Monday, September 12, 2011- At the ceremonial opening of the social housing unit in supportive environment in Kladovo, 17 families of refugees, internally displaced persons and vulnerable domicile citizens were handed over the keys to these apartments by H.E. Mary Warlick, the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia, Vladimir Cucić, the Commissioner for refugees of the Republic of Serbia, Dejan Nikolić, the president of the municipality of Kladovo and Kirsten Stec, the representative of the Danish Refugee Council. Mr. Eduardo Arboleda, the UNHCR office chief in Serbia, was also present at the ceremony.

Construction of the housing units within a supportive environment, the investment value of which was $400,000, was realized as a part of the Project  “Provision of dignified housing solutions to extremely vulnerable refugees and internally displaced persons in Serbia”, funded by The Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United States and implemented by the Danish Refugee Council with support of the Commissariat for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia and in close cooperation with UNHCR and Kladovo.

On this occasion, the Commissariat for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia engaged into proper distribution of humanitarian assistance by providing housing solutions for the vulnerable. Thanks to this project, which was effectively implemented by the Danish Refugee Council, with the assistance and contribution of all the collaborators, living conditions of 11 families of refugees and internally displaced persons accommodated within the collective center “Karataš”, 3 families from the private accommodation and 3 most vulnerable domicile families were improved after these families moved into the social housing units within a supportive environment in the municipality of Kladovo.

The municipality of Kladovo proved to be a successful agent in this project, primarily by providing a construction site, designing the main project along with all the necessary documentation, providing and financing the needed infrastructure and finally, by great efforts of the team of experts. The Center for Social Welfare in Kladovo will be in charge of this building and its proper use.