OSCE-supported Regional Housing Programme Steering Committee meeting in Sarajevo, explores durable solutions

SARAJEVO, 28 June 2016 – The meeting of the Regional Housing Programme (RHP) Steering Committee today in Sarajevo brought together representatives of donors, partner countries, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the OSCE and the Council of Europe Development Bank, to discuss achievements, best practices and challenges in implementing the Programme on Durable Solutions for Refugees and Displaced Persons.

“Recent progress demonstrates the collective determination to address the needs of some of the most vulnerable citizens,” said Fermin Cordoba, Acting Director of the Human Dimension Department at the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. “This means ensuring the full and equal enjoyment of all rights, such as access to health, social protection, and employment, particularly in BiH.”     

Semiha Borovac, BiH Minister of Human Rights and Refugees, said: “Thanks to 80 million KM allocated so far through four sub-projects of the Regional Housing Programme, we have launched the process of intensive construction that will result in 1,800 new housing units being built this year and in the next. The Programme benefits both displaced persons and the region as a whole, strengthening regional co-operation and contributing to overall reconciliation and stability.”

On 29 June 2016, members of the RHP Steering Committee will visit Novo Gorazde to hand over the keys to six beneficiary families for their newly built or reconstructed houses. 

The RHP is a joint initiative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia. Its aim is to contribute to resolving the displacement situation of the most vulnerable refugees and displaced persons, and to foster the institutional capacity of the partner countries in order to ensure sustainable return.