24.06.2009.
Continuaution of cooperation within PfP-NATO Trust Fund projects
The meeting of the Management Board of the NATO-PfP Trust Fund Project for helping the military personnel surplus in SAF was held in Topcider yesterday. In addition to the standing members of the Board, the representatives of 16 donor countries, of the Ministry of Defense, the International Organization for Migration, and NATO MLO, the meeting was also attended by the representatives of embassies interested in Serbia’s experiences in the defense system reforms. The meeting was opened by DA of Norway Terje Haverstaad.-NATO-PfP Trust Fund project is important not only from the aspect of developing general security, but also from the aspect of social-economic reintegration of persons which have been made redundant in SA and MoD, and especially in the context of world economic crisis, as State Secretary Igor Jovicic said at the meeting. He expressed his pleasure with the results achieved so far and the to-date cooperation of MoD with IOM and donor countries.
The help we get from 16 donor countries is of great importance, as they are NATO Trust Fund members, while the need to continue with the cooperation on implementation of the projects was also accentuated at the meeting.
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In the first part pf the meeting, a report on external independent evaluation of the project realized in the period December 2008-January 2009, while two successful users of the projects presented their experiences regarding the reintegration into the life of a civilian. The second part of the meeting aimed at presenting the results achieved in the previous period and the plans for the upcoming period. IOM mission chief in Serbia Gregory Goodstein stressed to-date achievements and the most important activities they will focus on in the future.
To date, some 4700 former MoD and SAF members used the services of individual counseling and applied for help in IOM regional centers in Belgrade, Nis, Kraljevo and Novi Sad, and now even former contractual soldiers have that right.Given the outstanding results achieved in the previous three years of the realization of the project, the donors decided to support the project for another year.
