Within the project “Strengthening the resilience of older persons and persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 crisis and future crises”, a monitoring visit to partners from North Macedonia was organized. The visit was in the period from February 21 to 23 to the Red Cross of the Republic of North Macedonia and the NGO Humanity.

During the first day of the visit, Natasa Todorovic, project coordinator and Dr. Milutin Vracevic had a meeting with the Secretary General of the Red Cross of North Macedonia Sait Saiti, as well as with associates of the National Society who participate in the project activities.

At the meeting with Mr. Saiti and the project team, the achieved results and planned activities in the second year were discussed, as well as the challenges. During the visit, all segments of the project were discussed, as well as the importance of standard operating procedures that are being developed and that need to be improved in order for the assistance to be best directed and reach those who need it the most. In any case, the Red Cross has experience in this area and has cooperation with all relevant institutions. Special attention was paid to the work of telephone support centres that were important for improving the mental health of older persons and persons with disabilities during the first year of project implementation. These centres are very important, because the capacity was built, which was used not only for COVID-19 related support, but people called when North Macedonia was hit by fires during the summer, but also by floods in some parts of the country. Deteriorating mental health, especially among people who belong to potentially vulnerable groups, is one of the significant negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was further aggravated by other crises in North Macedonia this summer, so a meeting was held with a Red cross of the city of Skopje who provided direct service through the telephone centre. A visit to the training centre for training personal assistants and caregivers was also organized, as such centre is a significant resource for advocacy in the field of long-term care.

A meeting was also held with a representative of the NGO Humanity to discuss future activities related to advocacy and organizing meetings with representatives of networks. Within the project, the Austrian Red Cross provides technical support, so a meeting was organized with a representative of the Austrian Red Cross about future activities and planned support by this partner in the project, which is implemented with the support of the European Union and the Austrian Development Agency.