• 2023-02-10

Vučković for K1 TV: Poverty data is worrisome; it is necessary to increase Financial Social Assistance and Child Allowance

“We attempted to identify the real issues of Serbia’s poor, through analysis and research. What we discovered was devastating,” said Nataša Vučković, Secretary General of the CDF for K1 TV.

When we look at poverty data findings and projections, collected through activities of the joint UN programme “Extending Social Protection in Serbia through Enhanced Shock-Responsive Policy”, Vučković emphasised that a lot depends on the support of the community.

Single parents, parents with two or more children, the elderly and beneficiaries of Financial Social Assistance in particular, are suffering. The state can and should improve social services in local communities, thus improving the quality of life of the poor.

The findings collected through this project indicate the need to increase Financial Social Assistance and Child Allowance. This was recommended by the Fiscal Council as a key measure and the recommendations of the European Commission have for years now mentioned the need to increase these benefits and for better targeted aid, explained Vučković.

She also mentioned the poor results when the Law on Social Cards was first enforced, as many socially vulnerable citizens were denied their right to financial social assistance and what’s worse, this Law has resulted in the dehumanisation of social protection.

The first goal of the 2030 Agenda is to eradicate poverty. It is vital that we focus on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and its key principle, which is to ‘Leave No One Behind’, concluded Nataša Vučković.

Ana Prodanović also appeared in the programme. She is the heading up the Childs Rights Monitoring Programme of the UNICEF.

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About the project:

UN Joint Programme Extending Social Protection to families in Serbia with enhanced shock-responsiveness focuses on strengthening shock-responsive social protection system to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of the consecutive crisis that hit the country.

Its aim is to (i) strengthen the data response on the impact of the crisis on the most vulnerable groups to feed into the introduction of legislative changes for adaptive social protection system (ii) apply the shock-responsive social protection principles to provide support for the 170 most vulnerable families The project is implemented jointly by UNICEF (lead agency) and UNFPA, with the participation of UNHCR and in close partnership with the Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Agenda 2030, Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, other line-Ministries, Local Self Governments, Statistical Office, Red Cross and World Bank. The total project value is $289.200, funded mainly by the UN Joint SDG Fund.

Center for Democracy Foundation