Actualités
Regional Housing Programme (RHP): Meetings of the Steering Committee and RHP Fund Assembly of Donors held in Zagreb
27 juin 2014
PARIS - The fourth meeting of the Steering Committee of the Regional Housing Programme (RHP), as well as the seventh meeting of the RHP Fund Assembly of Donors, took place on 23 June in Zagreb. The Donors praised the Partner Countries for the progress achieved to date. During the past months, the RHP has moved from preparation to implementation. Altogether 12 projects were approved in 2013, for a total of EUR 61 million in grants. 2014 will witness the first projects coming out of the ground.
The meeting of the Steering Committee was also an opportunity for Partner Countries, Donors and international stakeholders to discuss the recent floods in the region. Participants agreed that the implementation of the RHP and the response to the floods should be managed separately but in a coordinated manner.
This meeting was followed by a signing ceremony for two Grant Agreements between the Republic of Croatia and the CEB: one in an amount of EUR 2.6 million for the construction of two apartment buildings in Knin for 40 vulnerable families, and the other one in an amount of EUR 4.3 million for the purchase of flats for 101 eligible families throughout Croatia.
On the same day, the RHP Fund Assembly of Donors welcomed the announcement made by Mr Simon Henshaw, Principal Deputy U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, that the U.S.A. will provide an additional USD 10 million contribution to the RHP Fund by the end of 2014.
The Donors also approved a EUR 10.6 million grant in favour of the latest sub-project proposal submitted by Serbia, aiming at providing durable housing solutions for 661 refugee families throughout Serbia.
On the morning of 24 June, RHP Donors, Partner Countries and international stakeholders, as well as representatives from Japan and the Netherlands, gathered on the site of Croatia’s first sub-project, in the town of Korenica, for a ground-breaking ceremony and to meet with beneficiaries and representatives of the local administration.
Further information about this event can be found on the RHP website www.regionalhousingprogramme.org.
The Regional Housing Programme (RHP) aims at offering housing solutions to about 27 000 households or 74 000 refugees and displaced persons that are considered as most vulnerable, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia (the Partner Countries). The total investment cost of the Programme, over an estimated five-year period, should amount to € 584 million. The CEB manages the RHP Fund and the Housing Programme itself. The European Commission, the United States of America, the UNHCR, the OSCE and other countries provide financial support.
Fondée en 1956, la CEB (Banque de Développement de Conseil de l'Europe) compte 41 États membres, dont 22 pays d’Europe centrale, orientale et du Sud-Est formant les pays cibles de la Banque. En tant qu’instrument majeur de la politique de solidarité en Europe, la Banque finance des projets sociaux en mettant à leur disposition des ressources levées dans des conditions reflétant la qualité de sa notation (Aa1 auprès de Moody's, perspective stable, AA+ auprès de Standard & Poor's, perspective stable et AA+ auprès de Fitch Ratings, perspective stable). Elle accorde des prêts à ses États membres, à des établissements financiers et à des autorités locales pour le financement de projets dans le secteur social, conformément à son Statut.