OSCE supports Kosovo municipalities in drafting social housing plans

A three-day workshop for municipal officials on drafting social housing plans concluded on 4 June 2014 in Dragash/Dragaš municipality.  

The workshop, organized by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, saw 20 officials from 13 municipalities across Kosovo learn about the steps to prepare and finalize municipal plans for social housing. The plans will enable central-level institutions to get a clear picture of the scale of social housing problems and eventually develop a Kosovo-wide strategy to tackle it. 

The municipalities have a legal obligation to develop three-year social housing plans.

“This is an important step towards identifying those who need this service the most, and to bring the issue of social housing higher on the municipal agenda,” said Silke Nebenführ, Chief of the OSCE Mission’s Property Section.

The workshop was organized following the OSCE Mission 2013 report on social housing, which noted as main challenges, among others, a lack of housing needs assessments and social-housing plans as well as a lack of reliable and segregated data on those who need social housing.

The OSCE Mission is mandated with human and community rights protection and promotion, democratization, and public safety sector development.  The Mission promotes and advocates for the full enjoyment of property and housing rights for all the communities living in Kosovo.