Stronger Families, Brighter Futures: Final conference of the project “Strengthening the capacities of service providers working with parents” held in Belgrade

Belgrade, 31 October 2025 – The Association of Social Protection Professionals, with expert support from the Republic Institute for Social Protection, organised the final conference of the project “Strengthening the capacities of service providers working with parents”. The event gathered social protection professionals, local government representatives and service providers from 17 participating municipalities.

The project aimed to improve the quality and accessibility of social services for children with developmental disabilities and their families by empowering parents and strengthening professional capacities.

At the final conference, key project results were presented, including the development, piloting and accreditation of two training programmes – “Home-help service for children with developmental disabilities” and “Enhancing competencies of service providers working with parents”. These programmes now serve as sustainable resources for service providers, contributing to long-term improvement in working with families.

The “Guidelines for Home-help service for Children with Developmental Disabilities” were also promoted as a practical tool for both existing and new service providers.

An inspiring part of the conference showcased examples of good practice from local communities:

• The City Centre for Local Services Užice presented the benefits of its counselling service for parents of children with developmental disability, showing how continuous support directly improves children’s quality of life.
• The “Equal in Diversity” Association from Aleksinac emphasised the importance of making home-help support services accessible to families.
• The Day Care Centre for Children and Youth from Pirot shared valuable experiences in building trust and applying an individualised approach in working with parents.

The event concluded with a discussion on the importance of continuous development of local social protection services, active involvement of decision-makers and stronger cooperation between institutions, civil society and families.

The conference was held within the “PRO – Local Governance for People and Nature” programme, jointly implemented by UN agencies in Serbia – UNOPS, UNICEF, UNFPA and UNEP – in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Serbia and with financial support from the Government of Switzerland.