For 23 refugee and displaced families in the municipalities of Smederevska Palanka and Arilje, Serbia, the New Year 2022 holiday period was particularly memorable, as they received the keys to new Regional Housing Programme (RHP) homes after many years of insecure living conditions.

On 28 December, 15 families in Smederevska Palanka received new RHP apartments. The keys were handed over by Nikola Selaković, the Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dirk Lorenz, Head of the Political Section at the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, and Luisa Ginepro, Acting Head of the UNHCR Representation in Serbia, among others.

On 12 January, an event was held in Arilje to mark the delivery of keys to a further eight RHP refugee families. The keys were delivered by Nemanja Starović, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Vladimir Cucić, Serbian Commissioner for Refugees and Migration.

The construction of the apartments was funded by the RHP whose largest donor is the European Union, with other key donors being Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and the United States of America. The land and infrastructure for the buildings were provided by the municipalities of Smederevska Palanka and Arilje.