Work on the Social Entrepreneurship Development Program has slowed down, but its development has not stopped, as have other activities to create a favorable environment for social entrepreneurs. We are currently in the initial phase of establishing system support, and the doubts and unknowns of various actors, especially social entrepreneurs, are quite justified. It is important that the Program is adopted as soon as possible, otherwise the expectations created by the adoption of the Law on Social Entrepreneurship will fade.
These are the main messages from the panel discussion Social entrepreneurship in Serbia one year after the adoption of the law, which was held by the Coalition for Solidarity Economy Development in partnership with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce on March 27, 2022.
The panelists reflected on the results of the implementation of the law and expectations in the coming period. It is considered good that the law exists because it has been worked on for almost a whole decade. It is very broad, liberal and recognizes the legal forms of business of existing social entrepreneurs. The law actually recognizes social entrepreneurship in the legal system of the Republic of Serbia, which is a guarantee for various actors (e.g. donors, local and provincial administration) to plan support measures and programs. In accordance with the law, the Council for the Development of Social Entrepreneurship of the Government of the Republic of Serbia was established, which consists of representatives of institutions and the sector of social entrepreneurship. This synergy of different actors is the positive side of the process. The council met several times and a donor conference was held.
Coalition for Solidarity Economy Development has prepared a proposal for the Program and sent it to the relevant ministry for consideration.
However, challenges exist and must be addressed. The opinion was heard that nothing has changed in the work of social entrepreneurs with the adoption of the law and that the expectations of future measures and activities are precisely focused on the sustainability of business. Numerous unknowns and additional costs of document preparation delay the registration of social entrepreneurship status according to the letter of the law. There are also unknowns on the part of the provincial institutions and actors who have gone the farthest in planning financial support and informing local governments on the territory of Vojvodina. Their challenge is clear criteria for granting financial support in the future. It has been noticed that local governments are still cautiously following the development of events, even though there are projects initiated by them or even specific measures of support for social enterprises in the form of giving business premises for work. In the opinion of the participants, one of the solutions involves the encouragement of the republic’s institutions to the local self-governments to start developing specific initiatives, at least in terms of information sessions at the beginning. Whatever is initiated, it should be in accordance with the local context and the previously determined needs of social entrepreneurs, the attendees concluded. In this direction, the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia announced that it is considering the possibility of creating a network of advisors in regional chambers within which social enterprises would be provided with assistance during registration, that is, acquiring the status of a social enterprise.
The panel was opened by representatives of the Coalition for Solidarity Economy Development and the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, while the panelists were Dušan Jordović (Cafe bar 16), Đorđe Vukotić (Council for the Development of Social Entrepreneurship of the Government of the Republic of Serbia), Zorana Milovanović (Coalition for Solidarity Economy Development), Katarina Denčić (Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Poliucy) and Miodrag Shresta, expert in social entrepreneurship.
The panel discussion was held within the advocacy efforts of the Coalition for Solidarity Economy Development for the adoption of the Program for the Development of Social Entrepreneurship, which is implemented through several projects. First of all, within the project “Strengthening the Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem”, which was supported by the Swiss Government project “Together for an Active Civil Society – ACT”, implemented by Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and Civic Initiatives, as well as within the project “Dialogue on Social Entrepreneurship” supported by Belgrade Open School through the “Dialogue of Changes”, with the financial support of the European Union. The opinion expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the opinion of the Government of Switzerland, Helvetas or Civic Initiatives. The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views of the donors or the Belgrade Open School, and the Coalition for the Development of Solidarity Economy is solely responsible for it.
This article was taken from Belgrade Coalition for Solidarity Economy Development website.
