OSCE Mission to Montenegro assists in providing new homes for displaced vulnerable families

A ceremony in Podgorica on 15 November 2017 saw 120 displaced vulnerable families who had been living in a container settlement in the Konik Camp presented with keys to new homes financed by the Regional Housing Programme and supported by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro.

The OSCE Mission and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) Office in Podgorica assisted Montenegro’s Government in identifying families eligible for the new apartments as part of the Regional Housing Programme. The Programme is a joint initiative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia aimed at providing housing for vulnerable people who were displaced in the recent conflicts. The regional initiative works to support their integration into society.

“Remarkable work has been done by the Government of Montenegro with the support of the international community to provide housing for the most vulnerable displaced persons,” said Lia Magnaguagno, Democratization Programme Manager at the OSCE Mission, as she addressed the ceremony. “Their full integration into society is a challenge that requires the commitment of all stakeholders and of society as whole."

The Regional Housing Programme has so far provided more than 1,500 residential units in Montenegro over the last five years with another 51 units to be completed next year. 

Other speakers at the event included Deputy Prime Minister, Milutin Simović, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Kemal Purišić, the Mayor of Podgorica, Slavoljub Stijepović, the Head of the European Delegation to Montenegro, Ambassador Aivo Orav, the Deputy Chief of the Mission in the US Embassy, Judy Kuo, the Deputy Director General of the Council of Europe Development Bank, Stephan Sellen, and UNHCR representative Aleksandar Čađenović.