In October 2017, Citizens' Association Atina presented results of the research on violence against women and girls among refugee and migrant population in Serbia, conducted within the project “Local support to the most vulnerable refugees”. The event was attended by representatives of nongovernmental and governmental organizations from Tutin, Sjenica, and Novi Pazar. This research was supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

Based on the public call and Working procedures, a committee made up of representatives of the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society and the Office for the Coordination of Activities in Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, within the Police Directorate of Ministry of the Interior, reached a final decision on the selection of civil society organizations to take part in the process of monitoring, reporting, and evaluating the implementation of the Strategy for Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Human Beings, Especially Women and Children, and Protection of Victims 2017-2022.

With a support of Swiss agency for development and cooperation SDC and UNFPA a debate on violence against women and girls among refugee and migrant population has been launched in six cities in Serbia

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, US ambassador in Belgrade, Kyle Scott, organized a reception at the residence, and delivered awards to those who most contributed to combating gender-based violence. In addition to Marijana Savic, director of NGO Atina, the awards were also received by Zorana Mihajlovic, MP and Chairperson of the Coordination Body for Gender Equality, Slobodanka Boba Macanovic from NGO Autonomous Women's Center, Mitar Djuraskovic from the Ministry of Interior, and Dragoslava Barzut from NGO Da se zna.

It is important to include refugees themselves, as well as the local community, to provide feedback on what is needed in the system, so that we can advocate for changes to existing gaps, that is what the project “Building Together” is dealing with, said Marija Cvejic from the Association “Atina”, guest of the Novi dan broadcast.

“Our opinion is that the issue of refugee crisis is not the problem, but the fact that the system of values rooted in our society experienced its own crisis during this refugee crisis,” said the guest of the Morning topic.

A training session on the topic of monitoring was held for 16 members of the local network for monitoring and advocacy in Sid, within the project “Building Together”.

During the two days of the training, participants went through the entire monitoring cycle (overseeing, supervising, controlling) of the service and protection system that is dealing with refugees and migrants in Sid. Participants were introduced to a detailed plan of monitoring, went through goals and results, and finally summarized the researches through focus groups and in-depth interviews.

The third OSCE simulation-based training on combating human trafficking along migration routes was conducted at the Centre of Excellence for Stability Police Units (CoESPU) in Italy. Sixty-six anti-trafficking practitioners, from 30 OSCE participating States and three Partners for Co-operation gained better knowledge of indicators for identifying trafficked persons among mixed groups of migrants.  Participants also practiced how to concretely apply a multi-agency and human rights-based approach in investigating trafficking cases and assisting victims.

Regional Seminar on “Moving Forward in Addressing Migration – related Crimes in South-Eastern Europe”

Atina at the conference “Good Practices and Challenges in Supporting Children in Migration”

On June 14, 2017, a conference “Good Practices and Challenges in Supporting Children in Migration” was held in Belgrade, organized by International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Save the Children.

Revising the strategic plan

In 2015, Association Atina began the process of strategic planning, which aimed to enable the creation of a sustainable and growth-oriented strategic plan of action and organizational development. As a result, Atina’s strategic platform for the period 2015-2020 has been defined.