The Social Welfare Centre in Olovo, one of the facilities heavily damaged in the floods of May 2014, was officially reopened today. Funds for the Centre’s rehabilitation were provided by the European Union through its Flood Recovery Programme (in the amount of 16,500 BAM), the Swiss Government (39,000 BAM) and UNICEF (18,000 BAM).
The EU Flood Recovery Programme financed the rehabilitation of the Day Care Centre for Children with Disabilities which is situated inside the Social Welfare Centre. EU-funded works covered rehabilitation of the bathroom and the toilet for disabled children as well as the kitchen and the day-care area. The Day Care Centre is now fully operational and able to provide a range of services for disabled children and their parents. UNICEF and the Swiss Government provided the necessary equipment and furniture for the Day Care Centre.
Selvedin Karić, Acting Director of the Social Welfare Centre stated: “The Day Care Centre is now furnished with equipment for speech therapists, orthopaedic beds and other necessary equipment. It also has an adapted bathroom and toilet, provided through the EU Floods Recovery Programme, which are accessible for children with disabilities.”
“We expect the Centre to be a place where we can bring our children to socialise since until now, they had nowhere to go and often stayed at home, or we had to travel to Sarajevo or Zenica”, said Namira Hrnjić, one of the mothers.
During the most critical moments during the floods, the water level in Olovo stood at 2 meters, causing extensive damage across the municipality. The EU Flood Recovery Programme has so far invested 172,000 EUR (337,000 BAM) in Olovo for rehabilitation of three schools, and currently ongoing rehabilitation works on three roads. Additional recovery works are planned on the sewerage network, one bridge and two schools.
The EU Floods Recovery Programme was launched to restore normal living conditions in local communities and ensure that the aid reaches the most vulnerable ones in the aftermath of floods in May 2014. Funds are used for rehabilitation of public services and infrastructure, housing units for the most vulnerable people, and for social and economic recovery of local communities. The value of the overall Programme is 43.52 million, out of which 42.24 million is provided by the European Union. This assistance is a part of the funds that the European Union pledged at the donor conference in Brussels in July 2014. The Programme is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
For more information visit the EU Floods Recovery Programme feature page and EU Floods Recovery Programme Facebook page
