Municipality of Bosilegrad - “Improvement of social protection system in Bosilegrad by implementation of new and innovative social protection services” project
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Municipality of Bosilegrad |
PROJECT TITLE: “Improvement of social protection system in Bosilegrad by implementation of new and innovative social protection services”
VALUE: EUR 80,690
DURATION: 12 months
PARTNER: Center for Social Work Bosilegrad
BENEFICIARIES: All socially vulnerable residents of Bosilegrad
The municipality of Bosilegrad is one of the largest in terms of territory in the Republic of Serbia with an area of 571 km2 located at the extreme southeast of Serbia on the border with the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia. According to data from the Center for Social Work Bosilegrad, there are currently more than 320 people in the municipality with some kind of social need. These are socially vulnerable individuals from various groups, including people with disabilities, socially vulnerable young people, women victims of domestic violence, and others.
The fact that further complicates the provision of social protection services in Bosilegrad is the dispersed nature of the municipal territory. Municipal settlements - Bosilegrad and the other 36 villages are distant, and the scattered nature of the settlements is indicated by the fact that the average altitude is 700-1922 meters, and the length of unclassified roads is more than 1330 kilometers. The most remote village is over 40km from the center of Bosilegrad, and in most villages, hamlets are several kilometers away. The altitude difference within some villages is several hundred meters.
Clinics, which provide health services, are located in the center of the villages, which in some cases are several kilometers away from the hamlets where socially vulnerable people - individuals with disabilities, live. In winter, the Center for Social Work faces numerous problems with delivering aid to these individuals, and it is not uncommon for local public companies to be engaged in clearing roads, as well as delivering food, medicine, and transporting doctors to patients via snowmobiles and other suitable means. This generates significant social protection costs, which would be considerably lower in the case of providing numerous social protection services in new buildings for housing socially vulnerable individuals, and the savings will be used to assist other socially vulnerable individuals. Elderly disabled individuals lack adequate housing, heating, and family support. Some of the socially vulnerable live in very old houses prone to collapsing, without water supply, sewage, and electrical infrastructure.
Starting from the aforementioned situation, the municipality of Bosilegrad and the Center for Social Work Bosilegrad have prepared a project that will employ expert staff within the Mobile Team, consisting of a team coordinator, social worker, 2 caregivers/nurses, psychologist, educator, and driver. The Mobile Team is established with the goal of providing necessary social services at the residence of socially vulnerable individuals. Given the predominantly mountainous terrain of the municipality, the acquisition of a 4x4 vehicle for the needs of the Mobile Team is also planned. This way, it is anticipated that at least 50 individuals in social need will receive the necessary social service at their current place of residence, with the project partners aspiring to significantly exceed this number.
Contact person in the project team: Danijel Milanov, Municipal Council member, danijelmilanov@yahoo.com