CENTER AS A GATHERING PLACE FOR COMMUNITY GROUPS
23.08.2013

At the community center in Nis, an exhibition of jewelry and photographs is presented, taken in creative workshops with girls from June to August. The opening of the exhibition was attended by Prof. Nevena Petrušić, Commissioner for Equality and her associates Kosana Beker and Gorica Colic. Workshops were organized by the Society for the Development of Children and Young People “Open Club”, under the project "Development of community centers in South Serbia" implemented with the support of UNICEF, SDC, and the City of Nis City Municipality of Palilula. According to Tamara Simonovic, manager of the program, the aim of the workshops was empowering and creative expression, as well as socializing of girls from minority and majority groups. Part of the workshop was devoted to visits other organizations, events and institutions, and jewelry making.

The "Training and education centers in the south of Serbia" Programme in the past was aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty and social exclusion of the Roma in the poorest municipalities in the south-east Serbia (Pirot, Prokuplje, Lebane, Bojnik, Surdulica, Vladicin Han and Niš). Network Development and Education Centres (ROC), which provides support for children of different age groups as well as their parents, has been developed by the synergy of the Society for the Improvement of Roma settlements and UNICEF, with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). We will promote the model of community center, said Simonovic. It will be a place for gathering and meeting of different social groups in the local community, which is used for development, information, education of stakeholders and the general progress of the community where the center is located. Community centers will become a network of individual centers, sharing information and practices and building a common platform for positioning and advocacy at the local, regional and national level in order to strengthen their capacity to raise funds.