The Belgrade Centre is the first organization in our country which produced and presented shadow reports to monitoring bodies of the United Nations: the Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (on the state of economic and social rights in 1998, and on cultural rights in 1999) which preceded the initial report of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Since then, the BCHR has regularly submitted dozens of alternative reports, independently or in cooperation with other non-governmental organizations, and today deals with UN mechanisms for the protection of human rights.
Since its founding, the Belgrade Centre has been developing publishing activities, and with over 140 titles has become the biggest publisher in the area of human rights in the country. Centre’s publications are used by scientists, professors, students, legal practitioners, state bodies, domestic and international organizations that deal with the subject of human rights, diplomatic missions, and others. We have organized more than 500 seminars, trainings, lectures, and round tables both in the country and in the region, in which more than half of judicial office holders and 3000 high school students participated, and over 100 highly reputable experts, both from the country and from abroad lectured.
Hoping to increase the number of those who will understand and support the values we stand for, we have been involved in various promotional activities (cultural manifestations, films, radio production, film festivals, exhibitions, etc.), and we have also shot a number of short films.
Since its establishment, the Centre has considered that our country and society cannot be changed from within Belgrade, independently from the region. We responded to all calls for cooperation and help of NGOs that advocate same values as we do. Beside the fact, the Centre established offices in Priboj, Niš, Užice, and Kraljevo, which it assisted until the time that they were able to work independently as independent organisations. We are member to several coalitions: Human Rights House, Association of Human Rights Institutes – AHRI, European Legal Network in Asylum – ELENA, European Council on Refugees and Exiles – ECRE, Sectoral Civil Society Organizations – SECO, Balkan Human Rights Network, Coalition for Monitoring Child Rights in Serbia, regional Coalition for Equality – KORAK.
Numerous other BCHR activities include engaged works and documentaries, theatrical performances, exhibitions, local and regional workshops, public opinion research, projects of cooperation with the media and a number of other activist and artistic endeavors.
