The first meeting of the EU Floods Recovery Programme Advisory Panel was held today in the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina, bringing together key BiH institutions at the State, Entity and Brcko District levels along with the EU and UNDP.
The Advisory Panel serves as a formal mechanism for discussions on ongoing and future flood recovery efforts involving relevant domestic stakeholders at the state and entity levels, namely the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Government of Republika Srpska, the Government of Brčko District, and the BiH Directorate for European Integration. The Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina attends as the donor, and the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina as the programme implementing partner.
The Panel aims to ensure maximum synergy of efforts between the EU’s flood recovery activities and those of domestic authorities and is meant to serve as a strategic advisory body and sounding board on key issues as well as a forum for information sharing among all interested actors.
Massimo Mina, Head of EU Delegation Operations Section for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross-Border Co-operation, said: “Today’s meeting was important from several aspects. First to gather the key partners for a discussion on ongoing and future flood recovery efforts; to exchange information on the progress achieved so far, primarily in the rehabilitation of educational institutions; and to present the assistance planned for small and medium size enterprises and rehabilitation of housing units which aim to support normalising the living conditions for the most vulnerable households after the floods.”
The EU Floods Recovery Programme was launched so as to restore normal living conditions in local communities and ensure that the aid reaches the most vulnerable people in the aftermath of floods in May. Funds will be used to restore public services and infrastructure, reconstruct housing units for the most vulnerable, and for social and economic recovery of local communities. The value of the overall programme is 43.52 million Euro, of which 42.24 million Euro were provided by the European Union.
This assistance is a part of the funds that the European Union pledged at the Donors Conference in Brussels in July. Activities are to focus on reconstruction of 4,000 housing units for approximately 14,000 residents, rehabilitation of key public services and infrastructure (including schools, medical facilities, water supply and sewer, and smaller roads and bridges) at 50 sites, as well as providing assistance to retain and generate around 2,000 jobs in flood-affected areas. Beneficiary selection will be based on the Recovery Needs Assessment and will have special emphasis on the most vulnerable population categories, such as the elderly, families with children and persons with special needs.
The programme is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina (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
