Within the project “Local support for the most vulnerable refugees”, which is implemented by the Association Atina in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), on April 14 2016 a meeting was held in Vranje with representatives of relevant institutions and organisations from Vranje and Preševo, i.e. actors who are involved in solving the problem of refugee crisis and providing assistance and support to the most vulnerable among them - those who have experienced human trafficking and gender-based violence.  

Representatives of institutions and the members of the Local network for prevention and support to victims of human trafficking of the town of Vranje, as well as colleagues from Preševo, talked about their experiences in providing support to the most vulnerable within the refugee population, and targeted the gaps and challenges they faced, and a joint conclusion was that there is still room for improvement and strengthening both institutions individually, and the operation of all the actors in order to provide a comprehensive response to this problem.  

All participants agreed that the objectives of the project represent their real need, and that it should be further worked on - specifically, on strengthening and improving the capacity of local communities, which are affected by the refugee crisis, to establish functional communication among themselves in order to provide necessary support in working with refugees, especially in the protection of the most vulnerable (victims of human trafficking and other forms of gender-based violence).

Within the project “Local support for the most vulnerable refugees”, NGO Atina will organise two trainings, one in Sremska Mitrovica on April 25 and 26, and one in Preševo on May 5 and 6, which will further contribute to strengthening and improving the capacity of the local communities affected by the refugee crisis to more adequately respond to this problem.