Today, at the Deputies Club in Belgrade, a signature ceremony took place where 53 local self-governments signed agreements aimed at providing 899 housing solutions to refugee families from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. In total, these agreements cover the delivery of 567 village houses and 332 packages of building material, worth EUR11,000 each and EUR9,000, respectively.
On behalf of the EU Delegation, the agreements were presented by Ramunas Janusauskas. The EU is the biggest donor to the Regional Housing Programme, having pledged EUR230 million out of a total of 260EUR million. The money is aimed at providing durable housing solutions to refugees who have spent more than two decades waiting to get a roof over their head. Since 2000, the EU has been the biggest donor of the Republic of Serbia in taking care of refugees and IDPs, having donated EUR90 million out of its pre-accession funds for such purposes, mainly for the construction of new homes and residential buildings across Serbia.
On behalf of the Commission for Coordination of Permanent Refugee Integration, the event was opened by Veljko Odalovic, Secretary General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia. Odalovic underlined that the RHP was part of a wider process aimed at improving cooperation between the countries in the region, solving the problems of displaced persons and overcoming other remaining issues from the past, stressing the importance of such cooperation.
“The Programme gives us a chance to provide durable housing solutions to the most vulnerable refugees. In doing so, the role of local self-governments is crucial. Only through your strong commitment can we successfully implement the Programme,” Odalovic said.
The Commissioner for Refugees and Migration Vladimir Cucic said that at the moment, five RHP sub-projects are being implemented in 117 local self-governments.
“The implementation is in full swing. In 2016 alone, we have signed a contract for the construction of 270 apartments in Kamendin, awarded 69 village house contracts to refugee families, and started the construction of 235 apartments for refugees in the Belgrade suburb of Ovca,“ Commissioner Cucic said.
Apart from mayors and municipal presidents, the event was attended by numerous guests, representatives of donor countries, the City of Belgrade, UNHCR and OSCE.
Regional Housing Programme is a joint multi-annual programme of the Republic of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and the Republic of Croatia, aimed at providing durable housing solutions for some 27,000 most vulnerable refugee families (74,000 persons) in the region, out of whom 16,780 are residing in Serbia (some 45,000 persons).
Regional Housing Programme is implemented with the support of the OSCE and UNHCR and is funded by the EU, which is the biggest donor to the Programme, the USA, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Turkey, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary with a significant contribution made by Serbia.
