16-09-2010.
CSOs – Strong Partners in Social Welfare System Reform

Since June 2010, the Balkan Community Initiatives Fund (BCIF) in Serbia, in partnership with the Skan Foundation in the Netherlands, have been implementing a project entitled CSOs – Strong Partners in Social Welfare System Reform. The project uses Dutch experiences to empower civil society organizations (CSOs) in Serbia to improve the quality and sustainability of social services, to network and to co-operate with relevant institutions. Ten organizations in Serbia, which have previously developed social services for the mentally disabled, will receive trainings delivered by Dutch experts. These will involve transferring good practices in work with beneficiaries and their families as well as capacity building for the implementation of sustainable social services. Following the trainings, the representatives of the organizations will visit their counterparts in the Netherlands to learn about their practices which they could use to innovate their own work with communities. In addition, the project involves co-operation with relevant public institutions in Serbia whose representatives will visit the relevant institutions in the Netherlands in order to learn about current policies, reforms, financing mechanisms and innovative approaches in work with mentally disabled people, as well as about the models of partnerships with civil society and their importance and role in the field of social welfare. The whole project will culminate in a conference in Belgrade which will gather together the representatives of CSOs, public institutions, the media and all other stake-holders. They will share their experiences and knowledge gained in the Netherlands and discuss the possibilities of improving social services for people with mental disabilities through cross-sectoral co-operation. A handbook on social care services, including success stories and information on the legal background of social welfare systems in the Netherlands and Serbia, will be prepared for publication by the BCIF in co-operation with the Skan Foundation and with experts in the field from both the Netherlands and Serbia. The main objective of the project is to empower civil society organizations in Serbia to become social service providers and thus to participate more intensively in the reform of social welfare system, in line with the EU model.

The following Serbian organizations participate in the project:

• Society for Help to Mentally Challenged Persons, Novi Sad;
• Association of Citizens and Parents of Children with Special Needs, Krusevac;
• Children's Heart, Belgrade;
• Society for Help to Persons with Mental Disabilities, Backa Palanka;
• The Association for Promotion of Inclusion, Belgrade;
• Society for Help to Mentally Challenged Persons “Blue Bird”, Kula;
• Society for Help to Mentally Challenged Persons, Trstenik;
• Association for Support to Persons with Developm. Disorders “Our House”, Belgrade;
• Humanitarian Association “Bethesda”, Backa Topola;
• Society for Help to Mentally Disabled Persons “Pearl”, Srbobran.

Experts engaged in the project: Snezana Stojanovic, Serbia; Eric Bloemkolk and Hans Vanderwielen, Netherlands.

This project is funded by the EU as a part of the Strengthening Serbia-EU Civil Society Dialogue project, implemented by the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia.

This site has been created with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this site are the sole responsibility of the BCIF and the Skan Foundation and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.