Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

The local self-governments in Serbia on average allocate only 3% of their budget for social protection services, and one in three towns and municipalities have no strategies or decisions on the specifics of what will be financed, warned the Secretary of the Committee for Healthcare and Social Policy of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SKGO) Jasmina Tanasić on 1 December.

The State Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Issues Laslo Čikoš said that the state must reduce public debt, but this should not be at the expense of beneficiaries of social services.

The Assistant Secretary for Social Policy and Demography of Vojvodina, Gojko Vujnović, noted that the Province is allocating around 1% of the funds from its budget for social protection. He said there are no new social protection services, and that local self-governments in the Province find it very difficult to maintain services they start developing through projects, that then become endangered with the expiry of donor financing.

Source: Beta, taken from www.euractiv.rs