Our projects
ZEC has been working on the promotion and protection of women human rights since the beginning. Trough different activities we are struggling against domestic violence, trying to put this problem in the focus of public, and pointing on inappropriate reactions of institutions in the cases of violence against women. Our first project was public awareness raising campaigns against trafficking in human women and children. We have been working on anti- trafficking campaigns, continuously since 2003. During the project, we had good cooperation with local institutions, especially the police, national coordinator for the fight against trafficking in human beings and schools. It was a first time that local institutions in Zrenjanin cooperate with one NGO.
Since 2005, we organize trainings on economic strengthening of women. Crucial part of training programs are gender issues: women human rights, violence against women, discrimination of women on all level of social life. Through our trainings, we enforce women to prevail one of the main causes of violence – economic dependence. We work on gender issues and on improvement of women’s acquaintance with mechanisms and work of institutions, and we work on establishing the trust towards the representatives of relevant institutions . Women recognize domestic violence and discrimination of women as problems
present in our society, but they find it very hard to decide for activities in struggle for their better position.
During the campaign “16 days of activism against violence over women”, each year since the foundation of our organization we organize workshops, round tables and public debates with representatives of relevant institutions. Each year we put an effort to motivate institutions in changing their approach to problem of violence against women. We always came to the joint conclusion that there is an urgent need to change something in the approach to this problem. However, the agreement of the institutions is only in theory, but not in practice. That is why we constantly insist on improvement of institutional approach and search for new solutions. During these days, we intensified our presence in local media and all that for the aim of promoting women’s and children’s rights and fight against domestic violence. The campaigns are supported by Parliament of municipality Zrenjanin, and in 2005 by Secretary of Work, Employment and Gender Equality of Province. The campaign is marked in over 100 countries in the world, and the aim is mobility of political, social and wider public for launching common action of preventing and diminishing violence against women.
Starting from the fact that women have problems to approach funds for starting their own businesses because they do not have properties they could use for the mortgage, Zrenjanin Educational Centre and the Academy for Women’s Entrepreneurship from Kikinda participated in creating credit lines for women’s entrepreneurship of the Guarantee Fund of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. Credit lines are aimed to finance START UP program and development program for women entrepreneurs and founders of small to medium-sized companies from the territory of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, and they are available to women from November 2006. The aim is also encouraging economic activities, efficiency and effectiveness of economy subjects in the area of entrepreneurship for the function or
