Regional Housing Programme an excellent example of co-operation in Western Balkans, says Head of OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina

SARAJEVO / ZAGREB, 24 June 2014 - Representatives of the governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia as well as international community donors and partners met in Zagreb from 23-24 June 2014 to discuss the progress of the Regional Housing Programme (RHP).

“The RHP is an excellent example of regional co-operation and reconciliation where both partner countries and the international community work together with one aim – improving people’s lives,” said Ambassador Fletcher M. Burton, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH.

The Regional Housing Programme is a joint multi-year project which will provide permanent housing solutions to about 24,000 vulnerable displaced families (74,000 people) in the region. It is an integral part of the "Sarajevo Process on refugees and displaced persons", which was initiated in 2005 and re-launched in March 2010. The four partner countries have committed themselves to this process with the November 2011 Belgrade Declaration on the provision of durable solutions for vulnerable refugees and internally displaced persons.

“Our presence in Zagreb today is testimony to what was begun in January 2005 with the signing of the Sarajevo Declaration”, said Burton. “Cross-border cooperation through the RHP is an important factor which contributes to the stability of the region. It resonates with one of the OSCE Swiss Chairmanship priorities: reconciliation and co-operation in the Western Balkans.” 

Donors recognised the need to provide assistance to victims of the recent floods through a separate donor programme and underlined the need to implement such programmes and RHP in a co-ordinated manner.

The implementation of the Regional Housing Programme is supported by representatives of the donor community, including the EU and the US, and assisted by the Council of Europe Development Bank, with the OSCE and UNHCR providing overall support to the
Partner Countries in finding adequate, durable solutions to the most vulnerable displaced in the region.