By Uros Delic | Project leader
FINAL PROJECT REPORT
REPORT 3 - SUPPORT FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES IN SERBIA
Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation, April, 2016
Since August 2015 Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation has been actively involved in provision of humanitarian assistance to refugees from Middle East who were constantly passing through Serbia on their way to European Union.
In the first months, focus was to provide water, food and hygienic packages as well as mobile toilets due to the very hot weather and high risk of infections. During the winter months, we had emergency teams available 24/7 on three spots – Belgrade, Sid (border with Croatia) and Dimitrovgrad (border with Bulgaria) constantly providing refugees with food, hygienic packages and winter clothes (boots, jackets, caps, scarfs, etc.). It was a priority to equip the refugees with winter clothes, since they have started they travel during summer and they were exposed to the really cold weather.
To sum up, in period August 2015 – April 2016 we have distributed 100 tons of humanitarian assistance and supported over 100.000 refugees with food, water, winter clothes, hygienic kits and other non-food items. Besides, we have also provided additional support:
We firmly believe that all the people deserve help, no matter of religion, age or skin color. Guided with that idea we will continue to provide help to the refugees in Serbia. In September 2015, we have gathered national representatives of 4 religious communities – Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim and Jewish who altogether with our founder, ex-NBA star Mr. Vlade Divac, sent joint message of humanity and philanthropy.
For us, it was also very important to share stories of refugees through traditional media, social media and our newsletter. We have invested great effort to inform our donors on real human stories and position of thousands of families on their epic journey to a better life.
We are also very thankful to the GlobalGiving who have recognized our efforts and supported our project in the amount of 36.850$. The following assistance was provided with this amount:
Since the closure of the Balkan route in March 2016, over 2.000 refugees got stranded in Serbia. Refugee crisis remain a complex problem and, having in mind the new context, this problem cannot be solved only by providing food and non-food items. Involvement of local community is needed as well as provision of occupational activities and vocational trainings for those who are in asylum and reception centers. The goal of our most recent project is a reconstruction of one of the biggest asylum centers in Serbia. After the reconstruction, we will start providing vocational training for the man and woman in the center, but also organize educational and fun activities for children.
We are very thankful to all our donors for their commitment and joint effort to secure relief and necessary assistance.
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