The project „Academy for reintegration of marginalized persons” – an example of how a region can be developed sustainably in the field of social inclusion

Creating equal opportunities for socially disadvantaged persons in employment, improving the services offered in the region through the Program for reintegration into society, opportunities for further education, vocational training and other forms of learning through working with modern food production machines. These are part of the results achieved through the project implemented by the Centre for development of the South-East planning region in partnership with the Association for counseling, treatment, reintegration and re-socialization of persons addicted to psychoactive substances – “IZBOR”.

The idea was enrichment of the Program for reintegration of socially vulnerable persons, that is offered in the region, with modern resources that will help create conditions for sustainable development through smooth delivery of services and products to end users: vulnerable groups of citizens in need of training and employment, companies in need of skilled workers and buyers in need of quality and safe organic agricultural and bakery products.

Exactly that was made possible through the implementation of the project, the existing services in the South-East region were improved for better inclusion of the marginalized persons in the labor market through procurement of equipment intended for organic production of fruits and vegetables, bakery, packaging and labeling of powdered and granular products, gardening and floriculture. With the help of the purchased equipment and the Programs offered by the Association “IZBOR”, socially disadvantaged people can acquire skills that will contribute to being independent, useful in society and qualified in the labor market.

During the implementation period, three persons were employed who currently acquire work skills within the Reintegration Program, and in the next period, additional employment of persons who are already in the rehabilitation phase in the Association “IZBOR” is expected.

This approach fully complies with the EU’s priorities and strategies in the fight against social exclusion by providing quality jobs, better and better quality of life for vulnerable groups and people who have been on the unemployment list for a long time due to their lifestyle.

The duration of the implementation of „Academy for reintegration of marginalized persons“ was 9 months within the project Sustainable and inclusive balanced regional development, financed by the Ministry of local self-government and the Swiss Agency for development and cooperation.

The Centre for development of the South-East planning region signed a Memorandum of Cooperation for the preparation of the new Spatial Plan of RNM

The Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, Mr. Naser Nuredini, the Director of the Agency for Spatial Planning, Ms. Andrijana Andreeva and the Head of the Centre for development of the South-East planning region, Ms. Zhulieta Gjurkova on 15.03.2021 in the Formal Hall in the Government of RNM signed a Memorandum of Cooperation. According to the memorandum all parties expressed readiness for cooperation in the process of preparation of the Spatial Plan of the Republic of North Macedonia.

The spatial plan of RNM is a national strategy for spatial development and provides guidelines for the organization, use, protection, arrangement and management of the space of the State. The need for preparation of a new spatial plan arises from the expiration of the existing planning document, but also due to the change in the conditions and modern needs of our society.

– The new Spatial Plan of the State will be modern and visionary and will enable long-term and sustainable socio-economic development, prevention and control of its harmful impact on the environment and will establish a balance between available space, economic and demographic development, natural and cultural resources. Also, the new methodology envisages mechanisms for dealing with climate change, as well as harmonization of sectoral policies and finding the most appropriate solutions – said the Minister Nuredini.

The planning regions and their participation in this process will play an important role in the spatial planning, which arises not only from the fact that each planning region will prepare a separate spatial plan as elaboration of the national, but also because of the role in the efforts to achieve balanced regional development. the state.

The Plan is ordered by the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, which coordinates the entire procedure for preparation and implements the procedures for adoption of the Plan in accordance with the legislation and the Methodology for preparation of the Spatial Plan, while the Spatial Plan is prepared by the Agency for Spatial Planning.

Completely new equipment for firefighters from the region for dealing with forest fires

The Centre for development of the South-East planning region started with the implementation of the project “Cross-Border cooperation in dealing with the forest fires” within the Programme for cross-border cooperation R. Bulgaria – R. North Macedonia 2014 – 2020. The Centre for development of the South-East planning region will implement the project with the Association of Southwestern Municipalities of Blagoevgrad, Republic of Bulgaria, as a Lead Partner in the implementation of the project.

Within the project, complete personal protective equipment for forest fires will be procured for all firefighters from the South-East planning region, which is currently not available to any of the firefighting units in the region. Professional forest fire equipment will be procured which includes overalls, blankets, boots, gloves, helmets made especially for forest fires, anti-smoke protective masks and balaclava fireproof protection masks. Pumps, firefighter hoses and motor saw will be procured for each of the brigades in the region. This equipment will significantly improve the safety and functionality of firefighters in the region, and also will improve their on time and appropriate response to forest fires that cause enormous damage, destroy our forest, nature and as is well known from the past, there have been human sacrifice.

In addition to the procurement of equipment, a cross-border network will be created for prevention and response to natural and environmental hazards, which will include representatives of municipal territorial firefighting units and volunteer communities from both countries whose goal is to create good coordination and structure for prevention and appropriate disaster response with special emphasis on forest fires. For some of the network members, a series of trainings (6 in total) by internationally certified is planned. An information and media campaign will be launched to promote volunteerism and prevent forest fires.

Total value of the project is 395.361 euros, out of which the budget of the Centre for development of the South-East planning region is 197.602 euros. The project will be implemented for 24 months.

Application for mentoring support for companies and PHI that will apply through the new call of FITD

The Business Center at the Centre for development of the South-East planning region within the Voucher Scheme for providing professional assistance, provides FREE MENTORING SUPPORT for all companies and Private health care institutions (PHI) that are interested in applying for the new call for applications announced by the Fund for innovation and technological development for accelerated economic growth available at the following link: https://fitr.mk/zabrzan-ekonomski-rast/.

By filling in the application, the companies and the private health institutions from the South-East region acquire the right to receive mentoring support, and due to the limited amount of funds, the order of the beneficiaries of the mentoring support will be determined on the principle of first reported, first served.

Application link for mentoring: https://forms.gle/Bz5mrWXzARJK1Biy9

For additional information, please contact the Business Center at the Centre for development of the South-East planning region, at Blvd. Marshal Tito no. 1-1, Strumica or call us on 034 / 340-139.

Extended the deadline for submitting documents for the announcement for hiring a project coordinator

The deadline for submitting documents for the announcement for hiring a project coordinator for the needs of the project “Cross-border cooperation in forest fire fighting” funded by the European Union through the Interreg IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Programme between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia 2014-2020 is extended.

Candidates interested in the stated job position can express their interest by submitting a short biography (CV), cover letter in English, a copy of the Diploma of completed education, as well as additional documents to prove the criteria of the competition, with an indication “for announcement for the project Cross-border Cooperation in dealing with forest fires”, no later than 05.03.2021 (Friday), until 16.00, in the premises of the Centre for development of the South-East planning region, Blvd. “Marshal Tito” no. 1-1, 2400 Strumica.

The full text of the announcement as well as the attachments can be downloaded from the following links:

1. Announcement for the project “Cross-border cooperation in forest fire fighting”

2. Annex 1 – Tasks of the project coordinator

3. Annex 2 – Europass CV

4. Annex 3 – Manual for project implementation

The bridge connecting the villages of Prosenikovo and Saraj is in the final stage of construction

With the beginning of the activities regarding the asphalting of the bridge and the access roads, the construction of the bridge between the settlements Prosenikovo and Saraj is in the final phase and the construction works are expected to be completed in about a week, when it will be officially put into use.

The length of the bridge is about 25 meters, and together with the access roads the total length is about 215 meters. This bridge is of great importance primarily for the inhabitants of the two villages, which will facilitate their daily communication, for the agricultural producers who cross the bridge every day to reach their agricultural areas, but also for transporting their products to the wholesale markets, as and for all citizens from the municipalities of Strumica, Bosilovo and Vasilevo.

Modernization of the road Prosenikovo – Saraj through construction of a bridge on the river Turija leads to improvement of road infrastructure in the municipalities of Strumica and Bosilovo and improvement of living conditions of citizens in this part of the region which enables greater economic development of municipalities and and the entire South-East region.

The construction of the bridge is part of the project “Construction of a bridge on the river Turija on a local road v. Prosenikovo – v. Saraj” which the Centre for development of the South-East planning region implements in partnership with the Municipality of Strumica, and the funds for its implementation are provided by the Bureau for Regional Development – Ministry of Local Self-Government and the Municipality of Strumica.

More information about the project: https://southeast.mk/portfolio/.

Announcement for hiring a project coordinator

The Centre for development of the South-East planning region publishes an announcement for hiring a project coordinator for the project “Cross-border Cooperation in Forest fire Fighting” funded by the European Union through the Interreg IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme between the Republic Bulgaria and Republic of North Macedonia 2014-2020.

Interested candidates in the above mentioned job position can express their interest by submitting a short biography (CV), cover letter in English, a copy of the Diploma of completed education, as well as additional documents to prove the criteria of the competition, with an indication “By competition for the project Cross-border cooperation in dealing with forest fires “, no later than 26.02.2021 (Friday), until 16.00, in the premises of the Centre for development of the South-East planning region, Blvd. “Marshal Tito” no. 1-1, 2400 Strumica.

The full text of the announcement as well as the attachments can be downloaded from the following links:

1. Announcement for the project “Cross-border cooperation in forest fire fighting”

2. Annex 1 – Tasks of the project coordinator

3. Annex 2 – Europass CV

4. Annex 3 – Manual for project implementation 

Business Center in support of SMEs from the region for using funds from the Fund for Innovation and Technological Development

The Business Center, which was established within the Centre for development of the South-East planning region and functions as a regional office that offers support to the private sector, in the future will intensify the cooperation with the Fund for Innovation and Technological Development (FITR) by informing potential beneficiaries for all public calls of the Fund and will provide technical support to potential applicants from the South-East planning region.

This mutual cooperation of the Business Center with FITR is in order to jointly help small and medium enterprises from the South-East planning region to have more eased access to the budget funds that are intended for their support and development. As a result and continuation of the long-term mutual cooperation in the next period, the Centre for development of the SEPR and FITR will organize information days as well as additional support to all interested small and medium enterprises in the region.

A voucher program of the Business Center for Capacity Building of Enterprises is envisaged and it is implemented through the project “Sustainable and inclusive balanced regional development”, financially supported by the Ministry of Local Self-Government and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in the Republic of North Macedonia in order to support the development and economic growth in the region, to encourage the increase of the number of new jobs and to enable a better standard of living in SEPR.

We invite all interested companies to be regularly informed and to follow the information published on social networks by the Centre for Development of SEPR as well as the Business Center of the Centre for development of the SEPR:

Regional Business Center: WEB: investinseregion.mk

FB page: https://www.facebook.com/bizniscentarjipr

The twenty-fifth (XXV) session of the Council for Development of the South-East Planning Region was held

On 02.02.2021 the twenty-fifth (XXV) session of the Council for Development of the South-East Planning Region was held, which due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was held online, through the ZOOM platform. The session was attended by the mayors of the municipalities in the region and the Manager of the Centre for development of the South-East planning region.

On the session it was mainly discussed on the manner of treating mosquitoes in the territories of the municipalities in the South-East planning region for 2021. A Decision was made for mutual activity of the municipalities for treatment of mosquitoes in 2021 by land, on the basis of which two larvicidal and three adult treatments against mosquitoes will be performed, i.e. three terrestrial aerosol dеsinsections against adult mosquitoes with ULV method and two larvicidal dеsinsections on the territories of the ten municipalities in the region.

This Decision was adopted earlier in order to meet the deadlines and recommendations of the Public Health Centres for timely mosquito spraying and to follow the recommended spraying and treatment intervals to increase efficiency, get the best result from this process and protect the health of the citizens of our region.

At the same time, a conclusion was adopted to ask the Ministry of Transport and Communications to include the area of ​​Monospitovo swamp in the locations that are priority for mosquito spraying by the Ministry as an example for Lake Dojran from our region. Namely, due to the unavailability of the terrain, there is no possibility to perform terrestrial (from the ground) aerosol dеsinsections and on the other hand this swamp is the largest source of mosquitoes in this region.

At the twenty-fifth session of the Council of SEPR, the Decisions for sale of the old  motor vehicle and for purchase of a new official motor vehicle for the needs of the Centre for development of the South-East planning region were unanimously adopted.

At this session was determined the amount of funds that each of the municipalities in the region will allocate annually for financing and smooth operation of the Public Enterprise for Catching Stray Dogs “Astra – Luna” – Strumica, for which a decision was made by the Council.

INFORMATION GUIDE – COLLECTION OF GOOD PRACTICES FOR COMBATING THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN COMMUNITIES

The negative consequences resulting from the climate change are taking place on global level and are increasingly affecting people’s daily lives.

Sharing good practices and experience between local communities and regions in different countries in the field of mitigating climate change is crucial for achieving sustainable results in this direction, both at the local and on the regional and national levels, which allows to identify needs and working solutions, as well as to apply them where necessary.

In that direction, Centre for development of the South-East planning region in partnership with the Municipality of Sandanski developed an Information Guide – Collection of good practices for combating the effects of climate change in communities, within the project “Joint actions for prevention and reduction of the consequences of disasters in the municipalities of Sandanski and Radovish“ co-financed by the European Union through the Interreg-IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Programme between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia 2014-2020.

The Information Guide emphasizes the importance of good practices and implemented projects with various measures to adapt to climate change and risks such as floods, erosion, drought, etc. Selected examples of good practices include successful projects from Bulgaria and North Macedonia, as well as European and international examples of climate change mitigation activities and projects focusing on the need to implement the so-called green infrastructure as a sustainable measure to combat the effects and prevent the risks associated with climate change.

Through this Information Guide, local and regional stakeholders can address ideas for improving the quality of their projects, programs and policies to combat the effects of climate change and ensure the sustainable development of local communities and regions.

The information guide as a bilingual document in Macedonian and English in printed form is available in the premises of the Centre for development of the South-East planning region, and in electronic form at the following link: https://www.jointactions.eu/mk/publications.