PBILD PROVIDED PERSONAL DOCUMENTS FOR 700 ROMA PERSONS

23. October 2012.

Source: Jugpress / Bujanovac - PBILD Program has, so far, implemented over 100 projects, including the one on the provision of identity documents for around 700 Roma persons in South Serbia, said Nicholas Hercules, PBILD Program Manager.

PBILD supports a whole range of projects, from economic ones to those regarding the creation of new jobs, clubs for persons with disabilities, development of inter-ethnic relations and youth clubs, he added.

"PBILD works with minority communities, particularly with the Roma one, in order to reduce the number of asylum seekers, especially in Belgium, where a large number of asylum seekers come from South Serbia. There are around 700 Roma in South Serbia for whom we provided personal documents. Thanks to the personal documents, they will be able to gain their other rights, such the rights to healthcare and education, so that they will be able continue their education, get employed and remain in this environment. We also work with Youth Offices in the Jablanica and Pcinj districts, where the young, through various programs, acquire new knowledge on how to comply a CV, find a job and get organized with regard to management of virtual enterprises", Mr. Hercules said.

When asked what the implementation of projects in the districts is like, he replied "we don’t work alone on the implementation of projects, but in partnership with the municipalities. In the towns and municipalities whose mayors and municipal presidents are pro-active, the results are much better. This enables them to easily and readily embrace the EU funds for projects. I would like to send a message to the municipalities, or to our partners, that it is very important to hire professional people who know how to prepare good projects. These projects should have the appropriate budgets in order to be able to easily get the funding for projects from the European Union, which will provide faster and better development of all the municipalities. At the beginning of PBILD program, we gave a lot of comments on the project proposals, with the aim of improving them, and now, after reaching the improvement, very few comments are given", Mr. Hercules said.