordinator and member of the National Assembly’s standing delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union Dr Milorad MIjatovic said that the Focus Group was established because the parliament plays an important control role in the process of implementation of the sustainable development goals contained in the UN 2030 Agenda which the Republic of Serbia had signed in its entirety at the UN Summit on 25 September 2015. He also said that a Regional Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union for Central and Eastern Europe and Eastern and Central Asia is scheduled to be held in Belgrade on 17 and 18 May 2018 where the countries are to exchange experiences concerning the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic Dejanovic said that the UN 2030 Agenda, comprising 17 goals and 169 targets, mainly focuses on activities relating to poverty reduction, improving living standards, healthcare and the education system, as well as environmental protection, gender equality, reduction of inequality, etc. She said the implementation has yielded results which have to be harmonized with the opening of EU negotiation chapters. She added that the general public needs to learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals and what they mean for the improvement of the living standards and the future of the citizens of Serbia.

The first meeting of the Focus Group was chaired by Coordinator Dr Milorad MIjatovic, and attended by members Gordana Comic, Stefana Miladinovic, Dubravka Filipovski and Nada Lazic.