Regional Housing Program (RSP), which in Serbia aims to provide housing solutions for the most vulnerable refugee families from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, is in full swing.

Mr. Vladimir Cucić, Commissioner for Refugees and Migration, said today in Novi Sad at the press conference organized in the framework of the annual meeting of the local trusteed for refugees, which this time is dedicated to the RHP, that so far six subprojects were approved totalling 104 million euros. These projects should provide housing solutions for some 5,200 families, or about 15,000 refugees.

"Serbia plans with this program in 2017 to provide 2,000 new housing solutions for refugee families. In addition to the more than 4,000 already approved beneficiary families, some 8,000 additional families have been identified being eligible and have not resolved their housing problems. There is an ongoing or about to start construction of apartments in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Sremska Mitrovica, while in the more than 100 local communities rural households have been provided. More than 100 commissions are working to determine who meets the criteria and that the money is spent most adequately," said Commissioner Cucić.

Mr. Nicola Bizel from the EU Delegation in Serbia said that the EU, which is the largest donor to the Program, pledged 230 million euros for the RHP, of which 121 million have already been allocated, at the same time announcing that the EU will continue to finance RHP and that an additional 20 million euros will be earmarked for Serbia in 2017.

Mr. Sam Healey from the US Embassy said the RHP is part of the efforts of the US government to help displaced persons in the Balkans and expressed hope that the cooperation and efforts put in place within the RHP will continue to provide a successful model and a basis for future cooperation between the countries in the region.

Representatives of UNHCR and OSCE in Serbia presented the RHP added value (regional cooperation, strengthening the capacity of the state administration for the implementation of projects and cooperation with local government levels) and stressed that the two organizations continue to be firmly committed to efforts to provide housing solutions for the most vulnerable and to ensure the sustainability of these solutions.

Marja Seppala, a representative of the Council of Europe Development Bank, which manages donations, concluded that if this pace of implementation of the program continues, some 7,900 families should get new homes by 2019.

The journalists were addressed by representatives of the three partner countries - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia, noting that RHP represents a shining example of how the four countries can successfully work together in achieving a common goal.

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 with the significant contribution of the Republic of Serbia.