The Presence Award, established to recognize the helpers working to uplift the people living in the poorest settlements in the country, was presented on February 3, 2025, at the Uránia National Film Theatre. The project targeting the 300 poorest settlements in Hungary operates with HUF 70.4 billion of European Union funding, with state pre-financing. The methodology of the work, the Presence program, has supported the integration goals since 2016.
In the 2021-2027 EU development period, each member state designates the strategically important operations that significantly contribute to achieving the objectives of the respective program. Hungary collectively refers to these selected operations as Pillars, highlighting their importance and role in achieving development policy objectives. One of the designated Pillars of the Human Resource Development Operational Program Plus (HRDOP Plus) is the project titled “Presence in Catching-up Settlements” (ESF+). The development program, supported by the European Union, aims to comprehensively assist the catch-up of disadvantaged regions and settlements in Hungary, strengthen social and economic relations, and reduce social inequalities.
The award ceremony took place at the opening concert of the Maltese Symphony. About a thousand children are learning in the music opportunity program and the most talented among them performed on the Uránia stage. At the event, Miklós Vecsei, the Prime Minister’s Commissioner for Social Inclusion and Vice President of the Hungarian Charity Service of Malta, recalled the memory of Father Imre Kozma, who passed away last year, and stated that the Presence Program was shaped by the teachings of the founding president of the charity organization, which laid the foundation for the Catching-up Settlements Program initiated by the Hungarian government in 2019. “We know exactly that a person in trouble needs, above all, to be loved, to be accepted, and to have someone present in their life,” said Miklós Vecsei.
While praising the results of the Catching-up Settlements Program, which continues with the support of the European Union, Gábor Zupkó, head of representation of the European Commission in Hungary, spoke about how this program creates a real opportunity for children living in the poorest settlements. The work of integration often requires creative solutions, he said, citing the launch of a telemedicine program in which patients in the catchment area are treated by doctors in the city hospitals via digital connection. This project was deemed the best in its category in the European Union RegioStars competition in 2024.
The Presence Award in 2025 was received by Mihály Soltész, a specialist at the Rohod Presence Point, Erzsébet Ágnes Horváthné Tenyei-Tóth, treasurer of the Model Programs of the Hungarian Charity Service of Malta, Erika Stankovics, coordinator of the Program for Catching-up Settlements in Zala County, Bea Velkey-Kozár and Róbert Velkey, leaders of the Arló Presence Point, conductor Máté Hámori and the Danubia Orchestra, as well as the Romano Glaszo band.
Congratulations to the winners!
(Source: FeTe/palyazat.gov.hu)
(Photo: Majoros Árpád Csaba – Magyar Máltai Szeretetszolgálat)
