On 27th of July 2017, Regional Economic Development Agency of Sumadija and Pomoravlje, with the support of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia, organized the Launching workshop of the project "''Self-Assessment of Equal Access to Water and Sanitation in Serbia’’ in the National Assembly in Belgrade, starting at 11 am.

The purpose of organizing the first workshop is to present a project, objectives and methodology to be used in the work as well as presenting examples of countries that have already conducted the same research.

Launching workshop was officially opened by Nenad Popovic, Director of the Regional Economic Development Agency of Sumadija and Pomoravlje, and welcomed the participants. Biljana Filipovic, Head of the Department for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development in Environmental Protection of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Nataša Đurašinović, Chairwoman of the Protocol on Water and Health, and Chantal Demilecamps, representative of the Secretariat of the Protocol on Water and Health, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) addressed the introductory part of the meeting.

In the first part of the workshop, the presentations were held by Mrs. Biljana Filipovic, on the topic "Protocol on Water and Health, Republic of Serbia, Results", as well as Mrs. Dragana Jovanovic, who presented the results of the study "Situational Analysis of Approach on Healthy Drinking water and sanitation for primary school children in the rural areas of the territory of Sumadija and Pomoravlje."

In the second part of the workshop, Mr. Nenad Popovic held a presentation "Score-Card Analysis of Access to Drinking Water and Sanitation in Serbia". Also, the results of the conducted research in their countries were presented by Natasa Dokovska from Macedonia, Dora Schuller from Hungary, Anna Tsvietkova from Ukraine and Emma Anakhasyan from Armenia.

The conference was attended by members of the expert and project team, representatives of local self-governments, representatives of public utility companies, centers for social work, civil society organizations, and representatives of institutions and organizations that are interested and who will participate in the realization of project activities.

The project "Self-Assessment of Equal Access to Water and Sanitation in Serbia" is implemented by the Regional Economic Development Agency of Sumadija and Pomoravlje with the support of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The project is funded by funds from the United Nations Development Account project, implemented by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

This project is being implemented under the Protocol on Water and Health, to which the Republic of Serbia acceded on April 16, 2013, and contributes to the implementation of the Protocol through the identification of the current situation in the Republic of Serbia regarding the equal access to drinking water and sanitation.

Objectives of the project are to:

• Achieve a better understanding of the situation and challenges of equitable access to water and sanitation
• Identify relevant stakeholders to contribute to the improvement of equitable access to water and sanitation and raise awareness on equitable access
• Develop a comprehensive overview of the existing policy measures to address inequities in access to water and sanitation, and identify information and policy gaps to ensure equitable access to water and sanitation

Within the project, a research will be carried out on the territory of Sumadija and Pomoravlje, with the participation of a large number of organizations responsible for water and sanitation issues at the local, regional and national levels.