MenCare partner Center E8 launches “Super Dad” campaign in Serbia

20 July 2015

In May, MenCare partner Center E8 launched the “Super Dad” fatherhood campaign in Serbia – its first MenCare campaign activity. The organization engaged several well-known fathers to appear on its materials and act as ambassadors of the campaign. They include:

  • Srđan Dinčić: A comedian who performs stand-up comedy and writes for a popular local TV show (in which he also appears). He is active on Twitter and was a participant on the Serbian TV show Survivor.
  • Srđa Popović: A political activist and was a leader of the student movement “Otpor!” that helped topple Slobodan Milošević’s regime. He established the Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS), working with pro-democracy activists from more than 50 countries to promote the use of nonviolent resistance in achieving political and social goals.
  • Marko Somborac: The author of a popular satirical comic strip in Blic, the best-selling daily newspapers in Serbia. He was also the winner of Center E8’s first “Real Man” award in Autumn 2012.
  • Miloš Šaranović: A sports commentator and the editor-in-chief of a sports program on TV B92.
  • Svetozar Vasić: A dad who runs the Roma NGO “Mali Princ” with his wife, working mostly with children and parents in the Roma community.

Center E8 organized the “MAN2015: Super Dad” conference, held on May 30th in the Center for Cultural Decontamination in Belgrade. This was the organization’s fifth MAN conference, focusing this year on the theme of fatherhood as part of the inaugural “Super Dad” campaign. Participants heard keynote speeches and presentations by Nenad Baćanović (“School for Dads”), Tatjana Obradović Tošić (“The Impact of Media and Advertising on Patriarchal Concepts of Fatherhood”), and Fedja Mehmedović (“Adolescents of Yesterday and Today: The Parents of Today and Tomorrow”). Two panel discussions followed. The first panel, “It’s Time for Super Dads,” emphasized the importance and benefits of active and engaged fatherhood, featuring several well-known fathers as speakers. The second panel consisted of discussions on domestic violence, motherhood, reproduction, and current family policies, with presentations by some of Serbia’s most prominent gender experts.

Four images of speakers and participants from Center E8's "MAN2015: Super Dad" conference.
Speakers and participants at Center E8’s “MAN2015: Super Dad” conference in May 2015.

Center E8 also organized the “I’m So Lucky That You’re My Dad” initiative, in which the organization visited kindergartens and held workshops for children and parents of the “Association Parent.” As part of the initiative, the “Super Dad” campaign was presented, materials were distributed, and fathers took photos with their kids. The initiative also continued outside the classroom, in parks and playgrounds, where Center E8 reached out to fathers and children with campaign messages and materials. The new “Super Dad” Facebook page provides an online platform for the campaign, where fathers and mothers are actively submitting photos of “Super Dads” in their own lives.

Four smiling children playing as part of the "I'm So Lucky That You're My Dad" initiative.
Children participating in Center E8’s “I’m So Lucky That You’re My Dad” initiative.

The “Super Dad” campaign is organized as part of the project “Boys and Men as Allies in Gender Transformation and Violence Prevention in the Western Balkans,” implemented by Center E8 in Serbia, with the support of CARE International Balkans, the Austrian Development Cooperation, and the Oak Foundation. Stay tuned for more “Super Dad” activities!