Participation in a working meeting on migration Budva, Montenegro

Organized by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Red Cross of Montenegro on August 31, 2018, a meeting was held in Budva with the people responsible for migration from the office of the European Zone of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from Budapest and representatives from the national societies of Red Cross of Montenegro, Red Cross of Serbia, Macedonian Red Cross, Hungarian Red Cross and Red Cross of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the meeting, representatives from the Macedonian Red Cross were the Head of the Sector for programs, Sasho Taleski and the Coordinator for Disaster Preparedness and Response, Ali Samet.

The purpose of the working meeting was to exchange practices and experiences of the national societies from the region, regarding the current situation with the migrant crisis, as well as to prepare the operational plan for the support of migrants for 2019.

At the meeting, the current situation and activities of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies regarding the issue of migration, the current situation, the financial situation regarding the provision of funds for activities for the support of migrants in each country of the region, challenges encountered when lacking funds, and the plans to finance these activities for 2019, were presented.

At the working meeting, the representatives of the national societies presented the situation with the migrants in the past few years, from the beginning of the migration crisis in 2014 until today, the current situation and activities in the reception centers in the region, as well as the issue of irregular migration and the difficulties that arise as a result of this issue. Particular emphasis was made on the reduced interest of donors to finance the migration programs of the national societies in the region. At the moment, the Red Cross of Montenegro and the Red Cross of Bosnia and Herzegovina are implementing the DREF operations, which funding lasts until October 2018, while the Macedonian Red Cross, the Red Cross of Serbia and the Hungarian Red Cross are implementing a program for supporting migrants within the operational plan of the Federation for 2018, for which the total funds necessary for completing the program have not been provided yet. During the presentation of the Macedonian Red Cross, the results achieved over the last period, the main challenges that the national society is facing at the present, especially in terms of providing the necessary financial framework for completing the envisaged support activities for 2018, as well as the foreseen needs required for implementing this program in 2019, were highlighted.

During the final part of the meeting, the trends and predictions regarding the number of migrants expected in 2019, as well as the necessary financial means for completing the needs of the migrants within the framework of the operational plan of the International Federation for 2019, were discussed.