Integration of vulnerable groups, by definition, cannot be imposed, but is the result of a choral effort to reduce poverty, enhance social solidarity and reduce emargination. The specific situation of refugees and IDPs makes the reconstitution of their social capital a key issue for the success of poverty reduction initiatives. Social, civic and economic integration of refugees are therefore three aspects of a three-fold, but single effort, aimed at reducing both the poverty rate and the poverty gap. At the same time, efforts of integrating Refugees and IDPs are to be considered in the wider process of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.

Considering the above, the SIRP approach to tackle the issue of social, economic and civic integration of vulnerable groups is based on four tenets:

1. Build up the capacity of local institutions to address efficiently and effectively the available resources, improving their information system and their capacity to develop and implement a local poverty reduction strategy.
2. Support the achievement of economic independence of SIRP beneficiaries eligible for receiving a living facility under the house-rental scheme.
3. Target the aid, defining priorities within the wider group of potential beneficiaries (i.e. all vulnerable groups, of which refugees and IDPs are only a part).
4. Develop new tools for using resources. The Poverty Reduction Strategy emphasizes the need for activating individuals and communities in the effort to prevent the development of the culture of passivity and poverty. For this purpose, all local stakeholders must be involved first in the process of assessing needs and priorities, then in the process of translating the assessment of needs into project proposals and eventually in mobilizing local and external resources to contribute to the project financing and implementation. Such an approach requests a different way of managing local development programmes, based on the “calls for proposals” method rather than on a set of initiatives decided at central level and/or independently from beneficiaries and local stakeholders other than the Local Administration.

These mentioned tenets have been applied in developing a three-fold programme for social economic and civic integration of refugees and other vulnerable groups (SECI), to be implemented in the wider framework of SIRP, through the following three set of activities:

1. Provision of support packages to facilitate social and economic integration of the housing component beneficiaries who will obtain housing solutions from SIRP under the house-rental conditions, thus enabling these beneficiaries to achieve a durable increase in their households’ income and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the house-renting scheme. The goods and the services included in each package will be agreed with each municipality and with the beneficiaries. 335 direct support packages, worth approximately 1,000 Euro each, will be provided.
2. A support package to mobilize local stakeholders to implement pilot initiatives for social, economic and civic integration of all vulnerable groups in the targeted municipalities.
   For this purpose, a pilot project facility will be established. Local stakeholders will be encouraged and assisted to submit proposals for pilot projects aimed at implementing initiatives for social, economic and civic integration of vulnerable beneficiaries. Two calls for proposals will be opened during the second year. Local Committees will be established to select the best projects. The implementation of selected pilot projects will be monitored and evaluated. The maximum financial contribution for each project will be 30,000 Euro. The allocation for the pilot projects’ line allows financing at least 24 projects.
3. Dissemination of results. The experiences of direct support packages to subsidized public rental housing beneficiaries and pilot projects’ implementation will be analyzed to identify the relevant best practices. The outcomes of this exercise will be published and presented in a national conference.

To enhance the impact of the activity for social, economic and civic integration of refugees, SIRP will inter-act with national and international projects aimed at supporting the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MI&SME) operating both at national and local level in the project targeted areas. SIRP will also facilitate the access of beneficiaries to other programmes of integration of IDPs, refugees and vulnerable groups in general, included SME development. At the same time, SIRP will not directly implement nor will provide direct financial support to micro-credit schemes.