25. Oct, 2021.
Within the framework of the Regional Housing Program in Belgrade, 14 contracts for the purchase of apartments intended for refugee families from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia were handed over. The apartments were purchased under the ninth sub-project of this Programme.
Financial resources for the purchase of apartments are provided from the donor Fund of the Regional Housing Program, in which the largest donor is the European Union.
"It is the responsibility of our country to do everything we can to make the lives of refugee families better and safer. The award of the contract for the purchase of apartments is the result of the joint work of all participants of the Program, all with the aim of taking care of the most vulnerable in the territory of the Republic of Serbia," said the Director of the Public Sector Projects Implementation Unit Ltd. Belgrade, Dušan Kovačević.
The director noted that these are only the first 14 apartments and that there are more apartments that are in the procedure.
The event in Belgrade was also attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Government of the Republic of Serbia and President of the Commission for the Coordination of the Process of Permanent Integration of Refugees Nikola Selaković, the Mayor of Belgrade Zoran Radojicić, the Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia Emanuele Joffre, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Serbia Jorn Eugen Gjelstad, the Head of the UNHCR Representation in Serbia Francesca Bonelli and the Deputy Commissioner for Refugees and Migration Svetlana Velimirović.
The Regional Housing Programme is a joint multi-year programme of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia, which aims to provide durable housing solutions for the most vulnerable refugee families in the region.
It is implemented with the support of the OSCE and UNHCR and is funded by the European Union, the United States, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Turkey, Luxembourg, Spain, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.