Our Supervisory Board approved the application for membership of Covekoljublje/Philanthropy. Philanthropy is a Serbian non-for profit charity organisation based in Belgrade and founded in the Christian faith in 1991 by the Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Philanthropy is active in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro in the fields of humanitarian assistance and emergency response, health care, agriculture development, education, and international development. It currently employs 6 full-time staff, approximately 30 external associates and 150 permanent volunteers.

Philanthropy is a Christian NGO founded by the Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Philanthropy responds to the spiritual and existential needs of individuals and communities across Serbia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina and Montenegro by endeavouring to alleviate suffering and to extend love, faith and hope to our neighbour. Philanthropy’s work is based on Christian values and adheres to the principles and high standards set by the leading international humanitarian and development agencies. Philanthropy’s basic principle is the respect of human dignity, which is reflected in its commitment to assist those in need, regardless of their race, gender, nationality or religious affiliation.

Our new member provides different services to people in need across Serbia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina and Montenegro.

  • Emergency aid following natural or man-made disasters
  • Support for poor families
  • Health care centres
  • Rural and agricultural development projects
  • Life-long learning programmes
  • Staff development programmes
  • Volunteer programme

Philanthropy is a member of several national and international networks, such as USOP – Union of organizations of people living with HIV and AIDS of Serbia, HumanaS – Network of agencies providing support to elderly, ACT Alliance and Cash Learning Partnership.

In their application form Philanthropy state that they wish to have a membership of Eurodiaconia because: “Philanthropy firmly believes in the power of joint work and networking. Eurodiaconia as a network enables exchange, learning, synergy, spreading of members’ common missions and international advocacy, and Philanthropy is eager to participate and contribute to this shared endowment.

“Philanthropy can contribute with highly skilled and experienced staff, with an average of 10-years experience in diaconal work, both in emergency and development. Our team is dedicated, committed to teamwork both locally and internationally, with significant experience in multi-sectoral partnerships. Philanthropy has more than a decade long experience in EU programming, and have had a number of successfully implemented EU funded projects. We also contribute with a large pool of partners, not only from Serbia, but also from the SEE region, and widely, including the US and Turkey.

Philanthropy hopes to increase its potentials for participation in European undertakings, as well as strategically develop in some specific topics, such as, for example, ex-convicts and public campaigning.”