Wednesday 29 June, 2011 – At the ceremonial opening of the housing units for social housing in supportive environments, in the municipality of Kovin, 15 families of refugees, internally displaced persons and socially vulnerable domicile citizens were handed over the keys to these housing units by   Mrs  Yolanda San Jose, First Counselor and Head of Section, the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, Rasim Ljajić, the Minister of Labor, Employment, and Social Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Svetlana Velimirović, the deputy to the Commissioner for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia, Slavko Branković, the mayor of the city of Kovin and Marina Kremonese, the representative of the Danish Refugee Council in Serbia.

This component is part of the EU-funded Project “Support to Livelihood Enhancement of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Serbia” which is implemented by Danish Refugee Council with the support of the Commissariat for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia, and in close cooperation with UNHCR and Kovin Municipality. The Project aims at supporting refugees in the realization of their freely-chosen durable solutions and enhancing the living conditions of IDPs and some extremely vulnerable domicile families.

The Commissariat for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and in line with the National Strategy for resolving the problems of refugees and internally displaced persons, conceptualized the program of social housing in supportive 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 “Čardak i kucice” in Deliblato and 3 extremely vulnerable domicile families) have been supported by EU funds to move out of the environments in which they reside at the moment and move into the housing units in socially supportive conditions. Social housing in supportive environments is a form of social protection that envisages housing in a non-institutional environment as extended support for families, where people are encouraged to actively take participation in everyday life and where emotional and physical well-being of beneficiaries is the priority. Social Integration of the socially vulnerable displaced persons in a local context is possible throughout their adaptation to independent living, by living in community and recognizing vulnerable people as dynamic personalities. A host family lives in the building, just like other families and their purpose is to help others integrate in the new environment, develop good relations, create positive atmosphere within the neighbourhood, establish conections with external bodies and provide security.

The host family is also responsible for maintaining the common areas of the building and will assist tenants with their own maintenance. The target groups are extremely vulnerable individuals and families, such as: single mothers, families with persons with disability and chronic diseases, elderly without family support and other socially deprived families unable to solve their housing problem.

The construction of this housing block along with all the installations, standard equippment and basic furnishing of the units has been funded by the European Union with €174.000 and co-funded by DRC with €102.000, amounting to a total value of €276.000.

The municipality of Kovin participated in the Project through the donation of the construction plot equipped with all necessary infrastructure, preparation of the main project design with necessary urban planning and technical documentation and financing of the connections to the existing infrastructure network.
The owner and the user of the housing building shall be the Municipality of Kovin. The building will be managed by the Centre for Social Welfare Kovin which will be responsible for its proper usage.

Besides the component of social housing in protected environment in Kovin, three other project components funded by the European Union have been implemented by the Danish Refugee Council with the support of the Commissariat for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia: delivery of building material for the construction and rehabilitation of housing units, production and installation of prefabricated houses and income-generation activities with vocational training for the enhancement of family economy.