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IFRC Central and South-Eastern Europe Program Overview 2019

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**OVERVIEW **

The Central and South-Eastern Europe Country Cluster is managed from Budapest and covers 16 National Societies (Albania,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia) and Kosovo, where there is no recognised National Society. The cluster is highly diverse, with Red Cross National Societies tailoring their support to vulnerable people based on the local context and needs.

Based on mapping and discussions with the National Societies with thematic technical input, countries from the Central and South-Eastern Europe are included in regional programming such as healthy and active ageing, training of trainers for first aid, disaster risk reduction, migration, strengthening the National Society auxiliary role and legal base, capacity building in Planning,
Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (PMER), in domestic resource development, in communications and in branch development.

The focus of support directly from the Head of Country Cluster will be on overall development and capacity building efforts of the National Societies in Central and South-Eastern Europe, including strengthening the auxiliary role to the public authorities in the humanitarian field, legal base, including revision of the National Society statutes and Red Cross Law, enhanced international representation and Movement cooperation and coordination, including strong cooperation with ICRC and Partner National Societies. The ‘Neighbours Help First’ informal framework of National Societies in the cluster, led by the Croatian Red Cross, will be promoted. The implementation of the Almaty Commitments and Bishkek Declaration in youth sector and preparations for the statutory meetings in 2019 will be highlighted. Technical expertise, as needed and relevant, will be sought from the thematic teams i.e. Organizational Development and Capacity Building, Youth and Volunteer Management, Disaster Management, Health and Care, Communications, PMER and Partnerships and Resource Development.

In addition to the ICRC offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia, other Movement components within the cluster include at least the following Partner National Societies: Austrian Red Cross, Australian Red Cross, Danish Red Cross, German Red Cross, Italian Red Cross, Norwegian Red Cross, Red Cross of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Spanish Red Cross,
Swedish Red Cross, Swiss Red Cross, and Turkish Red Crescent. The Italian Red Cross has a regional office in Montenegro, covering primarily six Balkan countries, the Swiss Red Cross has an office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Turkish Red Crescent has offices in Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Red Cross of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has an office in Bosnia and Herzegovina. IFRC aims to consolidate and coordinate this bilateral and multilateral support where feasible, to strengthen the focus and efficiency of the collective approach.