A further 15 vulnerable displaced families received keys to new Regional Housing Programme (RHP) apartments in Rogatica, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) today, bringing the RHP another step closer to successful completion on 30 June.

In addition to the beneficiaries themselves, the event was attended by Sevlid Hurtić, Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Gianluca Vannini, Head of Operations, Section for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross-Border Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to BiH; Davor Čordaš, Director of the Republic Secretariat for Displaced Persons and Migration; Milorad Jagodić, Mayor of Rogatica, and Sanja Hamidović, Programme Manager at the EU Delegation to BiH, among others.

Minister Hurtić took the opportunity to point out that the RHP had been one of the most successful programmes of its kind in BiH, contributing not only to assisting the most-vulnerable, but also to reconciliation more broadly. “In addition to providing dignified homes to vulnerable families, the RHP has united the whole country, including authorities from the state to the local level, around the aim of solving this long-standing challenge,” he stated. He furthermore thanked the RHP Donors – the EU, USA, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, and Türkiye, amongst others – for making the Programme a reality.

On behalf of the European Union, the largest Donor to the RHP, Gianluca Vannini stated that he was delighted to have the chance to speak to some of the families. “These homes are a tangible symbol of the EU’s support for some of BiH’s most-vulnerable families – refugees and displaced persons who have been living for too long in temporary accommodation,” he said.