Vulnerable communities in the Republic of Macedonia

Vulnerable communities in the Republic of Macedonia

What is a vulnerable community?A vulnerable community could be group of people that are marginalized within society, are often found to be the poorest in a given area and normally require extra help and protection in order to succeed within society. In Macedonia there are several minority groups who require protection from discrimination – the Roma community in Macedonia are considered one of the ‘national minorities’ that fall under the specific protection of the Orhid agreement. This agreement was created with the help of the EU and the UN to ensure that all minority groups in Macedonia were protected against religious and racial discrimination and to ensure that they had a specific and recognized identity within the country.

Helping vulnerable communitiesAs well as the water filters pictured on the previous slide, Habitat is building new homes for families in Veles. This image shows a volunteer assisting with the build of a new apartment block that will house up to 90 families. Habitat's new builds will be affordable places for vulnerable communities to live. Each family will have to pay a small monthly loan repayment to Habitat and after a specified amount of time the family will own the property. As well as a small mortgage the families have to help with the build of there house or apartment and there neighbors – this is called sweat equity. This, coupled with the use of international volunteers saves on labor costs which makes the over all house prices more affordable.

Small loans for renovation and repairThe largest habitat project is occurring the largest Roma municipality in Europe – Shruit Orazi on the outskirts of Skopje. Although the renovation loans are aimed at helping all vulnerable communities it is more specifically tailored towards the Roma population.

This is Rexhep and his grandson Rahman, they live in a Roma community just outside of Skopje. Their family were recipients of a Habitat for Humanity microloan that allowed them to fix their small house and expand it to create enough space for the entire family.