On 11 November, 20 refugee families in Goražde, Bosnia and Herzegovina, celebrated the receipt of keys to their new apartments built under the Regional Housing Programme (RHP).

In addition to the beneficiaries, the event was attended by Ambassador Daniel Hunn, Switzerland’s representative to BiH; Gianluca Vannini, Head of Operations in the Section for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross-Border Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to BiH; Edin Ramić, Minister of Displaced Persons and Refugees in the Federation of BiH, and representatives of other national and international institutions.

The Regional Housing Programme is a joint initiative by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. The Programme’s aim is to contribute to the resolution of the protracted displacement situation of the most vulnerable refugees and displaced persons following the 1991-1995 conflicts on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, including internally displaced persons in Montenegro from 1999.

To raise funds for the RHP, an international donor conference was held in Sarajevo in 2012. On this occasion, the international community pledged €261 million in support of the Regional Housing Programme, of which €230 million was pledged by the European Commission.