The ceremony of handing out of the donation agreements for purchase of village houses under sub-project 3 of the Regional housing programme for 69 refugee families took place yesterday at Belgrade City Hall. 

 

Mr Ivica Dačić, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and President of the Commission for Coordination of Permanent Refugee Integration of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, said he was pleased that "the second time in the last four months we gather regarding the continuation of implementation of the  RHP".

„Regional Housing Programme is of the great importance. It contributes to stability in the region“, Minister Dačić said.  In a short speech, Minister without portfolio in the Government of the Republic of Serbia in charge of European integration Mss Jadranka Joksimović pointed out that this is a great event for refugee families who will finally have a home, and thanked all the donors, adding that this is "a concrete and a good sign of our friendship with those countries.“ The Commissioner of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia Mr Vladimir Cucić underlined that behind the RHP stands "invisible army of people in 122 municipalities and  170 working-commision. A lot of architects, construction engineers, lawyers and others work around the clock to bring the job done".

Mr Andreja Mladenović, Deputy Mayor of Belgrade, congratulated the City Secretariat for Social Protection on a job well done. Oskar Benedict, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, said  the EU is the biggest donor of RHP, with 230 million euros. Gordon Duguid, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of the United States of America said the USA  is going to donate another $ 1.1 million for  refugees in the region this year.

Mr Igor Burazin, CEB representative, Mr Hans Friedrich Schodder, UNHCR Representative in Serbia Mr Michael Uyehara, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Mr Dragan Ivković, UPI representetive were also addressed to beneficiaries.

Regional Housing Programme (RSP) aims to provide permanent housing solutions for some 27,000 most vulnerable refugee families, or about 74,000 people in the region. Of this number, 16,780 families in Serbia, namely about 45,000 people.

 

Regional housing program of the Republic of Serbia is being implemented with the support of the OSCE and UNHCR, and funded by the European Union, which is the largest donor, the United States, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Turkey, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Romania , the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, as well as  the significant contribution of the Republic of Serbia.