Presentation of the study Local Action Plans and Local Migration Councils - through policies, laws and practices developed within the project Support to Migration Management in Serbia, implemented by the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration and the Ministry of Interior, with the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) took place at the Belgrade Art Hotel today.

Svetlana Velimirovic, Deputy Commissioner for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia, Ursula Läubli,Head of Swiss Development Cooperation in Serbia, as well as numerous representatives of international and non-governmental organizations attended the presentation.

The study includes the evaluation of local mechanisms for coordination of migration management and institutional capacity, as well as the analysis and development of recommendations for improvement and revision of existing mechanisms. The aim of this analysis is to examine the role of the local level of government in the Republic of Serbia in the context of planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies related to migration and asylum. The valid Local Action Plans (LAP), the role of the Local Migration Councils, as well as institutional and program links with other local and national documents, relevant to the coordinated and comprehensive implementation of the envisaged measures, were also analyzed.

The Republic of Serbia and the Swiss Confederation have established a partnership in the field of migration in 2009. Since then, Switzerland has been continuously supporting the Republic of Serbia, and in particular the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration through projects that strengthen state capacities for migration management.