Local population and migrants in joint volunteering actions

August 31, 2018

The upcoming beginning of the new school year in the Primary School “Ljupce Spanac“ in Bela Palanka and Primary School “Branko Radicevic” in Bujanovac, that each had more than 20 migrant children enrolled in the previous school year, was marked with a sports event and volunteer actions – cleaning of school yards.

Despite the rainy Monday 27th of August, 2018  in Bela Palanka, the sport and volunteer action took place with participation of the refugees and migrants from the Reception Center in Divljana, employees of the Primary School “Ljupce Spanac“, representatives of the local associations “Romano Drom“, “Zeleni vrh“, “Miris zavicaja“, a civil society organization “Te Deum”, representatives of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, local self-government of Bela Palanka and several international organizations that are providing support to both the migrant population and the receiving communities in Serbia.  This gathering created new and strengthened the already established friendships between children who attended the school together and socialized regardless of differences.

“This event symbolizes continuation of a good and successful cooperation between the Municipality of Bela Palanka, European union as a donor, UNDP and all other organizations actively engaged in supporting to the cities hosting migrant population in Serbia. Today, we had a very nice activity in the primary school which was attended by more than 20 migrant children. In addition, the donation of a new vehicle and the equipment for waste management given to the Public Utility Company ”Komnis” means a lot to the municipality”- emphasized Miroslav Marinkovic, Deputy Mayor of the Bela Palanka Municipality adding that he hoped the successful cooperation would be continued in the future.

On 29th August 2018, in the Municipality of Bujanovac, another volunteer action was organized, encompassing joint cleaning of the access road to the Primary School “Branko Radicevic”, its backyard, lawn and the sportsground, collecting and disposing of waste. Participants of the volunteer action were representatives of the Youth Office from Bujanovac, locals and representatives of the local self-government, refugees and migrants from the Reception Center in Bujanovac, personnel from the Primary School “Branko Radicevic” and several international agencies that are supporting both migrants and the receiving communities in Serbia, within the EU-funded project. Members of the Youth Office from Bujanovac also took part in the volunteering action.

“This was a very good idea for a joint endeavor and I gladly accepted the invitation to participate. My daughter attends this school and she is very well received. My message is that there are no differences between us”- says Reza Seyedi one of the migrant parents from Iran, who took part in this action.

The public utility companies "Komnis" from Bela Palanka and “Komunalac” from Bujanovac, contributed to the volunteering actions. These PUCs received a new garbage truck and waste management equipment through the EU Support to Municipalities Hosting Migrants program.

Activities in Bela Palanka and Bujanovac  were made possible thanks to the EU support, and implemented by UNDP, in partnership with IOM, and in cooperation with the national and local partners.