Serbia & Montenegro / Kosovo 2006/2007 Appeal no. MAACS001

The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in over 183 countries. For more information: http:www.ifrc.org
Appeal total: CHF 6,096,000

Serbia & Montenegro programme summary <page 2>

Kosovo programme summary <page 8>

Serbia & Montenegro Secretariat 2+2 support strategy:

Kosovo Secretariat 2+2 support strategy:

For more information on Serbia & Montenegro and Kosovo: <click here>

Focus on Serbia & Montenegro 2006/2007

The 2006 appeal seeks international support for the Red Cross of Serbia and Montenegro in addressing needs of the vulnerable population and enhancing the capacity to deal with disasters. The focus is on identifying community needs and capacities with Red Cross being the cohesive element of a well functioning community care/response system. Red Cross has identified the following areas as its primary focus

• improving health and social conditions of vulnerable and socially marginalised people (health and care programme);
  
  
• decreasing vulnerability of the population to natural and man-made disasters (disaster management);
  
  
• advocating and representing vulnerable and marginalised population as well as promoting civil society values (coordination and implementation);
  
  
• improving the Serbia and Montenegro Red Cross Society capacity to identify needs, develop strategies to meet these needs and deliver better services aimed at preventing and alleviating suffering (organisational development).

The appeal will assist Serbia and Montenegro Red Cross Society to continue their efforts in reshaping the organisation to adapt to the changing environment, simultaneously providing the essential assistance to the most vulnerable. Strategic goals defined in the Development Strategy of the Yugoslav Red Cross (1) 2002-2005 are the key targets that the national society and the Federation delegation jointly work to reach.

The national society has been preparing for the change since late nineties, acknowledging the changing political, economical and social environment of a country undergoing transition after nearly a decade of conflicts. The developmental work done with the support of international donors was about setting the foundations for major changes to take place with the end of relief distribution in 2003. The activities supported through the International Federation are based on the needs of local communities, whether engaging the vulnerable population directly through health and care/social welfare activities, or working on risk prevention/preparedness. They also utilise local resources and aim to be sustainable through the acceptance by and integration in the local community.

In order to be able to support this approach, the national society underw ent a three-year organisational development cycle between 2001 and 2004. This programme addressed the issues of structure of the national society, its governance and statutes, and the structure, skills and management of people in the headquarters offices. The programme was evaluated in 2004. The results of the evaluation, presented through a series of recommendations for the future development of the national society have served as a basis for planning the new cycle of development.

Consequently, the programme focus of the national society over the past three years will be maintained in the coming period: community based approach in health, care, prevention, promotion of humanitarian values, advocacy and representation. The central idea connecting all these programmes being Red Cross working inside the community, and with the community, in addressing the needs recognised by the community.

Over the past year, the activities of the Red Cross supported through the Federation included:

• Home care for about 10,000 elderly and vulnerable beneficiaries in 96 municipalities, utilising 1,800 volunteers and another 160 professional associates
  
  
• Roma kindergartens and workshops for children living with disabilities, covering 1,400 beneficiaries in 50 municipalities with about 60 volunteers involved
  
  
• Soup kitchen food assistance for about 16,000 beneficiaries in 58 municipalities
  
  
• HIV/AIDS awareness/prevention pilot programme in eight municipalities with 40 volunteers
  
  
• Skills training programme for refugees opting for local integration, covering 150 beneficiaries across five municipalities
  
  
• Municipal disaster preparedness pilot exercises in eight municipalities involving Red Cross with representatives of local and central government and public services
  
  
• Intensive advocacy work leading to the work on laws on Asylum, laws on Red Cross and inclusion of Red Cross in both republics (Montenegro and Serbia) into government budgets
  
  
• Organisational development work resulting in communication equipment and skills training provided for 80 branches in Serbia and all of the branches in Montenegro as well as finalisation and implementation of the management software package in headquarters of both republic organisations with rollout to the field having started.

The work in 2006 and 2007 is mainly about continuing the service delivery, improving its quality and, crucially, developing means to sustain these programmes and activities after the period of external funding is over. This demands improved internal structure and practices, which, in turn means that organisational development work is integrated in most of the programmes. The structure, the philosophy and the values of the organisation are all irreversibly changing as Red Cross keeps the efficient satisfaction of needs of the most vulnerable as its priority.

The period 2006-2008 is a crucial time in the development of the Serbia and Montenegro Red Cross society. The difficult first steps in changing the structure and functional nature of the national society have been made and there is now an interest among partners to support further development in the three year period. Moreover, the positions of the national society in relation to the government at all levels have been steadily improving in the past three years with Red Cross increasingly being viewed as a contributing partner to nationwide processes. These processes - implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy and The Decade of Roma Inclusion have just begun and are multi-year initiatives that demand cooperative efforts of many parties. Governmental, non-governmental and international development organisations are all working together on the same job as the state union strives towards membership of the European Union (EU). With its natural advantages (widespread network, volunteers, experience, reputation and influence), Red Cross is viewed as an important partner. The task of the Federation at this point in time is supporting the national society to use its potentials, enhance its strengths and become fully integrated into systems of support.

For further details on Serbia & Montenegro please contact:

Serbia and Montenegro Red Cross Society: ljubomir@redcross.org.yu, telephone: ++381 11 632 564, fax: ++381 11 622 965

Red Cross of Serbia: serbia@redcross.org.yu, telephone ++ 381 11 30 32 125, fax ++381 11 634 348

Red Cross of Montenegro: ckcg@cg.yu, telephone ++381 81 241 418, fax ++381 81 241 613

Federation delegation Belgrade: ifrcyu04@ifrc.org, knut@ifrc.org.yu, phone ++381 11 32 82 202, fax ++381 11 32 81 791

Regional officer, Europe Department, Federation Secretariat Geneva: erja.reinikainen@ifrc.org, phone ++41 22 730 43 19, fax ++41 22 733 03 95

Federation Office in Kosovo: Mr. Gunther Pratz (Head of Office); Phone: (+381 63) 364 819; Fax: (+381 38) 228 599; E-mail: gunther.pratz@ifrc.org,

Regional officer, Europe Department, Federation Secretariat Geneva: Ms Erja Reinikainen erja.reinikainen@ifrc.org, phone ++41 22 730 43 19, fax ++41 22 733 03 95

This appeal seeks to fund programmes to be implemented in 2006 and 2007. These programmes are aligned with the International Federation's Global Agenda, which sets out four broad goals to meet the Federation's mission to "improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity":

Global Agenda Goals

1. Reduce the numbers of deaths, injuries and impact from disasters.

2. Reduce the number of deaths, illnesses and impact from diseases and public health emergencies.

3. Increase local community, civil society and Red Cross Red Crescent capacity to address the most urgent situations of vulnerability. 4. Reduce intolerance, discrimination and social exclusion and promote respect for diversity and human dignity.

The International Federation's is the world's largest humanitarian organization, and its millions of volunteers are active in over 183 countries. Our aim is to build safer communities, able to prevent and respond to human suffering in times of crises and distress, and where people work together to promote hope, dignity and equity. We work to support vulnerable communities through neutral, impartial, independent humanitarian action, in accordance with our Fundamental Principles and in line with the Red Cross Red Crescent Code of Conduct, the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, and the SPHERE Project.

Footnote:

(1) When Yugoslavia changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro in 2003, the national society was accordingly renamed to Red Cross of Serbia and Montenegro

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