Roma and Youth Projects in South Serbia

28 March 2011, Leskovac

The European Union and the Government of Switzerland will allocate 170,000 Euros for the implementation of twenty small-scale projects in South Serbia via the European Partnership with Municipalities Programme PROGRES.

These projects were selected as the best among those submitted in response to a call for proposals to be funded from the Citizens Involvement Fund. All of them are the result of partnerships between civil society organisations and local self-governments and aim at effecting positive changes in their local communities.

 “By supporting the joint projects of civil society and municipal organisations, we are encouraging the participation of citizens in local decision making, one of the main principles of good governance. It was easy to approve the projects to be funded given their excellent quality,” PROGRES Manager Graeme Tyndall said at the ceremony.

Most of the successful projects, six of them, aim at improving the position of Roma, while five projects focus on support to youth. Two projects promote tolerance and aim at protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, while another two contribute to the development of tourism. The other projects promote gender equality, aim at improving the position of children with developmental difficulties, combating unemployment and supporting rural development. Partner organisations in Leskovac received funding for the implementation of four projects; the other successful organisations are based in Bujanovac (three), Medveđa, Prokuplje, Surdulica and Vranje (two in each town) and Blace, Bosilegrad, Lebane, Preševo and Vladičin Han (one in each town). Each project was granted a maximum of 10,000 Euros and all projects have to be implemented in nine months.  

“It is an honour to host this gathering and I congratulate you on the proactiviness you demonstrated in preparing the projects,” Leskovac Mayor Slobodan Kocić said.

In addition to the 20 projects in South Serbia, PROGRES recently also supported the realisation of 20 projects in South West Serbia. The European Union and the Government of Switzerland will allocate a total of 335,000 Euros for the funding of all 40 projects through the Citizens Involvement Fund. The successful organisations will themselves provide an additional 105,000 Euros for the implementation of their projects.

Funding of projects via the Citizens Involvement Fund is an integral part of PROGRES’ efforts to help municipalities improve their abidance by the good governance principles: citizens’ participation, transparency, accountability, efficiency and respect of human rights.

Furthermore, PROGRES will help the municipalities improve their infrastructure, the quality of services they are rendering the citizens and companies and promote their development potentials. The implementation of the Programme is supported by the European Union (13.5 million euros), the Government of Switzerland (2.5 million euros) and the Government of the Republic of Serbia (1.5 million euros).

Additional information: The list of all organisations in South West Serbia the projects of which are supported via the Citizens Involvement Fund.