Long-term Family Support. A Church-based Integration Programme in Rural Hungary

Abstract

East Central European rural areas face diverse challenges of social transformation: rural exodus, ageing, poverty and segregation take effect on countryside as parallel phenomena. Problems are connected with the transformation of agriculture, with the lack of services and the negative trends of migration. In spite of several supportive governmental and EU-projects, lower level of rural life standard and deepening social gaps are existing and deepening problems in post-socialist countries. ”Emerging Settlements” Programme is a new, long-term social programme of Hungarian government targeting the support of families and help children „from conception to labour market”. This unique project is implemented by church-based organizations in the most underdeveloped 300 Hungarian settlements. This paper aims to describe the main elements of proceeding programme on the base of project documentation and interviews with co-working social experts. Based on local experiments we highlight some critical viewpoints for developing supporting interventions, displaying the meaning of social participation of church organizations.