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SARAJEVO, January 27 (FENA) - Representatives of the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees and the Republican Secretariat for Displaced Persons and Refugees signed agreements with 29 municipal mayors and town mayors in the Republika Srpska on the construction and reconstruction of 433 family houses for the return of refugees and displaced persons.
It is a cooperation on the implementation of the State Housing Project within the Regional Housing Program for Subproject BiH5: Renovation and construction of 50 single family houses for local integration and re / construction of 500 single family homes for refugees and displaced persons in BiH.
Within this subproject, with a total value of KM 21.5 million, 550 housing units will be built with funds secured from donations from the Regional Housing Fund, for the needs of local integration and return of refugees, displaced persons and returnees, 117 of them in FBiH and 433 in RS.
BiH Deputy Minister of Human Rights and Refugees Dževad Mahmutović emphasized that agreements on cooperation with local communities in the Federation of BiH will be signed soon with the same number of municipalities, where 117 returnee houses will be built and renovated.
“The fifth subproject will be implemented in 58 municipalities and cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and, as such, is complex and demanding because in fact each facility is one construction site,” he said.
He thanked local community representatives for 'giving importance and priority to the reception of returnees, as well as families integrating locally into your communities'.
He also extends his gratitude to the European Union as the largest donor to the Regional Housing Program (RHP), as well as to all other participating countries in the RHP Fund.
“Without your trust in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and recognizing the needs and priorities of internally displaced persons in BiH and refugees from BiH who wish to return to pre-war homes, this project would not have been realized to this extent,” he stressed.
Gianluca Vannini, Head of Operation Sections for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross Border Cooperation of the EU Delegation to BiH told reporters that after all these families were housed, it was important for them to secure other conditions such as employment opportunities, education and other social services. The EU, he says, will work with the competent authorities to achieve this goal.
Cooperation agreements were signed with 29 municipal mayors and town mayors in the RS (Banja Luka, Berkovići, Bratunac, Čajniče, Foča, Gacko, Gradiška, Han Pijesak, Kalinovik, Kostajnica, Kozarska Dubica, Laktaši, Ljubinje, Milići, Nevesinje, Novi Grad, Novo Goražde, Osmaci, Pale, Prijedor, Rogatica, Rudo, Sokolac, Srebrenica, Trebinje, Trnovo, Višegrad, Vlasenica and Zvornik).
Thanks to the Regional Housing Program in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a total of 3,200 housing units for vulnerable refugees, displaced persons and returnees will be provided by the end of the program. So far, about 1,500 residential units have been completed, of which 1,100 houses and 400 apartments. Completion of the reconstruction and construction of the remaining 1,700 housing units is foreseen during the period 2020-2022.
Donors of the Regional Housing Program have allocated EUR 287 million so far to finance housing projects and support program implementation, of which EUR 64.5 million relates to projects in BiH.
The European Union is the largest donor (with EUR 234 million), followed by the United States (with EUR 24 million), Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Turkey and several other countries. The program is strongly supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB).
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