10/1/2021
Campaign to prevent violence against the elderly in posts throughout Serbia
The Post of Serbia, the Red Cross of Serbia and the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, presented today an educational campaign within the project "Empowerment of elderly women: prevention of violence through changing social norms in Serbia and Austria (EmPreV)".
As part of the project, the Post will broadcast an educational film called "Open Your Eyes" on screens in counter halls throughout Serbia, with the aim of raising awareness and involving the entire society in the prevention of violence against the elderly.
The Red Cross of Serbia, as the initiator of the project, chose the Post of Serbia as a partner based on research that showed that older people prefer to pay bills at the post office, because going to the post office is a form of social contact and socialising within their generation. Also, more than 550,000 of the oldest citizens have the opportunity to pick up their pensions at the post office counters, and every month postmen deliver their pensions to more than 280,000 home addresses.
"The Post of Serbia pays special attention to the elderly, precisely having in mind the social significance it has for them. Our role goes beyond the business relationship, because postmen and other employees very often help the elderly in various ways, such as purchasing medicines and groceries, or giving some advice at post offices. Postmen are often the only ones with whom the elderly, who live alone, have social contact, which is a great responsibility for the Post as an institution. Therefore, having in mind the trust that the oldest citizens show us, by including the Red Cross in this project, we additionally confirm the long-term commitment of the Post of Serbia to empower the elderly and our support to prevent all forms of violence against them," said Zoran Djordjević, Acting Director of the Post of Serbia.
The president of the Red Cross, Prof. Dragan Radovanović, Commissioner for the Protection of Equality Brankica Janković, Deputy Ambassador of Australia Liang Zeng and Deputy Ambassador of Austria Karin Traunmüller participated in the promotion of the campaign which was held today at the Main Post Office in Belgrade.
The project is implemented with the support of the European Union, the Austrian Development Agency and the Austrian Red Cross, and the campaign was supported by the Post of Serbia, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs and the Embassy of Australia.