This new project targeting returnees from Germany and other Western European countries, which aims to provide them with better legal access to public services, better access to employment and improvement of their living conditions, began in December 2020.

The project consists of three components: legal support, support for self-employment and support for housing improvement. It is planned that during the project, assistance will be provided to returnees, primarily from the territory of the project locations (Sremska Mitrovica, Ruma and Pećinci), but also beyond, including the territory of Novi Sad and Vojvodina. Priority was given to vulnerable returnee families with poor housing conditions, the unemployed and unaided by other organizations. At the same time, up to 20% of the supported can be non-returnees from marginalized groups in the same locations, families living in similar conditions of poverty.

The project envisages legal assistance, mostly in the form of informing and providing personal documents for 150 people, assistance for self-employment in the form of equipment for starting your own business for 25 people and assistance for improving housing conditions in the form of professional assistance and construction materials for repairing their own houses for 25 families.

Also, through cooperation with all important partners at the national and local level, further active work of EHO on the improvement of existing policies and practices related to housing, work and (re) integration of returnees (and Roma) is envisaged.

The project "Assistance for a New Start" is implemented by EHO from December 1, 2020 to November 30, 2021 and is supported by the Federal Ministry of FR Germany for Economic Cooperation and Development - BMZ, within the German development cooperation implemented by GIZ.

In the coming period, EHO will publish public calls for applications for the provision of self-employment assistance and assistance for improving housing conditions on social networks, which will describe in detail the conditions for obtaining these types of assistance and how to apply for them.