National meeting of the network INKLUZIVAM

The Macedonian Red Cross and the Association “Humanost” in the period from 10-12 August 2018 in Struga, organized a national meeting with the members of the network INKLUZIVAM, within the framework of the Regional project “Taking action for social inclusion of the elderly”, financed by The European Union, supported by the Austrian Red Cross and the Austrian Agency for Cooperation and Development. The purpose of the workshop was to prepare a Strategic Advocacy Plan for the opening of services for the elderly. The basis for the preparation of the strategy were the results obtained by the survey on the need for services for social and health services for the elderly, which was conducted over the last year.

At the meeting besides the members of the network, citizen associations that implement micro projects for social inclusion of the elderly, supported by the regional project, participated in the preparation of the plan. A total of 14 organizations have the opportunity to create a strategic plan that will include development priorities for action in the next two-year period. It is extremely important to emphasize that the network is supported by the competent institutions of the country. Representatives of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the Institute for Social Affairs, the Institute for Public Health, the Institute for Social Work and Social Policy, and the city of Skopje, with their participation in the workshop, actively contributed to the preparation of the document.

The strategic plan identified two priorities, the first being aimed to influence changes of the legal framework in the social and health care systems that will contribute to the development of services for better social integration of the elderly in the society and improvement of the quality of the latter. The second priority is to develop services for the elderly according to their individual needs, by setting standards for service delivery.

The workshop was also attended by project coordinators PhD. Milutin Vracevic and Natasa Todorovic from the Serbian Red Cross, who shared their experiences in coordinating the activities of the network in Serbia.

Participants of the workshop expressed great satisfaction for the opportunity of being included in the creation of the Strategic Plan. The strategy will be a basic document for the members of the network for their active participation in advocacy for improving the quality of life of the elderly.