European Union support for social housing and active inclusion in Pirot

2024-04-18

Today, the Final Conference on the project “European Union support for social housing and active inclusion in Pirot”, that ASB was an implementing partner in, took place in Pirot.

The project is part of the “European Union Support for Social Housing and Active Inclusion” program, which aims to improve the implementation of social inclusion policies in Serbia and provide sustainable housing solutions accompanied by active inclusion measures for the most vulnerable, so they are enabled a dignified life and active participation in society. For the entire program, the European Union (EU) allocated 27 million euros through instruments for pre-accession assistance for 36 months of program implementation, and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) was chosen as an implementation partner.

Within the project duration of 25 months, 20 homes inhabited by Roma families were reconstructed and equipped, as well as 1 apartment, owned by the city of Pirot, where two young people, who recently left the social protection system, live. In addition, the project included support measures for Roma families and youth, through Vocational Educational Trainings and psychosocial support.

Preference was given to families whose members have developmental disabilities, families with older members, as well as families with many children or youth. The project holder is UNOPS and the municipality of Pirot, and the partners are the Center for Social Work in Pirot, the Roma civil organization Ternipe and the ASB Country Office for Serbia.

The conference was opened by Vladan Vasić, the mayor of Pirot, welcoming the attendees, while Milica Golubović, assistant to the mayor of Pirot, pointed out that institutional cooperation on housing issues between the EU, the United Nations, the civil sector and the City of Pirot is key in raising the quality of citizens’ housing, stressing the importance of similar initiatives to achieve better inclusion in whole Serbia.

Marija Vasić, director of the Center for Social Work in Pirot, spoke about services for young people who leave the social protection system. Radmila Nešić, representative of the NGO Ternipa and Gordan Velev, Director of ASB  Country Office Serbia, spoke about social housing services and active measures of inclusion that were successfully implemented within this project. Sava Pantelić, representative of the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund from Cologne, Coordinator of ASB activities in the area of ​​Southeast Europe (ASB SEE) also attended the Conference and used this opportunity to speak with the Mayor and the beneficiaries about the future needs and prospects.

Author of the photographs: Jelena Marjanović, ASB CO Serbia.