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DONATION FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN FOR CLOSING THE LAST COLLECTIVE CENTRE IN SERBIA

Commissioner for Refugees and Migration Nataša Stanisavljević attended the signing of the Donation Agreement for the Project of Furnishing Facilities for Social Housing for Displaced Persons in the Municipality of Bujanovac, which was signed by H.E. Katsumata Takahiko, Ambassador of Japan in the Republic of Serbia and Sali Saliju, Project Manager in the Municipality of Bujanovac.

The signing was also attended by H.E. Urs Schmid, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Republic of Serbia, Nicola Bertolini, Head of the Department for Cooperation in the Delegation of the European Union in Serbia and Soufiane Adjali, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Serbia.

Japanese Government's donation to the value of 73,040 EUR will be used for provision of furniture and basic household appliances for social housing facilities intended for twenty-two vulnerable families. The construction of housing facilities is financed by the European Union Support Program for Social Housing and Active Inclusion (EU SHAI). Swiss Government has contributed 200,000 Swiss Francs to the EU SHAI project which is implemented by United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

“This event is of great importance for all of us because we joined forces in order to succeed in improving the living conditions of the people who make up the most vulnerable categories. Closing of collective centres for the accommodation of refugees and internally displaced persons represents one of the most responsible and demanding tasks under the jurisdiction of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration. Since 2002, when Republic of Serbia adopted the National Strategy for solving the problems of refugees and internally displaced persons, we closed 322 collective centres where more than 22,800 persons were housed. We managed to do it in such a way that no one left the centre without support and to provide an appropriate solution to all persons in the collective centres. The collective centre in Bujanovac is the last official collective centre on the territory of Serbia where 22 families of internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija currently reside.

The general goal of the project is to contribute to the improvement of living conditions and the improvement of social inclusion of displaced Roma living in the collective centre Salvatore and domiciled, socially vulnerable families in the municipality of Bujanovac.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) advocates the implementation of a social housing project with the aim of closing the last collective centre on the territory of the Republic of Serbia and improving the living conditions of the most vulnerable families.

Government of Japan provides financial assistance necessary for the implementation of projects which will contribute to the economic and social development of the country. The environment, health care, education and social welfare are the main areas of interest of the Government of Japan.