UNHCR

Donors Pledge Some EUR 300 million to Refugees in Balkans

Jasarevic — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:15:37 +0000

A new social housing project for displaced people in eastern Bosnia. The inhabitants used to live in a dilapidated building.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina, April 25 (UNHCR) –International donors have pledged an initial sum of more than 300 million euros towards a programme to provide homes for some 74,000 people displaced in the Balkans during the conflict of the 1990s.

The pledges, including 230 million euros from the European Union (EU), were made on Tuesday at a conference in Sarajevo that was organized by the governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. The ambitious housing project, to be implemented over the next three to five years, will benefit refugees, returnees and internally displaced people in the four countries, which were formerly part of Yugoslavia.

“We are seeking to write the last chapter of the displacement in the western Balkans,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres told participants at the conference. The governments of the four countries are seeking 500 million euros in total and have themselves pledged 84 million euros.

The violent break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s led to widespread material damage and left some 200,000 people dead and about 2.7 million displaced within and beyond the region. A majority of those uprooted in Europe’s worst conflict since 1945 have returned home or integrated locally. But many of the tens of thousands still displaced live in poverty and dire conditions – they need proper housing and continued assistance.

The needs outlined in the regional housing plan were identified by the respective governments through a consultative process supported by UNHCR, the EU, the United States and others. The refugee agency played a specific role in setting out the vulnerability criteria in order to ensure that the shelter assistance benefits the most needy.

With these initial pledges of funding, the programme can get under way. UNHCR, and in some countries the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), will monitor this crucial stage of the process and support the four countries in bringing this protracted refugee situation to an end.

“I believe that this is the moment for the international community to show its commitment and its solidarity, to make sure that this regional housing programme is more than that, and becomes a comprehensive step towards durable solutions for the refugees and internally displaced,” said the High Commissioner.

The donor conference in Sarajevo is another step in the lengthy process of finding lasting solutions for refugees and the internally displaced in this part of Europe. Efforts to resolve the situation received fresh impetus in 2008, when Guterres identified it as one of the world’s five priority protracted refugee situations.

This week’s meeting follows directly from a pledge made by the four governments last November in Belgrade to step up efforts to resolve the situation. In a joint declaration, they gave their support to a work plan setting out concrete steps for removing the remaining obstacles to a durable solution. The declaration is a firm political, legal and socio-economic commitment to cooperate at regional and national level in dealing with the displacement problem.

More than 350 senior government officials and diplomats from 41 countries as well as representatives of international organizations and NGOs took part in the day-long event.

By Andrej Mahecic in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Source: UNHCR.org

Renewed Focus Required on Roma Issues

Jasarevic — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:00:51 +0000

Today, on a visit to Ada Roma near Capljina, UNHCR Representative Andrew Mayne and the Head of the Delegation of the European Union/EU Special Representative Ambassador Peter Sorensen called for dignified solutions for Roma living on the margins of society.
31 people, including 14 children, currently live on the garbage dump with shelter constructed from disposed doors and windows. The living conditions are extremely difficult as the families live in poverty, without basic sanitation, running water, food or electricity.
During the visit, the ambassadors also met with the family of Ajla Adjovic, a 6-year old girl who died in a fire last November when the wooden dwelling caught fire.
Ambassador Peter Sorensen said:
“The death of Ajla was shocking, even more so as it could have been prevented. Children have the right to live in a safe environment and it is the duty of us all to ensure they are protected. Together with the local authorities we need to find a sustainable resolution to this situation.
“The European Union has earmarked 2.5 million EUR for the implementation of the Roma Action plan under IPA 2011 and another project implemented by CARE in the amount of 0.5 Mio EUR is ongoing. I appeal also to the responsible authorities to take concrete steps to provide these children and their families with safe and secure housing and access to their basic social rights.”
UNHCR Representative Andrew Mayne said:
“Such a preventable tragedy reminds us all to do whatever we can to help create a fairer society. Sadly, many Roma children do not even have birth certificates. This means that they often will not receive basic health care and education, and will make it hard for them to earn a living and support their own families later on. UNHCR and its national partners are helping Roma families obtain the essential documents they need to live a normal life. But everyone in Bosnia today can help to make sure that children like Ajla get a better chance in future. If we can solve this problem, the whole society will benefit.
Later in the day Ambassador Sorensen and Representative Mayne visited minority returnees in Mostar and collective centre residents in Capljina where 40 families live, including elderly and children.
The visit comes ahead of the International Donors’ Conference that will be held in Sarajevo on 24 April, organized by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees.
The conference aims to raise funds for a Joint Regional Housing Programme, which will be presented by the four partner countries (BiH, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia) and will provide durable housing solutions for some 74,000 individuals. In BiH 5,400 families are expected to benefit from the project. These are most vulnerable refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons who 16 years after the war remain without durable housing solutions.

Source: Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Suffering goes on for 330,000 refugees of the Yugoslav war

Jasarevic — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 07:38:36 +0000

More than 330,000 people who were forced to flee their homes during the war in the former Yugoslavia are still classified as refugees or displaced, 20 years on from the start of one of the bloodiest episodes of the fighting, the Siege of Sarajevo

During the conflict from 1991 to 1995 which led to the break-up of Yugoslavia, some 200,000 were killed and an estimated 2.7 million made homeless – the greatest number in Europe since the Second World War.

Those who have not returned to their former homes are now a priority for the UN Refugee Agency, which has established a project to help the most vulnerable 74,000 displaced people. At conference in Geneva this week, the UNHCR’s Melissa Fleming defined the issue as “one of the five priority protracted refugee situations worldwide”.

Most who fled were able to return or settled locally, but as the Bosnian capital today marks the 20th anniversary of the four-year siege, many there still lack proper housing, regular income and access to healthcare and education. The UNHCR’s senior officer in Bosnia, Scott Pohl, says 8,500 of the most of vulnerable – often elderly without support, single mothers or people suffering from disabilities – still live in one of the country’s 150 “collective centres” or in substandard housing. “[The centres] were meant for temporary purposes and people have been living there now for up to 20 years,” he said.

Governments in Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia recently signed a joint declaration to launch a regional programme for the remaining refugees. In cooperation with UNHCR and the EU, the national administrations will meet donors in Sarajevo at the end of this month to raise funds for a €584m, five-year Regional Housing Programme targeting the 74,000 “most vulnerable and needy”.

“People will have a choice of durable solutions, either return or local integration. Either one of these choices could be realised through the regional housing programme, in any of the four countries, for anyone who is factually displaced, vulnerable and in need of housing,” Mr Pohl said.

Even those at the heart of the programme acknowledge that housing is only one of the problems. Dorijan Klasnic, a UNHCR official in Zagreb, said that, in Croatia, “just housing is not enough for sustainable return… Social inclusion and access to employment remain a challenge”.

A further challenge is the issue of relations between the new states, particularly Serbia and Croatia, Mr Pohl said. “That’s why the [current] process focuses on needs, not rights.”

Source: The Independent.

UNHCR, Partners, and Roma Commemorate International Roma Day

Jasarevic — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 11:24:31 +0000

UNHCR, its partners and Roma volunteers and refugee children took to school playgrounds to distribute information leaflets in light of International Roma Day, 8 April.

The leaflets are part of awareness raising initiatives for equal access to education rights for Roma. They emphasize the promotion of tolerance and elimination of discrimination toward Roma children, including refugees and asylum seekers.

Sarajevo 2012: Book Fair

Jasarevic — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:47:17 +0000

UNHCR’s publications on the BiH operation 1992-1995. Sarajevo 2012 Book Fair.

Photography: Marco Lambooij.

View full album here.

UNHCR and War Media: Sarajevo 2012

Jasarevic — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:11:07 +0000

In commemoration of Sarajevo 2012, UNHCR compiled a video of its operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992-1995.

Sarajevo 2012 commemorates an occasion where 20 years ago international news representatives covered the war in BiH. UNHCR worked in close cooperation with the the media representatives, and continues to do so today in quest to bring a final end to displacement created 20 years ago.

Please visit the website for scheduled events.

UNHCR Supports Opening of Centre for Women

Jasarevic — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:25:32 +0000

Yesterday UNHCR, United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) and Foundation for Local Democracy (FLD) held a press conference to for the opening of the Centre for Women.

Funded by UNHCR and UNFPA and implemented by FLD the Centre is designed increase employment access for vulnerable and marginalized groups of women through development of personal and social skills by means of vocational training and education programmes.

Vulnerable and marginalized groups of women include: victims of: war; trafficking; domestic violence; sexual exploitation; and, single mothers.

Beneficiaries of the Centre for Women will also have access to legal and psychological assistance.

FLD’s related projects include Safe House; SOS telephone; Info telephone Green Line since; and, the Legal Aid Centre.

UNHCR Representative Visits Returnees and Displaced Persons in Srebrenica and the North East

Jasarevic — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 18:00:23 +0000

Together with the municipality and implementing partner Vasa Prava UNHCR BiH Representative Andrew Mayne visited IDP families at the new social housing facility in Srebrenica where some of the most vulnerable families received furniture and household items.

In Srebrenica, Mr. Mayne met with Deputy Minister Nenad Djokic, RS Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons. They discussed the implementation of the Revised Strategy of Annex VII of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

During his visit, Mayne met various returnee families in rural and urban areas to discuss their needs, living conditions, and assess sustainability options.

During the trip six collective centres in the Zvornik, Srebrenik and Tuzla areas were also visited as well as the two in Srebrenica and Bratunac which have been closed.

Mr. Mayne met with municipality representatives, including a return committee in Zvornik and the manager of the collective centre in Zivenice.

Mr. Mayne, Mr. Sead Hasic, Minster of Labour, Social Policy and Return of Tuzla Canton and Hilfswerk Austria International signed an agreement on co-financing of livelihood support for returnees and IDPs. The 250,000 KM agreement is to fund durable solutions initiatives in the Canton, including the replacement of some of the largest collective centres with social housing.

For further press coverage, please visit:

Sarajevo-X.com

Radio-Feral.ba

TuzlaInfo.ba

Preparation for the Donor Conference: Personal Envoy of the High Commissioner Visits the Region

Jasarevic — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:40:10 +0000

Mr. Anne Willem Bijleveld, Personal Envoy to the Western Balkans of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, met with senior government partners and the international diplomatic corps in Sarajevo on Monday at the start of a visit to all four neighbouring countries – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro – that are now working closely together to resolve the protracted problems of displacement in the region.

Mr. Bijleveld met with Minister for Human Rights and Refugees Damir Ljubic, who will host a major Donor Conference in Sarajevo on 24 April. The conference aims to raise euros 584 million for the planned Regional Housing Programme that will provide a durable solution for 74,000 refugees and displaced persons from the devastating conflicts of 1991 to 1995.

Ambassadors and heads of international organizations met with Mr. Bijleveld on Monday to discuss the programme and the preparations for the Donor Conference. Many countries are preparing to pledge contributions to the programme at the Donor Conference, which is seen as one last major multilateral effort to provide the most vulnerable of the remaining displaced populations in the region with a dignified solution.

Further consultations were held with the core group of international partners that support the programme – UNHCR, the European Commission, OSCE and the United States.

A particular focus of the visit was to consider ways in which the Regional Housing Programme can act as a catalyst in a comprehensive partnership of government and international community actors, making coordinated use of available resources to improve livelihoods, access to rights and social protection for those who remain displaced, in addition to the significant additional housing benefits planned under the programme.

In the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Regional Programme will provide a major stimulus to the implementation of the Revised Strategy for Annex VII of the Dayton Peace Agreement – the outcome of some three years of consultations among all governmental and non-governmental stakeholders – which was passed by Parliament in June 2010.

Mr. Bijleveld continued on his tour of the region, where he will engage in a series of briefings and preparatory meetings for the Donor Conference, in Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro in the course of this week.

UNHCR Partner Commemorates 8 March by Increasing Safety

Jasarevic — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:17:46 +0000

To commemorate International Women’s Day, UNHCR partner Bosnia-Herzegovina Women’s Initiative held a round table discussion yesterday in city of Mostar on the safety of women and girls.

The main objective of the round table was to increase awareness and inspire necessary action amongst relevant authorities. Increased policing was sought, as was an increase in visibility in dark city areas.

54 persons participated, including reception centre residents, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and local politicians.

The discussion was a product of one of BHWI’s SGBV workshops.