Established Council for social protection of the South-East planning region

On December 24, 2021, a Constituent Session was held in the municipality of Valandovo and the Council for Social Protection of the South-East Planning Region was formed, where the mayors of all ten municipalities of the South-East Planning Region and the directors of all Centers for Social Work in the region are members. The Centre for development of the South-East Planning Region has the role of an administrative body.

The mayor of the municipality of Novo Selo, Gjorge Bozhinov, was unanimously elected for the president of the council for a one-year term.

At the Session, the Rules of Procedure were adopted, which regulate the manner of work of the Social Protection Council, as well as the Proposal for the need to develop social services in the South-East Planning Region, the type and manner of establishing services that Overview will allow to be used in the future, the facilities of the Center for Development and to apply for projects in the field of social protection.

Mr. Jovan Manasievski, expert in the field of social protection had his presentation to the audience, emphasizing the importance of constituting this Council and emphasizing that this is a step towards decentralization of social protection.

He also focused on the needs of the South-Еast region in the field of social protection, such as the need not only to build nursing homes, but also to develop the measure of assistance and care in the home, which would cover a larger number of people who they need this care.

Of great importance is the need to map social risks and establish social protection councils in each municipality, in order to adopt annual plans for social protection. These plans will define the needs and the municipalities will be able to apply for grants, as well as the use of European funds.

Invitation for a meeting to the associations that applied after the Public Call for election of a member – a representative of the associations in the Council for Development of SEPR

To

Phoenix Youth Association, Novo Selo

Foundation for Local Development and Development of Information Technologies, Gevgelija

Local Action Group Belasica – Ograzden, Bosilovo

Association Rural Center Ograzden, Bosilovo

Healthy Valley Association, Strumica

Pursuant to Article 21 paragraphs 13, 14 and 15 of the Law on Balanced Regional Development (“Official Gazette of RSM” No. 24/21 and 174/21) and Article 6 of the Decision on announcing a public call for election of a member of the Council for development of the Southeast planning region – a representative of the associations no. 08-404 / 1 dated 23.11.2021, the President of the Commission for implementation of the public call for election of a member in the Council for development of the Southeast planning region – a representative of the associations, directs:

Meeting invitation

to the associations that applied after the Public Call for election of a member in

The Council for Development of the South-East Planning Region – a representative of the associations.

Ladies and Gentlemen, As applicants for the Public Call for election of a member – representative of the associations in the Council for Development of the South-East Planning Region, we invite you to a meeting on 29.12.2021 (Wednesday) starting at 12:00, in the premises of the Centre for development of the South-East planning region at the address Blvd. Marshal Tito no.1-1, 2400 Strumica.

The meeting is open to all associations that have submitted an application after the Public Call, and can be decided only by the associations that meet the criteria of the Public Call through the authorized persons of the associations or persons authorized by them who are obliged to submit:

1.power of attorney to participate in the meeting for the associations that have applied after the Public Call, but do not meet the criteria specified in the call in the original stamped and signed by the authorized person or
2.power of attorney for participation and decision-making for the associations that have applied and that meet the conditions of the Public Call in original with a stamp and a personal signature of the authorized person.
At the meeting, the registered candidates who meet the criteria of the Public Call, by a majority vote decide which of them will represent them in the Council for Development of the South-East Planning Region, as a member – representative of the associations, without the right to vote, with a mandate of 4 (four ) years.

Associations that meet the criteria of the Public Call are:

Phoenix Youth Association, Novo Selo
Foundation for Local Development and Development of Information Technologies, Gevgelija
Local Action Group Belasica – Ograzden, Bosilovo
25.12.2021

Sincerely,

Commission for implementation of the Public Call for election of a member of the Council for Development of the South-East planning region – representative of the associations

President,

Nikola Godev

PRESS RELEASE

The Centre for Development of the South-East Planning Region informs the public that on 24.12.2021 (Friday) starting at 14.00 in the premises of the municipality of Valandovo will be held a Constituent Assembly of the Council for Social Protection of the South-East Planning Region.

The Council for Social Protection of the South-East Planning Region is established for the purpose of planning and development of the network of social services in the region. The council consists of all mayors of the local self-government units that are part of the planning region and all directors of the centers for social work from the area of ​​the planning region. The following will be discussed at the Constituent Assembly:

DAILY ORDER

 

1.Constitution of the Council for social protection of the South-East planning region.
2.Adoption of the Rules of Procedure of the Council for Social Protection of the South-East Planning Region
Election of the President of the Council for social protection of the Southeast planning region
3.Adoption of the Proposal for the need for development of social services in the South-East planning region, type and manner of establishment of services

Sincerely,Center for Development of the South-East Planning Region

Second team meeting of the project “Cross-Border Cooperation in Forest Fire Fighting”

Within the project “Cross-Border Cooperation in Forest Fire Fighting” co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg IPA Cross-border Cooperation Program between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia, on 16.12.2021, in the business hall of the Hotel “Sirius” Strumica – Republic North Macedonia, the second meeting of the project team was held.

The main purpose of the team meeting was to discuss the current activities of the project, the direction of their movement, as well as the plans that will help in the implementation of future activities.

The announced tender procedure for procurement of firefighting equipment was discussed, as well as the next steps related to the tender.

The team also gave his positive opinion for the successfully held Workshop for creating a cross-border network for prevention and response to natural and environmental dangers and the prepared Memorandum of Cooperation.

 

The project is co-funded by EU and National Funds of the participating countries through the Interreg-IPA CBC Republic of Bulgaria – Republic of North Macedonia Programme CCI 2014TC16I5CB006

Start of the construction activities for arrangement and rehabilitation of field roads in the South-East region

On 07.12.2021 in the village Bogorodica, Municipality of Gevgelija the construction activities envisaged within the project “Improvement of the existing road infrastructure in rural areas in the South-East Planning Region for better access to agricultural land” have started.

This project envisages arrangement and rehabilitation of field roads in four municipalities in the South-East Planning Region, and in addition to Gevgelija, arrangement and rehabilitation of field roads will be also performed in the municipalities of Bogdanci, Strumica and Valandovo.

Reconstruction of field roads will be of great importance for agricultural households in the region, which will provide access to a total of 298.25 hectares of fertile agricultural land in the region. Reconstruction of field roads will provide better access to agricultural land as well as better and faster access to crops.

The funds for this project with a total value of 2.085.305,00 denars with VAT are provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy through the Programme for capital subsidies for development of the planning regions in the field of rural development and agriculture.

The first Regional Fair of Social Enterprises from the South-East Planning Region was held

On 01.12.2021 in Strumica was held the first Regional Fair of Social Enterprises from the South-East Planning Region organized by the Centre for Development of the South-East Planning Region supported by the project “Support to Social Entrepreneurship” which is financially supported by the European Union.

The fair was officially opened by Mr. Julieta Gjurkova, Director of the Centre for Development of the South-East Planning Region. “At this moment, social entrepreneurship as a concept is still new in our country, but we are ready to open our hearts and minds to learn new opportunities” – said Mr. Gjurkova.

Municipality of Strumica, Mr. Kosta Kostadinov, who gave a brief overview of the importance of the connection between local self-government and social enterprises, while the idea and beginnings of the project were discussed by the Team Leader of the project “Support to Social Entrepreneurship”, Mr. Barbara Sadovska from Poland. They say that in order to cross the path of success, listen to the stories of successful people.

Guided by that motto, the fair presented the beginnings of the three most successful social enterprises in the region for the development of their social mission, and all that they have achieved to date.

At the end of the fair, a panel discussion was organized to discuss the opportunities for sustainability and growth of regional social enterprises, by providing financial, mentoring and other support from various funds. While through the exhibition stands of about twenty potential social enterprises and NGOs from the South-East Planning Region, visitors had the opportunity to enjoy and get acquainted with the social mission, entrepreneurial ideas, their potentials and the possibility of future cooperation.

THE FIRST SOCIAL ENTERPRISE SUPPORT CENTER OPENED AND THE FIRST SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP FAIR WAS HELD

On November 19, 2021, within the project “Support to Social Entrepreneurship”, the Center for Support of Social Enterprises was opened in Skopje and the first National Fair for Social Enterprises was held, where more than 50 exhibitors, including organizations and companies from the South-East Planning Region, presented their stands together with representatives from the Regional Office for Social Entrepreneurship in Strumica.

This project is funded by the European Union and implemented by Eptisa, in consortium with Barca and Ecoris, in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy.

The Center for Support of Social Enterprises will provide its users (organizations, social enterprises, institutions and individuals) with advice, guidance and assistance on practical issues and challenges, such as: fundraising, company registration, networking opportunities, business development, employment aspects, procurement, partnership building, available financial support, marketing and many other services.

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Northern Macedonia Fatmir Bitiqi, the Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jagoda Shahpaska, Stefan Hudolin, responsible for cooperation with the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Northern Macedonia and the Project Leader – Barbara Sadovska.

A two-day workshop held in the frame of the project “Cross-Border Cooperation in Forest Fire Fighting”

The Centre for development of the South-East planning Region in the frame of the project “Cross-Border Cooperation in Forest Fire Fighting”, on 26th and 27th of November 2021, organized a two-day workshop to establish an informal network between stakeholders from the two cross border regions in order to create good coordination and structure for prevention and adequate response to natural and environmental hazards, with special emphasis and focus on forest fires.

Besides representatives from the Centre, as organizers of the event, the workshop was attended by representatives of the Project Lead Partner – Association of Southwestern Municipalities, Blagoevgrad – Republic of Bulgaria, representatives of municipalities, municipal territorial firefighting units and volunteer associations from both countries, representatives of regional Crisis Management Centres, representatives of the regional offices of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue, as well as all stakeholders in preventing and mitigating the consequences of natural disasters, environmental hazards and human factor caused disasters.

The workshop was successfully conducted and all participants contributed with their presentations and discussions. As part of the workshop, a framework for the functioning of the informal network was prepared, as well as a draft Memorandum of Cooperation which will be sent to all participants and stakeholders for additional comments and finalization before it is finally signed at the Final Conference of the project.

“Creating good coordination and structure for prevention of the forest fires, but also timely response is essential in implementing this partnership. This is what makes our job easier, quick contacts and efficient data collection. They provide us with their information, we give our data regarding the type of the burning material, the surface, the weather conditions in our country, the weather conditions in their country so that a joint action could be implemented”, said Mr. Mitko Dimchev – Inspector in the Directorate for protection and rescue (regional unit Strumica).

The network is informal and in the future will serve as a basis for better coordination between the competent structures in both countries. Although the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Bulgaria already have several international agreements in the field of civil protection, this network will facilitate cooperation primarily between local and regional institutions.

“The establishment of this network will in big extent facilitate the communication between the colleagues from our country and the Republic of Bulgaria for joint and coordinated performance on the field”, said Alexander Gudev – Commander of Territorial Firefighting Unit Strumica.

The participants in the workshop shared many positive experiences that should guide the institutions in the future, but also shared real problems that need to be addressed together.

This project is co-funded by the European Union and by National Funds of the Participating Countries under the IPA Cross – Border Programme

New President of the Council for development of the South-East planning region

On November 23, 2021, in Strumica, the Council for development of the South-East planning region held its first (constitutive) session, on which all Mayors of the ten Municipalities of the region were present, as well as the director and representatives of the Centre for development of the South-East planning region.

According to the agenda of the meeting, the mandate of the Mayors was verified and after the constitution of the Council, the Mayor of Municipality of Gevgelija Mr. Andon Saramandov was unanimously elected for President who will chair the Council for development of the South-East planning region with a mandate of one year. He expressed gratitude for the trust of his fellow mayors and pointed that priority should be given to regional projects that are sustainable and of high quality in the long run and that lasting solutions are needed for better and improved quality of life in both rural and urban areas. All mayors, as members of the Council of development of the South-East planning region, have an obligation in the upcoming period to raise living standards and investments of this part of the country.

During the session, the Council adopted a Decision on initiating a procedure for electing a representative of the business community for a member of the South-East planning region and a Decision for announcing a public call for electing a member of the Council for South-East planning region – a representative of the associations that will be published in the next period. After the adoption of these Decisions, and in accordance with the Law on balanced regional development, one representative from the business community and one representative from an association will enter as members of the Council for without the right to vote for a term of four years.

At the end of the session, the director of the Centre for development of SEPR Ms. Gjurkova informed the members of the Council about the current projects implemented by the Centre and the activities that are responsibility of the Council for development of the South-East planning region in the following period.

With the organization of the info day, the Centre for development of SEPR marked the successful implementation of the project “HELP”

The Centre for development of the South-East planning region in the past few years has worked intensively to provide modern infrastructure and equipment for crisis management, which was actually the main goal of the project “Integrated Operational Center for Humanitarian Aid – HELP”.

The implemented activities and the achieved results of the project were presented on the info day which was organized on October 26, 2021 and which event actually marked the successful implementation of the project “HELP”.

One of the main activities in the project was the supply and installation of the Command Center equipped with state-of-the-art equipment that will enable to increase the responsibility, rapid response, modern methods and coordination of human resources in the crisis management process which is a very complex process and requires the involvement of all relevant institutions, both on regional and national level.

Within the project, posters with instructions on how to react in case of fire and earthquake were prepared and they were distributed throughout the municipalities, all primary and secondary schools, as well as through other public buildings in the South-East region.

National and cross-border protocols on communication, cooperation and coordination and Crisis Management Plans for the whole South-East region were also prepared, which will provide clear instructions on actions that need to be taken and which process to follow, because in times of crisis timely action and time management are essential.

The project which officially ends on October 31, 2021 is funded by the European Union and the National Funds of the participating countries through the Interreg IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Programme between Greece – Republic of North Macedonia 2014-2020.