Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

Deputy head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Serbia Oscar Benedict and the city secretary for social protection Nataša Stanisavljević presented the keys and contracts to families for the use of 15 social apartments in Jabučki Rit. The building for social housing was built as part of the project “Let Us Build a Home Together”, financed by the European Union with EUR 3.6 million, implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in partnership with the City of Belgrade.

The construction of the building in Jabučki Rit lasted for 135 days and was completed on 31 July 2015, within the envisaged timeframe, while the City of Belgrade provided the building permits and connections of the building to infrastructural utilities. The total value of the European Union donation for the building in Jabučki Rit is around EUR 280,000.

The project “Let Us Build a Home Together” has the goal of providing adequate housing solutions for up to 170 Roma families from Belgrade, displaced from informal settlements. With the 15 families moving into their apartments today, a housing solution was provided thus far for a total of 78 Roma families who renovated their own property or live in rural households. Social housing under protected conditions, as a new model for social housing for the Roma population, was first introduced in the social protection system of the City of Belgrade through this project, representing an important contribution of this project for subsequent projects and initiatives in this area.

“Due to European Union support, these families now have the conditions to develop and enable their children to get educated, which is of extraordinary importance for social integration. If the children are educated, tomorrow they will have the possibility to build their own homes”, said the president of the National Council of the Roma National Minority in Serbia, Vitomir Mihajlović.

“We owe a lot of gratitude to the European Union and the City of Belgrade, because we now have the possibility for decent living in the new apartments”, said one of the residents of the building, Hašim Beriša.

Source: europa.rs