Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Regional Housing Programme, attended by the representatives of donors, partner countries, the UNHCR, OSCE and the Council of Europe Development Bank, was held in Sarajevo yesterday. It was discussed about progress, the best practices and the remaining challenges in the implementation of the Program of permanent solutions for refugees and internally displaced persons, stated the OSCE.
“The achieved progress shows collective commitment to the solving of the needs of some of the most endangered citizens in the region,” said Fermin Cordoba, the acting director of the Human Dimension Department of OSCE Mission in BiH.
“That means the provision of complete and equal respect of all rights, such as access to health care, social protection and employment,” Cordoba added.
Semiha Borovac, Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of BiH, highlighted:
“Thanks to 80 million BAM that have been approved so far through four sub-projects of the Regional Housing Programme, we launched the process of intense construction in which 1.800 new housing units will be built in this year and the next year. The Regional Housing Programme is not beneficial for the displaced population only, but also for the region as a whole, because it helps strengthen the good neighborly relations, it contributes to reconciliation and greater stability in the region”.
Members of the Steering Committee of the Regional Housing Programme will visit Novo Goražde on June 29 in order to hand over the keys of newly constructed or reconstructed homes to six families who are users of the Programme.
The Regional Housing Programme is a joint initiative by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. The aim of the Programme is to contribute to the permanent solving of housing needs of the most endangered refugees and displaced persons and to encourage the partner countries to build institutional capacities in order to ensure sustainable return, it was stated.
(Source: nap.ba/photo: regionalhousingprogramme.org)
