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CWS appeal: Balkans housing and reconstruction program

Many homes in Bosnia - Herzegovina's Canton 10 remain uninhabitable. Photo: Vitali Vorona/CWS

February 11, 2008

At least 106,000 people remain displaced by the war that ravaged the former Yugoslavia between 1992 and 1995, according to recent figures. While population centers such as Belgrade (Serbia) and Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina) have made significant strides in rebuilding housing stock, smaller communities and rural areas still do not have sufficient housing for displaced families.

Villages in the very rural areas of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia have experienced an even more difficult journey to recovery, as families have lost homes and livelihoods to war and remain largely removed from relief efforts. As such, families have become chronically displaced with little or no means to recover. Poverty and unemployment are serious problems, and only humanitarian organizations already active in the region are likely to help address the housing and economic challenges. Given that it is now more than 10 years since the end of the war, permanent housing for those who remain displaced is critical if full recovery in the region is to be realized.

CWS response

Church World Service has worked extensively in the region for more than a decade. In 2008, CWS will support three initiatives aimed at providing still-displaced families with permanent housing, which will then allow them to begin the journey to full recovery.

Important to note is that many families who have been assisted with housing in earlier years of our reconstruction efforts are now active participants in the CWS Social and Economic Development Program's "Build a Village: Balkans" project.

The three programs included in this appeal are the foundation for the continued evolution of a holistic approach to recovery, which aims to provide displaced persons with long-term, sustainable solutions to housing and work opportunities.

PROJECT 1 will allow 42 families (200 beneficiaries in total) to reconstruct war-destroyed homes located in the heavily agrarian Canton 10 province of Bosnia-Herzegovina. CWS will implement the project with a local partner, Refugee Return Service (RRS), and in collaboration with the municipalities of Bosansko-Grahovo and Glamoc, and the Canton 10 government, all of whom are contributing toward the cost of this project. Based on two successful apartment buildings already constructed in this partnership, another apartment for 12 families will be built in this cycle. The project will also help purchase materials and labor so 30 other families can rebuild their small homes. Canton 10 is an area where earlier home reconstruction efforts served as the foundation for CWS "Build a Village: Balkans" community development efforts.

PROJECT 2 will provide construction materials so CWS Balkans and RRS can construct homes for 80 families from 18 municipalities in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (one of two autonomous provinces in Serbia). A limit of 1,500 Euros per beneficiary will apply.

PROJECT 3 provides housing construction loans for displaced families where at least one family member has employment. Belgrade-based NGO MicroFinS, a CWS local partner, will orchestrate the loans, which will benefit the marginalized Roma community and others.

An initial 10 beneficiaries will be able to gain housing stability through loans whose amounts vary between 2,000 and 6,000 Euros, with low interest rates and repayment plans up to 48 months. As funds are repaid, loans will be available to additional families, for livelihood and small business assistance.

Using a modern building technique known as compressed earth blocks, which will be available to selected families through block production equipment and supplies that will be purchased, homes can be rebuilt rapidly for as little as $130 per square meter assuming that family members themselves contribute substantive hours of labor in the construction of their home.

Contributions to support this emergency appeal may be sent to your denomination or to: Church World Service, (2008 Balkans Housing Reconstruction Program - Account #6635), P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN, 46515.

Contributions may also be made by credit card online or by calling: (800) 297-1516, ext. 222.

Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;

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