BiH receives EUR 14.8 million for building homes for displaced persons

ZAGREB, (Patria) - Bosnia and Herzegovina has been approved an additional grant of EUR 14.8 million for the implementation of the sixth sub-project of the State Project for Housing Care within the Regional Housing Programme.

This was decided at today's session of the Regional Housing Programme Donor Assembly in Zagreb, where the Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of BiH, Semiha Borovac, presented the results of the implementation of the Regional Housing Programme in our country.

Thanks to this decision by the donors, which is a direct response to the justified trust and achieved results in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest sub-project within the RHP in our country will be realised, with a value including domestic participation reaching EUR 18.22 million.

These funds will ensure housing for around 2,000 of the most vulnerable displaced persons, refugees and returnees through the construction and renovation of 235 family homes for return and 24 buildings with 380 apartments intended for housing under the model of non-profit social housing.

The RHP Donor Assembly also approved for Bosnia and Herzegovina the spending of saved funds for the construction of three additional buildings with 40 apartments in Kakanj, Prnjavor and East Sarajevo.

In total, from the RHP Fund, Bosnia and Herzegovina has so far been approved grants in the amount of EUR 63.5 million for the implementation of six sub-projects, which with 15 percent domestic participation reach a value of EUR 74.5 million. More than 3,100 housing units will be renovated and built for over 10,000 of the most vulnerable returnees, refugees and displaced persons. The project is being implemented throughout BiH; so far, 83 local communities have been included with signed cooperation agreements, and it is planned to include around 30 more municipalities and cities. The completion of the project is planned by the end of 2020.

The value of the RHP is around KM 1.2 billion, of which more than KM 200 million relates to projects in BiH. All this would be unfeasible without the support of the international community, primarily the European Union, as the largest donor with a contribution of around KM 450 million, and the United States of America, Italy, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Turkey and other donor countries, as well as the support of UNHCR, OSCE and the Council of Europe Development Bank.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has appointed the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees of BiH as the Lead Institution for the State Project for Housing Care, and entrusted the implementation of sub-projects to the Federal Ministry of Displaced Persons and Refugees, the Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons of Republika Srpska, and the Department for Refugees, Displaced Persons and Housing Issues of the Government of Brčko District of BiH.