The rehabilitation works on 29 priority houses financed by the EU Floods Recovery Programme have been completed under the first phase of the housing component.  Thanks to EU financing, three families from Maglaj, eight families from both Doboj and Banja Luka and 10 families from the Bijeljina region can now return home.
 
The rehabilitation works were finalised within less than two weeks from when  work started, and the works included refurbishing floors and walls, replacing indoor and outdoor carpentries, and repairing roofs and facades.
”These are the homes of 29 families whom the relevant social welfare centres consider particularly vulnerable. We are happy to have been able to help these families to return home and to normalise their living conditions, which is the ultimate aim of the EU Floods Recovery Programme,” said Andy McGuffie, Spokesperson of the EU Delegation to BiH/EU Special Representative.
 
One of the families whose house has been rehabilitated with EU funding is that of Slaviša Lazić from Bijeljina. “This is more than I could have expected and dared to dream about,” says Lazić, who shares his home with his wife, son and elderly mother. “I must praise the construction workers for the swiftness and the good quality work they delivered. As for my family, we will now focus on having our home furnished and then continue our lives in what I consider to be a brand new home,” Lazić said.  
The first phase of the housing component targets a total of 650 priority dwellings, and the works on around 350 sites are underway. The selection process of the remaining 300 priority dwellings is underway in close cooperation with relevant local authorities.
The EU Floods Recovery Programme will also be selecting an additional 1200 housing beneficiaries through a public call which closed on 7 October, 2014. The eligible municipalities are Bijeljina, Šamac, Doboj, Maglaj, Orašje, Odžak, Brčko Distrikt BiH and Domaljevac.

“In close cooperation with UNDP, our implementing partner, and relevant local authorities, our intention is to process the applications as swiftly as possible.  We hope to get the works started soon to assist as many people as possible to return home before the winter time,” concluded McGuffie.
 
The second public call is due to be launched soon, focusing on housing rehabilitation in Tuzla, Sanski Most, Živinice, Zenica, Banja Luka, Prijedor, Modriča and Laktaši. Overall, the EU Floods Recovery Programme aims to rehabilitate a total of 4000 housing units damaged in the floods and assist directly around 14,000 people to return home.

The EU Flood 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. Funds will be used to restore public services and infrastructure, reconstruct housing units for the most vulnerable people, and for social and economic recovery of local communities. The value of the overall programme was 43.52 million, of which 42.24 million were provided by the European Union.
The programme is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme in BiH (UNDP), 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