Today, in Pancevo, at the Opening Ceremony of the Social Housing in Supportive Environment, apartment keys have been handed over to 15 families of refugees, internally displaced persons and extremely vulnerable domicile population by:
Pancevo, 24 January 2014
Today, in Pancevo, at the Opening Ceremony of the Social Housing in Supportive Environment, apartment keys have been handed over to 15 families of refugees, internally displaced persons and extremely vulnerable domicile population by:
- Mrs Yolanda San Jose, Head of Operations I, Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia
- Mr Ivan Gerginov, Assistant to the Commissioner for Receipt, Accommodation and Sheltering, Return and Durable Solutions of Refugees, Commissariat for Refugees and Migrations
- Mr Pavle Radanov, Mayor of the City of Pancevo
- Ms Marina Cremonese, Representative of the Danish Refugee Council Serbia
This component is part of the EU-funded Project “Support to the Implementation of Strategies for IDPs, Refugees and Returnees in Serbia” which is implemented by Danish Refugee Council with the support of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia in close cooperation with the City of Pancevo. The Project aims at supporting refugees in the realisation of their freely-chosen durable solutions and enhancing the living conditions of IDPs and some extremely vulnerable domicile families.
The Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policy and in line with the National Strategy for resolving the problems of refugees and internally displaced persons, conceptualised the program of social housing in protected environment for the most vulnerable beneficiaries, advocating for donors’ contributions and directing them towards those in the state of the greatest need. In such a way, 15 families (12 extremely vulnerable Refugee and IDP families currently living in the collective centre “Centar TO Pancevo” in Pancevo and 3 domicile extremely vulnerable families) have been supported by EU funds to move out from present living environment and enter the apartment units in socially protected conditions.
The target group are extremely vulnerable individuals and families, such as: female-headed households, families with persons with disability and chronic diseases, elderly without family support and other socially deprived families unable to solve their housing problem. Social integration of vulnerable displaced in a local context is possible throughout their adaptation to independent living by living in community.
All beneficiary families have been identified through the process of selection conducted by the Joint Beneficiary Selection Commission (comprising: The Commissariat for Refugees and Migrations of the Republic of Serbia, The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Centre for Social Welfare Pancevo and the Danish Refugee Council) on the basis of previously defined, adopted and publicized criteria. The owner and the user of the housing block is the City of Pancevo. The housing block will be managed by the Centre for Social Welfare Pancevo, which will be responsible for its proper usage.
The construction of this housing block together with all the installations, standard equipping and basic furnishing of the apartments amounts the investment of €260.000.
The City of Pancevo participated in the Project through the donation of the construction plot equipped with all necessary infrastructure, provision of the necessary urban planning and technical documentation and financing of the connections to the existing infrastructure network.
