Capacity building for cross-border exchange and cooperation of small and medium enterprises from Nisava, Pirot, Jablanica and Pcinja districts (Serbia) and Montana district (Bulgaria)

This project is implemented within the framework of Neighbouring Program between Bulgaria and Serbia. The program is funded by EU, implemented by European Agency for Reconstruction through Ministry of International Economic Relations of Serbia. Project implementation started on February 19th 2007 and will last 10 months. project partner is Youth Organization “Patriotism” from Montana, Bulgaria.

Overall objectives:

Creation of conditions for sustainable economic development in the cross-border region passing through the process of transition through promotion of cooperation and exchange of information in the field of economic development
Strengthening cross-border activities based upon realistic needs in the region, which is actually the basic prerequisite for long-lasting solution to the problem.

Specific objective: Establishment of mechanisms to improve exchange of information and access to information, which is the basic prerequisite for development of cross-border cooperation in the field of small and medium business.

Target group: Representatives of small and medium enterprises in the cross-border region (Nisava, Pirot, Jablanica and Pcinja, as well as district Montana in Bulgaria)

Expected results:

Established information network aiming at efficient exchange of information among economic entities (small and medium enterprises) in the border region (website, mailing list, international expert team).
Increased level of knowledge on advantages of direct cooperation in the field of economy between neighbouring countries through examples of good practice, as well as presentation of possibilities for joint performance on the third markets (meeting in districts, regional meeting, international conference).
Creation of favourable conditions for cross-border cooperation among economic entities (small and medium enterprises) through introduction with specificities of legal regulations (Info center, database of regulations).
Encouragement of local community for small business start-up through examples of good practice and information support (TV show, campaign, database of enterprises).

“From Nis to Svoge – on tourism among friends and good neighbours“

The present project is an integrated one and aims at supporting the economic development of the cross-border region in two Serbian municipalities – Pirot and Nis and five Bulgarian ones – Belogradchik, Berkovitsa, Chiprovtsi, Varshets and Svoge – through tourism development. The specific objectives are directed towards enhancing the capacity of tourism based organizations and speeding up tourism development in the municipalities of Pyrot and Nish through training and transferring good practice on Bulgarian part, through fostering initiatives and partnerships at various levels, as well as applying innovative market mechanisms in the field of tourism in the cross-border region and thus creating a new positive image of the region on the international market. For further information about this project, click here.

Employment mediation agency – Social Enterprise

Center for civil society development PROTECTA in cooperation with Social Work Center “Sveti Sava”, National Employment Agency and AIESEC, started implementation of the project “Employment Mediation Agency – Social Enterprise”. The project envisages establishment of first agency of that kind on the territory of the City of Nis that will mediate in employment of persons from National Employment Agency registry. The project priority will be the employment of socially endangered population, that is, mediation in employment of people from the fringes of the society in the course of redistribution of gross national income, unskilled workers with long years in National Employment Agency registry, IDPs, refugees, minorities living in Nis and women.
The project is supported by UN-HABITAT’s program of development of pilot initiatives and will be implemented in the course of 10 months. It is planned that the project be based on finding employment for 60 persons fulfilling required criteria.
The project includes on-site activities and actions directed at improvement of status of socially endangered categories of people through processes of negotiations and public advocacy with leading city actors. Specially trained team for cooperation and business negotiations will animate the employers properly and introduce them with all the benefits of this kind of work. A number of beneficiaries will be supposed to track this team in its work for the purpose of gaining experience that could be beneficial for future job searching. Moreover, constantly active info telephone service will be established for the purposes of providing information to the employers related to possibilities of employment of beneficiaries of the Agency.
Processes of public advocacy aiming at improvement of status of socially endangered population will be conducted simultaneously with the field work. It is planned that the leading actors be introduced with the difficult position of socially endangered population, and that the identification of the problems results in their reduction and potential elimination. Leading actord and partners in this activity are the City of Nis structures (Mayor Cabinet and City Municipalities), social care institutions, big city companies (public and private).

All Different – All Equal

Within the scope of its activities related to capacity building and support of civil society in Serbia, Center for civil society development PROTECTA joined the process of initiation and took active participation in the campaign “All Different – All Equal”.
Throughout the world the campaign is being organized with the support of the Council of Europe and aims at promotion of equality, civil values and youth participation. At the local (national) level, the campaign is being implemented by the so-called national committees which are planned to be based on partnership among non-governmental and governmental bodies and institutions and media dealing with issues related to youth, social matters, education, human rights and the like.
Focusing on the significance of the campaign and the possibilities it offers in the struggle against intolerance and discrimination, Serbia, as one of the members of the Council of Europe took active participation in the process of its implementation. The initiative for this campaign was stirred by the Ministry of Education and Sports as well as from several non-governmental organizations active in the fields prioritised by the campaign. For further information about the campaign, visit www.svirazliciti-sviravnopravni.net

Can collection – environment protection

ReCAN Fund for Recovery and Recycling of Beverage Cans realizes program of can collecting at schools. This is the constant activity that consists of two components:

Education – organization of seminars at schools, distribution of educative material consisting of brochures, leaflets and posters.
Actions of collecting cans, when schools will be given necessary bags for sorting out cans.

ReCAN Fund implements this program in several cities in Serbia. Since March 1st 2007 Center for civil society development PROTECTA started realization of the program “CAN COLLECTION, ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION” in Nis.
19 primary and 1 secondary school from Nis took active participation in the program. Two lectures with the subject related to can recycling will be organized in each schools, one lecture for lower and one for higher classes.
Within the framework of the program “CAN COLLECTION, ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION”, PROTECTA Eco team members will conduct more than 40 seminars aiming at promoting significance of environment protection, especially among members of young population, and at raising customers’ awareness of the need for can recycling as the learned and normal model of behaviour.
Apart from additional profit from can collection, the most efficient students from schools that collected greatest number of cans will every year be awarded with stay at “Green schools”, i.e. eco-camps, accompanied by their teachers / program coordinators.

Schools included in the program “Can collection – environment protection”

Primary School OŠ Učitelj Tasa
Primary School Vojislav Ilić Mlađi
Primary School Karađorđe
Primary School Bogdan Blagojević
Primary School Dušan Tasković -Srećko
Primary School Kralj Petar I
Primary School Ivan Goran Kovačić
Primary School Miroslav Antić
Primary School Vožd Karađorđe
Primary School Radoje Domanović
Primary School Sveti Sava
Primary School Ratko Vukičević
Primary School Đura Jakšić
Primary School Sreten Mladenović - Mika
Primary School Čegar
Primary School Stefan Nemanja
Primary School Branko Miljković
Primary School Car Konstantin
Primary School Duško Radović
School of Technical and Mechanical Engineering 15 maj, Secondary Vocational School

Campaign – promotion of durable solutions for refugees and internally displaced persons in Serbia with focus on education, employment and active participation

On the territory of Nis Protecta will conduct thorough analysis of un(employment) rate of the refugees and internally displaced persons as well as the necessity for their additional professional training, education and re-training. Data obtained will be used as ground-breaking arguments for the campaign of advocacy with the purpose of making local authorities initiate programs of training and re-training of unemployed IDPs in Nis and the surrounding. Activities proposed by the campaign will involve relevant state / local authorities and will aim at promotion of employment of IDPs. Moreover, withj the purpose of wider promotion of this issue, two TV shows will be produced with the appearance of Serbian Refugee Council activists, representatives of local administration, as well as refugees and IDPs themselves. In accordance with needs for further promotion of these issues and the results of the campaign, press conferences will be organized. Further information >>

Capacity building of youth for actions in local communities

Centre for civil society development PROTECTA from Nis (Serbia) partnered with Allavida UK to implement the programme, which Allavida already implemented in Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and B&H. The programme targets small local communities (up to 10,000 inhabitants), municipalities and parts of major cities which are clearly defined as separate wholes (for instance, suburbs, settlements, zones etc ). The targeted local communities are the communities which are dying out in aftermath of migrations of young people to major cities. Unlike big cities such as Belgrade, Nis, Novi Sad and Kragujevac– small communities offer youth almost no relevant opportunities. PROTECTA therefore provides young people from these communities with a four-module training and a number of consultations, grants and other assistance in the realisation of their ideas. The project is supported by Balkan Trust for Democracy and its implementation started in January 2006.

Institutional capacity building of PROTECTA

Thanks to support from Rockefeller Brothers Fund, PROTECTA has been working on its institutional capacity building since October 2005. The three-year project includes a series of intensive trainings involving PROTECTA managerial and administrative staff; administrative improvements of the work; opening of PROTECTA club in Nis and development of new partnerships; strengthening of current partnerships with the organisations and institutions sharing the identical mission.

Standards for better approach to EU market

PROTECTA started implementation of the project of cross-border cooperation of microregions on the territory of Vranje, Presevo and Kumanovo Municipalities with partner organizations “Green World” from Presevo and “Fenix” from Kumanovo. The project aims at introducing HACCP standard through education of manufacturers and potential manufacturers of healthy food. This standard has become a necessity in the processes of exporting products to European Union. The project started on June 1st 2007 and will last for 4 months. The education that will be conducted by eminent experts from the field of HACCP standards on the territory of Balkans, will aim at establishment of cross-border multiethnic cooperation, as well as at providing training and certificates for participants so that they could introduce HACCP standard into the processes of manufacturing themselves. The project is supported by EastWest Institute.

Projects within the framework of Serbian Refugee Council (SRC) partnership

Center for civil society development PROTECTA is one of the founding members of Serbian Refugee Council.
Serbian Refugee Council (SRC) was founded in June 2004 as a consortium of six local refugee / IDP assisting NGOs, with the view of enhancing their common advocacy efforts on a higher policy level aimed at finding durable solutions for the displaced in Serbia and the West Balkans region.
SRC is a non-governmental, non-profit organization with a vision to create a fairer world for refugees, IDPs and other people affected by forced migrations, to improve the overall tolerance in the society, making it more equitable and prosperous.
Founding members of the Serbian Refugee Council are: Group 484, Hi Neighbour, International Aid Network (IAN), Novi Sad Humanitarian Centre (NSHC), Centre for civil society development PROTECTA and Serbian Democratic Forum Belgrade (SDF).