380 volunteers from Serbia and Bulgaria have been trained to respond to emergencies

380 young volunteers from the border regions of Bulgaria and Serbia have been trained and prepared to participate in rescue operations in emergency situations. The training is part of the project "Removing the boundaries of volunteering in emergencies", implemented between the Free Youth Center in Vidin and the Youth Center "Tivok" from the Serbian town of Zajecar. It is financed with nearly BGN 290 thousand under the Bulgaria-Serbia Cross-Border Cooperation Program 2014-2020 managed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works.

During the training young people are familiar with the types of disasters, the damage they cause to infrastructure, fire safety, search and rescue, safety in rescue operations, first aid in life-threatening conditions, psychological support and more. The trainings are combined with practical exercises. Within the project, 10 new volunteer centers have been established. Thus, together with those already realized under a previous project, their total battle becomes 20. In Bulgaria they are in the cities of Hayredin, Radomir, Pernik, Montana, Kyustendil, Dupnitsa, Varshets, Vratsa, Vidin and Botevgrad. The centers on the territory of Serbia are in the towns of Zajecar, Vladicin Khan, Pirot, Nis, Leskovac, Maidanpek, Kursumlija, Knjazevac, Bor and Aleksinac. Technical equipment for the volunteer centers and specialized means for use in emergency situations were also delivered.

During the implementation of the project a common methodology for youth volunteering in emergency situations was developed and tested. Two joint actions of the volunteer centers were held - one in Bulgaria and one in Serbia.

The initiative is a continuation of the joint project of the two volunteer organisations "Moving the borders for volunteering", implemented in the period 2016 - 2018 under the program, which implemented a network of 10 volunteer centers for social services in the cross-border region. The measure is a response to emergencies in the cross-border region in previous years, such as fires in the Balkan Mountains from both Serbia and Bulgaria, as well as floods that affected all of Serbia in 2014.

The project gives a chance to young people to volunteer and help the competent institutions in emergencies, in cooperation with the fire safety and public protection services of the Ministry of Interior, the Red Cross, the Mountain Rescue Service and others. Volunteer centers are the link between young people and institutions and can respond to emergencies as well as work on their prevention.