Monday, September 26, 2011 – The representatives of the UN Delegation to Serbia and the Commissariat for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia visited Kraljevo and Kragujevac, got acquainted with the results of the project "Support to Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Serbia ", financed by EU pre-accession instrument for 2008. The project was implemented by the German NGO "HELP" in association with the Cities of Kragujevac and Kraljevo, the Commissariat for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia and the UNHCR.

On this occasion, the keys to 4 prefabricated houses in Kragujevac and 5 in Kraljevo, construction of which is a component of the Project, were handed over to tenants. By donating these houses, housing solutions for 8 families of internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija and socially vulnerable local families were provided. Thanks to this project, 3 families of internally displaced persons were accommodated within a collective center in Kragujevac and were provided with durable, sustainable housing solution.

The beneficiaries of the newly built apartments were handed over the keys by Marzia Pallotta, the Manager of the Project intended for refugees and internally displaced persons, UN Delegation in Serbia, Draga Trninić, Head of Department for receipt, accommodation and returnees upon the Readmission, the Commissariat for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia, Zoran Martinović, State Secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Milun Jovanović, Assistant to the Mayor of Kraljevo, Slavica Saveljić, Member of the Kragujevac Town Council and Timo Stegelmann, Head of Mission of NGO HELP in Serbia.

Draga Trninić, the representative of the Commissariat for refugees, used this opportunity to praise the effort of all the institutions and organizations engaged in providing assistance to the refugees and displaced and stated that there still are 20,000 IDPs and more than 500 refugees in Kraljevo. "There were more than 20 collective centers in Kraljevo, but, thanks to the understanding of the City officials and the Commissariat for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia, which managed to attract the donors, we were able to close most of these centers," said Mrs Trninić and added that the remaining 2 centers in Šatorsko naselje and Mataruška Banja will be closed next year.