EU Flood Recovery Programme extended until February 2016

The EU Flood Recovery Programme, at the fifth meeting of its Advisory Panel held on November 5, 2015, in Sarajevo, announced an increase in the number of beneficiaries and expansion of rehabilitation activities, thereby ensuring additional support for all those affected by the devastating floods that hit Bosnia and Herzegovina in May 2014, reports the BH News Agency Patria.

The scope and duration of the Programme have recently been expanded through an extension at no additional cost, using savings achieved during the implementation process. The Programme will now run until the end of February 2016 (instead of October 2015).

Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Melvin Asin, stated that the possibility of expanding activities with the original EU funding of 43.52 million euros represents another success of the Flood Recovery Programme, in addition to its rapid, high-quality, and transparent implementation.

- The Programme continues to achieve good results in all flood-affected areas, and so far, about half a million BiH citizens have directly or indirectly benefited from this assistance. However, the threat of new floods still represents a key challenge for BiH authorities. We are doing everything in our power to be an active partner and will mobilize significant additional funds from EU funds to support further flood recovery and flood risk management in BiH.

The Programme was launched in August 2014 to help restore normal living conditions in local communities and ensure that aid reaches the most vulnerable categories after the floods. The original project objectives, which have now been increased, initially included the rehabilitation of 4,000 housing units, 90 schools and kindergartens, four health centers, four social work centers, and three municipal/local government buildings, 110 road sections, bridges, and water supply and sewerage systems, as well as support for 20 small and medium-sized enterprises and 700 agricultural households, in order to retain and create more than 2,000 jobs.

The EU Flood Recovery Programme is funded by the EU and implemented by UNDP, UNICEF, and IOM.

The Advisory Panel is a key component of the governance structure of the EU Flood Recovery Programme and consists of domestic institutions responsible for flood recovery efforts at the state, entity, and Brčko District of BiH levels, representatives of the European Union Delegation to BiH, and the United Nations Development Programme in BiH (UNDP), as an implementation partner of the programme.