Regional Housing Programme (RHP) stakeholders gathered on 15 March to mark the final major RHP event to take place in Montenegro \u2013 the official opening of a Home for the Elderly in Nik\u0161i\u0107, which will accommodate up to 104 most-vulnerable elderly or disabled RHP beneficiaries. The RHP will come to a close in June 2023, by which time it should have provided homes to close to 34 000 people across the four Partner Countries \u2013 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia.<\/p>\n
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The ribbon-cutting ceremony, which was hosted by Admir Adrovi\u0107, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of Montenegro, assisted by Budimirka \u0110ukanovi\u0107, Director at the Ministry \u2013 was attended by Riccardo Serri, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro; Marja Sepp\u00e4l\u00e4, Head of the RHP Unit at the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), and\u00a0 Marko Kova\u010devi\u0107, the Mayor of Nik\u0161i\u0107, in addition to representatives from the other three RHP Partner Countries, UNHCR, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).<\/p>\n
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On behalf of the European Union \u2013 the largest Donor to the Programme, Riccardo Serri reflected on the contribution of the EU to the future of Montenegro, including via programmes such as the RHP. \u201cThe EU integration process is not only preparing the country for membership but is also bringing concrete benefits to its citizens,\u201d\u00a0he said. \u201cWe try to pay special attention to the most-vulnerable groups in our society \u2013 the elderly, people with reduced mobility, people with disabilities, refugees\u2026 That is why I am so glad to be in Nik\u0161i\u0107 today, and\u2026 to see EU funds spent for such a humane purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The opening ceremony also featured regional choir and dance performances by Montenegrin cultural societies \u2013 which showcased folk dances from Montenegro and the other Western Balkan countries, in honour of all Partner Country guests \u2013 in addition to folk dances by the Macedonian cultural ensemble, Ljup\u010do Santov. Introducing the performances, the moderator, \u017darko Bo\u017eovi\u0107, thanked each of the Partner Countries for joining the celebration, and remarked: \u201c<\/em>For the past ten years of the RHP, we have co-operated together. Today, we dance together.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Regional Housing Programme (RHP) stakeholders gathered on 15 March to mark the final major RHP event to take place in Montenegro \u2013 the official opening <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152227,"featured_media":1066463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"country-for-news":[52],"class_list":["post-1066460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","wb_theme-equality-and-fair-society","country-for-news-montenegro"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n