About Project

In short

The European Union supports deinstitutionalization to improve the social landscape of Serbia.

The project "Improvement of the Social Protection System and Preparation for the ESF" aims to support the enhancement of social inclusion policies by modernizing the social protection system to improve out-of-institution care and provide modern access to quality and sustainable social protection services within the community for the most vulnerable population groups. The project is implemented by the NIRAS and EY consortium. This project provides active support in achieving the strategic goals of leading social protection institutions, particularly the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans, and Social Affairs, which is the lead entity for this project, while the Contracting Authority is the Sector for Contracting and Financing Programs from European Union Funds within the Ministry of Finance. The project aims to improve institutional social protection processes through active support for the application of best practices from EU countries, in line with the EU Pillar of Social Rights. The overall objective of the project is to enhance the effectiveness of social inclusion policies to encourage equal opportunities and the active participation of individuals from the most vulnerable and marginalized groups. The specific objective is the modernization of the social protection system to improve out-of-institution care and ensure timely access to quality and sustainable social protection services provided within the community.

Activities will also focus on strengthening the capacities of the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans, and Social Affairs, the Provincial Secretariat for Social Protection, as well as the Republic and Provincial Institutes for Social Protection for the creation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of social protection policies. Technical support will also ensure the improvement of the existing funding mechanisms of the Ministry.

The improvement of active inclusion policies, with a special focus on cash social assistance beneficiaries, will be implemented in accordance with the standards and best practices from EU member states. The project plans to develop individual deinstitutionalization plans for 160 social protection beneficiaries currently residing in institutions. Deinstitutionalization, which refers to the process of transitioning from a system of residential care and institutionalization to a system of person-centered care within a family environment and local community, is one of the priorities for Serbia's social development to establish a system of sustainable community-based social protection services for the most vulnerable population groups.

Furthermore, the project plans to increase the number of persons with disabilities over the age of 18 who use family accommodation services for adults and the elderly by at least 10% by the end of the project implementation, through support and the development of modern models for long-term care. Enhancing the capacities of project beneficiaries to participate in the European Social Fund (ESF+) will be carried out by assessing challenges as well as best practices from EU member states, which will result in the development and implementation of a roadmap. The project also plans two national awareness-raising campaigns on the importance of deinstitutionalization and the promotion of long-term care models.