Donor: EU/CEB
Budget: EUR 5,417,500.00

Project Description:

The “Regional Housing Programme “is a joint initiative of Bosnia and Herzegovina (“BiH”), Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia (partner countries-PCs), which is an integral part of the „Sarajevo process on refugees and displaced persons” initiated in 2005.

The project, that represents a continuation of a phase I, will provide technical assistance to the partner countries in the provision of durable housing solutions to the most vulnerable refugee and displaced population following the 1991-1995 conflicts on the territory of former Yugoslavia, including internally displaced persons in Montenegro from 1999.

The overall objective of the project is to comprehensively contribute towards completion of the protracted displacement situation in PCs by providing durable and sustainable housing solutions with full respect for the rights of refugees and internally displaced persons and the mutual obligation to closely cooperate and synchronize activities in order to ensure durable solutions for them, either through voluntary return and reintegration or local integration.

The purposes of the project are:

  1. Provision of durable housing solutions – contributory factor to the integration of refugees, IDPs and other displaced/ vulnerable groups into national and local communities and
  2. Living conditions of current refugee population upgraded through provision of housing and related services of an appropriate standard.

To meet these objectives, Eptisa, as a consortium leader with GIZ and DRC must achieve results at two levels: within Territorial WP and Regional WP, through the following activities:

Territorial WP:

  1. Project management and control: application of procedures specified in the Project Implementation Manual; improvement of master technical documents; use of Risk Management Systems by partner countries etc
  2. Sub-project preparation and approval: implementation of quality control of sub-project grant application
  3. Implementation (provision of the housing solutions): aligning ToRs for engineering service with existing Master Technical documents, assistance to PIUs in assessment of technical documentation, construction of houses/flats, provision of construction material/village houses, reconstruction works or other housing modalities,
  4. Procurement: preparation of sub-project tender dossiers, training of PIU experts to use procurement procedures, successful procurement procedures;
  5. Support to PIUs and LIs to perform monitoring and reporting in order to establish effective correction measures and fulfil reporting requirements and
  6. Sustainability: technical (connection to infrastructure utilities), socio-economic (assistance for income generation) and cultural (access to education, health, social welfare etc).

Regional WP:

  1. Visibility and communication: strengthening RHPs visibility in the region and more broadly in the EU through: promotional and information material, support to PCs and the CEB in organisation visibility events, management of internet and social media presence, increased media coverage etc
  2. Monitoring Management Information Systems (MMIS): maintenance, upgrading, organization of trainings for LIs and PIUs
  3. PIU Verification and Institutional support for implementation: support to PIUs in preparation for verification by the CEB, implementation of the training programme, coordinate management of Risk Maps, support to management of Grant Agreements, update Project Implementation Manuals etc
  4. Provision of complementary and auxiliary support to the process of selection of beneficiaries, which is led by national authorities under supervision of UNHCR and OSCE etc.

For more information about this project, please contact EPTISA’s Regional Office for Southeast Europe at: eptisasee@eptisa.com