European Union invests EUR 14.2 mil for social housing and active inclusion of vulnerable groups

Belgrade, November 23, 2020 - The European Union and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), through the "EU Support to Social Housing and Active Inclusion" programme, are announcing an open call to local self-governments to submit proposals for social housing and active inclusion projects.

The goal of this open call is to provide housing support for 500 families with at least 1,500 members in a sustainable and responsible way, through the construction of multi-family buildings and family houses, and the purchase, reconstruction and adaptation of apartments and houses. Complementary active inclusion measures for 1,000 beneficiaries will be mandatory, and they include support in the field of education, improvement of employability, self-employment and access to various social protection services.

The total budget for projects in 20 selected municipalities is 14.2 million euros, and the open call lasts until February 1, 2021. All local self-governments in Serbia are eligible to participate.

"EU supports social inclusion by achieving tangible results. We promote equality, solidarity, tolerance and inclusion – in short, the right of decent living. The EU is the largest donor in Serbia in all fields and in particular in social inclusion. Only in the last five years the EU donated and invested over 115 million EUR to improve the living standards of the most deprived. During this period more than 60 projects have been successfully implemented by municipalities, centres for social work and NGOs in 110  towns and municipalities, bringing direct benefits to more than 15,000 people across the country. With this public call, we want to contribute to the improvement of social inclusion of women, men and children who are socially excluded, by enabling them to live with dignity and to play an active role in society. We call on all self-governments in Serbia to submit project proposals that will benefit women victims of domestic violence, children and youth in social cares or leaving its shelter, Roma community and people with disabilities - groups that are most at risk of poverty", said Ambassador Fabrizi, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia.

All information about this open call and application documents are available on the "EU Support to Social Housing and Active Inclusion" programme’s website, in the Open Calls section.

All interested self-governments will be able to get answers to questions about the open call and the Programme during online information sessions that will be held every day from December 7 to December 11, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

This open call is announced within the programme "European Union Support to Social Housing and Active Inclusion", for which the European Union has allocated 27 million euros. The programme is implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in partnership with the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, and in cooperation with the Ministry of European Integration.

The European Union is by far the largest investor, the largest trading partner and the largest donor to Serbia. With more than three billion euros in non-refundable aid to Serbia in the past two decades, the EU supports Serbia to become more prosperous, more sustainable, fairer, safer and more democratic, and thus ready to join the union.