OSCE Mission to Serbia announces a winner of 2025 Person of the Year Award

The OSCE Mission to Serbia awarded the 2025 Person of the Year award to Amela Bajrović, Editor-in-Chief of the Free Media portal from Novi Pazar, at a ceremony held in Belgrade today.

This award celebrates citizens of Serbia who have in a given year contributed the most through the activities supported by the Mission to the promotion of OSCE values and principles in the country, such as non-discrimination, consolidation of human rights, equal opportunities and sustainable democratic reforms, and focus on improving the lives of individuals and communities.

Amela Bajrović is recognized for her outstanding partnership with the Mission in empowering women’s public participation, dedication to media freedom, and dedication to promoting tolerance in southwest Serbia. As a journalist Bajrović upholds the highest professional and ethical standards in her work.  She is the indispensable network facilitator for the Mission’s “I ja se pitam” (“I Have a Say, Too”) initiative, having operationalized the Mission's goals by convening 73 women from diverse backgrounds for monthly dialogues on pressing local issues and providing a variety of avenues for their voices and needs to be heard and addressed.  In the course of 2025 under her guidance the network expanded to a third municipality and continued to grow and develop in Novi Pazar, producing concrete policy proposals on mental health, public transport, and urban planning.

“Ms. Bajrović exemplifies the transformative power of inclusive civic engagement. Through her leadership of the Mission’s “I ja se pitam” network in Novi Pazar, she has created a vital space where women's voices are not only heard, but translated into concrete policy proposals that improve their communities,” said the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ambassador Marcel Peško.  

“Her work with the Mission demonstrates that when women are empowered to participate in democratic processes, entire communities benefit,” he added. “Ms. Bajrović's unwavering commitment to amplifying and empowering the voices less often heard in decision making spaces, even in the face of significant pressure, makes her an inspiring example of the OSCE commitments and values that our Mission, together with Serbia, works to strengthen and advance.”