Government of the Republic of Serbia
The Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration organised an international meeting with reference to the project titled “Adult Life Entry Network (ALEN) – Empowerment and Activation of Young People in Disadvantaged Situations”
Brankica Janković, State Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Policy, emphasised in her welcome address that the empowerment of young people to break away from disadvantaged situations was one of the most critical challenges our society faced and, from the standpoint of system support, the most unyielding, too.
“It is critically important to have meetings in the future, where we can exchange experiences and receive direct feedback from young people about their experiences and the hindrances they encounter”, said the State Secretary, underscoring the significance of regional cooperation.
Žarko Šunderić, Manager of the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit, stressed that young people were a vulnerable group, which received high-priority attention both from the Serbian Government and the European Union.
“This exact type of initiatives, such as the ALEN project, are able to deliver solutions to the problem of youth’s deliverance from disadvantaged situations and to provide them adequate support”, Žarko Šunderić concluded.
Yolanda San Jose, Head of Operation I in the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, affirmed that the European Union supported projects aimed at enhancing regional cooperation and commended the Serbian Government’s proactive approach to the initiative promoting the position of youth.
The participants at the meeting, including young project beneficiaries, agreed that it was the most significant to ensure psychosocial support and work experience opportunities and sent out a message that government institutions, civil society organisations and the European Union should maintain their support to such initiatives.
The project was launched by the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, in cooperation with the Croatian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Hungarian Anti-Poverty Network and Austrian Anti-Poverty Network, approved within the European Union’s PROGRESS Programme. In Serbia, the project is implemented through partnership of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit, Insitute for Psychology – Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, NGO Sunce from Kragujevac and the Association for Alternative Family Care “Familia”, from Belgrade.
Below you can find the links to the workshop agenda and the participants’ presentations.
– Lela Veljković, Republic Institute for Social Protection (.ppt)
– Hans van der Wielen, independent expert, Holland (.ppt)
– Overview of the support model implemented in Serbia (.ppt)
– Overview of the support model implemented in Austria (.ppt)
– Overview of the support model implemented in Croatia (.ppt)
– Overview of the support model implemented in Hungary (.ppt)
pdf [271 KB]
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