2 Executive Summary

The first year of the “Let’s Build a Home Together” project was burdened with a number of obstacles, most of which were outside the UNOPS’ control. Still, there were positive aspects in implementation that include building of trust among the Project beneficiaries, full participation of 170 identified families in all consultations about durable housing solutions, and high involvement of women in the decision making process. The good communication with the focal points appointed by the City of Belgrade meant there was a high turnout at all events involving the beneficiary community.

Another positive move was obtaining the location permit for the construction of social housing flats in Orlovsko naselje, albeit with a four-month delay. However, only one other location – in Jabučki Rit - out of six identified in the City of Belgrade Action Plan for the Resettlement of the Residents of Makiš, Resnik, Jabučki Rit and Kijevo Container Settlements (RAP), was assessed as adequate, though conditionally, because of its remoteness and isolation. In these two locations, 27 units can be constructed compared to 121 planned by the RAP. This reconfirmed the need for additional sites and the City of Belgrade has been advised formally and informally that it must urgently propose sufficient number of new locations, with adequate capacity to accept all beneficiaries interested in the social housing. It is of utmost importance that any new location has resolved urban-planning status and ownership, and that the location permit for social housing construction can be issued immediately.

Furthermore, the housing design proposed within the RAP - prefabricated wooden multi- storey blocks - is no longer valid having been superseded by the new legislation. In addition, changes in legislation that occurred during 2013 are also influencing the increase of special standards depending on the number of family members. Both result in the increased costs for the construction.

Due to internal reasons, the OSCE Mission in Serbia is not in a position to purchase the village housing as originally envisaged. The Delegation of the European Union formally requested UNOPS to alter its activities to include purchasing of all village houses in its activities.

Procurement of the building material for the reconstruction of nine self-owned houses is in progress, with minute delays. The completion of the works for the first six houses is expected by the end of July 2014, at the latest. The next three houses should be reconstructed by the end of October, when the construction of one completely new house is also going to be finalized. This will result in 50 people being provided with durable housing solutions.

In October 2013, in response to the delays and remaining obstacles, the European Integration Office of the Government of the Republic of Serbia (SEIO) and the Delegation of European Union (DEU) included the Project on the ‘bottleneck list’, as its delays potentially jeopardise the achievements of results. The key difficulties encountered include: the lack of

3 capacities, as well as of accountability of the City of Belgrade to take ownership and implement the RAP; inability of the City and its municipalities to identify new locations for the social housing units; ousting of the Mayor of Belgrade and delays in appointment of the Interim City Council, and hence changes in several City Secretariats as well as in the membership of the Coordination Body; poor involvement of the City of Belgrade institutions dealing with urban planning and construction issues, utility companies and public enterprises; the local community objections related to the arrival of the new Roma neighbours that included discriminatory attitudes; delays in purchase of village houses by the OSCE that meant that the final list of beneficiaries to be relocated to the specific locations could not be defined; as well as uncertainties in regards the mandatory co-funding for the Project by the City of Belgrade.

The Project Team is in the process of preparing an Addendum to introduce a new budget line for the purchase of the village houses directly. However, the implementation of the Project to date has shown that without full political commitment of the City of Belgrade and its improved ability to coordinate all institutions, allocation of funding and an efficient task force to lead the process, the Project won’t be completed on time or within the budget. Options are already being considered for an extension of the Project is required.

This Progress Report, along with the Executive Summary, has nine chapters and accompanying annexes, describing the background, activities and results, assumptions and risks, difficulties encountered, partnerships established, cross-cutting issues as well as management/operational details of implementation, including monitoring and evaluation.

4

Table of Contents Executive Summary ...... 3 List of Abbreviations ...... 7 1 Background ...... 8 1.1 Problems to be addressed ...... 8 1.2 Government and sector policy ...... 9 1.3 Beneficiaries and parties involved ...... 11 2 Intervention ...... 12 2.1 Overall objective ...... 12 2.2 Purpose ...... 12 2.3 Results ...... 12 2.4 Activities ...... 19 3 Assumptions and risks ...... 39 3.1 Assumptions ...... 39 3.2 Risks ...... 39 4 Partnerships ...... 44 5 Difficulties encountered ...... 45 6 Cross cutting issues ...... 47 6.1 Gender ...... 47 6.2 Environment ...... 47 6.3 Institutional and management capacity ...... 48 6.4 Good governance ...... 49 7 Visibility ...... 49 8 Implementation ...... 50 8.1 Procurement ...... 51 8.2 Human resources ...... 51 8.3 Finance ...... 51 8.4 Logistics/Travel ...... 51 8.5 ICT ...... 52 9 Monitoring and evaluation ...... 52 9.1 Monitoring ...... 52 9.2 Steering Committee meetings ...... 53

5 9.3 Evaluation ...... 53 Annex I - Progress against indicators ...... 54 Annex II – Indicative Plan for Q1 and Q2 2014 ...... 59 Annex III - Key developments ...... 60 Annex IV – Consultation Process ...... 66 Annex V – Social Housing Locations ...... 66 Annex VI - Social Housing Model and Architectural Design ...... 66 Annex VII - Social Housing Models and Legal Security of Tenure ...... 66 Annex VIII - Project communications ...... 66 Annex IX - Preliminary architectural design for the sites ...... 66 Annex X - Financial report ...... 66 Annex XI - ROM...... 66

6 List of Abbreviations

Beoland Belgrade Land Development Agency CEDAW Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women DEU Delegation of the European Union DoA Description of Action DRC Danish Refugee Council EE Energy Efficiency EIB European Investment Bank EU European Union HC Housing Development Centre for Socially Vulnerable Groups HRA Human Rights Adviser ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights IDP Internally displaced person NGO Non-governmental organisation OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights OHMR Office for Human and Minority Rights OSCE Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe RAP City of Belgrade Action Plan for the Resettlement of the Residents of Newly Formed Settlements Makiš, Resnik, Jabučki Rit and Kijevo ROM Result Oriented Mission SEIO European Integration Office of the Government of the Republic of Serbia SIPRU Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit ToR Terms of Reference UN United Nations UNOPS United Nations Office for Project Services

7 1 Background

1.1 Problems to be addressed

At the end of April 2012 approximately 250 families, predominantly Roma, were relocated from the informal settlement in New Belgrade known as Belvil. Half of the families went to live in the settlements established in five locations in Belgrade (Makiš, Rakovica, Resnik, Jabučki Rit and Dren),1 while others were relocated to the municipalities within Serbia where their residence was last registered.

The City of Belgrade, in collaboration with the Office for Human and Minority Rights (OHMR), Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit (SIPRU), Roma community and the relevant state institutions, with support of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), drafted the Action Plan for the Resettlement of the Residents of Newly Formed Settlements Makiš, Resnik, Jabučki Rit and Kijevo (RAP)2, which was adopted in February 2013, and which has three objectives: 1. To prepare assessment of the situation and needs of the families in the selected settlements in regards the rights to education, health, social care, housing and employment 2. To propose possible models for durable housing solutions and establishment of basic criteria for the selection of sites for permanent housing assistance, in accordance with the international standards 3. To define a set of measures to facilitate the social inclusion of the resettled families from the mobile settlements through the exercise of the right to education, health, social protection and employment in relation to offered models of permanent housing solutions.

The European Union (EU) has allocated 3.6 million Euros for durable and adequate housing solutions for Roma families, predominantly from Belvil, through “Livelihood Enhancement for the Most Vulnerable Roma Families in Belgrade” (Let’s Build a Home Together) Project. The Project is a part of a wider programme implemented by the Government of Serbia - Supporting access to rights, employment and livelihood enhancement of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Serbia.

Durable housing solutions are being developed jointly with the City of Belgrade and with the full and meaningful participation of the affected communities ensuring full respect for their human rights. Special attention is being paid to ensure that those solutions do not entail in any respect elements of ghetto-like settlements. Additional focus is given to women equal entitlements to adequate housing in order to avoid that concepts such as the “head of household” are used to deprive women of equal ownership and security of tenure. Children

1Upon the closure of the Dren settlement, the families were further relocated to Barajevo, Surčin and Mladenovac. 2 Grad Beograd (2014) Akcioni plan za preseljenje stanovnika novoformianih naselja Makiš 1, Makiš 2, Resnik, Jabučki Rit i Kijevo [Online] Available at: http://www.beograd.rs/download.php/documents/akcioniplan2013.pdf (Accessed on 10 February 2014)

8 and fulfilment of their rights, foremost to education, basic health and welfare, but also leisure and cultural activities are being respected. Finally, the Project is taking measures to eliminate discrimination against people with disability and to give them equal opportunities and fully respect their dignity and needs.

Construction/reconstruction of some infrastructure requirements in host communities will improve the living conditions for both newcomers and host community but also provide incentive for receiving community to accept integration of new neighbours.

Although a pilot initiative, this Project is designed to generate the best practices in the domain of the right to adequate housing for Roma from informal settlements in Serbia that could be replicated throughout the country, and which would be fully in line with the international standards on the right to adequate housing and resettlements.

The Project is implemented in partnership with the City of Belgrade, the United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) through the UN Human Rights Adviser (HRA) in Serbia, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), the Housing Development Centre for Socially Vulnerable Groups (HC or Housing Centre), as well as with the OSCE and the United Nations (UN) Country Team.

1.2 Government and sector policy

International standards stipulate that adequate housing or shelter can be measured by quality, safety, affordability, habitability, cultural appropriateness, accessibility, and locational characteristics. It should provide security of tenure and allow access to employment opportunities and basic infrastructure and services, such as water, electricity, sanitation, health-care and education.3

The Republic of Serbia has legal framework in place to provide assistance and relocation solutions: the Housing Law of the Republic of Serbia4, the Social Housing Law of the Republic of Serbia5 and the Law on Refugees.6 Other legislation is in place that regulates the social welfare, employment, health, equal opportunities, and similar areas relevant for the implementation of this Project.7

Recently adopted laws define the new procedure for legalization and enable for all the houses built up to 31 October 2013 to be submitted: the Law on Special Conditions for

3OHCHR (2013) International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [Online] Available at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CESCR.aspx (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 4Paragraf (2013) Zakon o stanovanju [Online] Available: http://www.paragraf.rs/propisi/zakon_o_stanovanju.html (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 5Paragraf (2013) Zakon o socijalnom stanovanju [Online] Available at: http://www.paragraf.rs/propisi/zakon_o_socijalnom_stanovanju.html (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 6Komesarijat za izbeglice i migracije (2013) Zakon o izmenama i dopunama Zakona o izbeglicama [Online] Available at: http://www.kirs.gov.rs/docs/Zakon_o_izmenama_i_dopunama_Zakona_o_izbeglicama.pdf (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 7Most are available from the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Team website: http://www.inkluzija.gov.rs/?page_id=2347&lang=en (Accessed on 24 January 2014)

9 Registration of Title Deed to the Buildings Constructed without Building Permit8; Regulation on Conditions and Manner of Proceedings for the Acquisition of Property in Land and Buildings9; and the Law on Legalisation.10 Although the Law on Legalisation recommends that the municipalities decrease fees for vulnerable social groups including single mothers, persons with disabilities and persons receiving social benefits, it doesn’t recognise Roma as this category.

The Strategy for Improvement of the Status of Roma in the Republic of Serbia (2009)11 creates a basis for identifying and applying affirmative action measures, primarily in the areas of education, health, employment and housing. The Strategy devoted a specific section to the improvement of the Roma housing situation and points to different housing solutions offered to the Roma population. One of the offered solutions is the purchase of village houses, implemented by different Government bodies including the Commissariat for Refugees and several international organizations.

The newly adopted National Social Housing Strategy12 proposes “increased affordability of housing costs for low and medium income households” and related measure “increasing the affordability of rental housing”, introduction of a housing allowance, for households for which social rent exceeds 1/3 of income. This housing allowance should be used for paying a portion of the rent to a non-profit housing organization (housing agency). The housing allowance aims at assisting households with low income and it should be adjustable to changes in their income or family size. These subsidies could be given as a grant, and provided from the national as well as from local budgets. In addition, the Strategy observes that households receiving financial social assistance don’t have sufficient funds needed to pay the rent, and “therefore, they should be directed to programmes of social housing in protected environment“.

Other strategic documents which currently define the policy framework for social inclusion in Serbia13, have also been taken into consideration in preparing and implementing the Project, including: the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, the National Sustainable Development Strategy, the National Strategy for Economic Development of the Republic of Serbia, the Strategy for the Improvement of the Position of Persons with Disabilities, the National Strategy for Improving the Position of Women and Promoting Gender Equality, the National Strategy for Resolving the Problems of Refugees and Internally Displaced, the National Social Welfare Development Strategy, the National Strategy on Ageing, the National Public Health Strategy.

8 Official Gazette no. 25, March 2013 9 Official Gazette no. 31, April 2013 10 Zavod za izgradnju Grada Novog Sada (2013) Zakon o legalizaciji objekata [Online] Available at http://www.zigns.rs/misc/zakon_o_legalizaciji.pdf (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 11Inkluzija (2013) Strategy for Improvement of the Status of Roma in the Republic of Serbia [Online] Available at: http://www.inkluzija.gov.rs/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Strategija-EN-web-FINAL.pdf (Accessed on 12 January 2013) 12 Official Gazette RS, No. 13/2012 (Nacionalna strategija socijalnog stanovanja), see: Annex 2. 13Ibid.

10 Finally, the Regulation on Standards and Norms for Planning, Design, Construction and Conditions for Use and Maintenance of Social Housing14 are integral part of the Law and the National Strategy for Social Housing, which defines standards for the design, conditions for use, management and maintenance of social housing apartments; (non-profit) rent calculation; general terms and conditions of the lease agreement, including content of the agreement; reasons for agreement termination; conditions for agreement extension, etc.

As a result of the new Regulation, the Project cannot use the pre-fabricated wooden houses, but needs to construct masonry multi-storey buildings, while there is increase in special standards depending on the number of family members (in RAP, for example, 28 square metres have been planned for a three member family, compared to the new norms of 42 - 52 square metres for the same family). The Regulation came into force15 after the start of the implementation of the Project and adoption of the RAP, and changes it brings will increase the costs of the Project implementation.

1.3 Beneficiaries and parties involved

The direct beneficiaries of the Project are: • Men, women and families from the five newly formed settlements, including all people evicted from the Belvil informal settlement, all of whom are identified in the RAP as beneficiaries, with the exception of those families who relocated to southern Serbia • The City of Belgrade and its institutions • Receiving communities in several Belgrade municipalities.

The indirect beneficiaries of this Project are: • The Office for Human and Minority Rights, and specifically the Roma Office, the National Council of the Roma National Minority, the Council for Improving the Situation of Roma16, as well as other relevant institutions at the central and local level, charged with implementation of Roma inclusion policies • General Roma population in Serbia who would benefit from improved quality of co- ordination and monitoring of Roma inclusion policies, improved access to public services and dissemination of best practices from the pilot municipalities.

14 Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 26/2013 (Uredba o uslovima, standardima i normativima za planiranje i projektovanje, građenje, korišćenje i održavanje stanova za socijalno stanovanje) 15 At the end of March 2013 16 Established in June 2013, the Council prepares proposals on building comprehensive and coordinated polices to improve the situation of Roma

11 2 Intervention

2.1 Overall objective

The overall objective of Let’s Build a Home Together Project is to contribute to improvement of living conditions for refugee and IDP families.

The right to adequate housing is one of the basic human rights, embedded in a number of international treaties and domestic legislation. Housing gives security and shelter, sense of privacy and provides area for family activities. By settling into homes that will be provided by the Project, the first condition towards improvement of living conditions of beneficiary group will be achieved.

2.2 Purpose

The purpose of this Project is to provide adequate support for up to 200 Roma families affected by the resettlement actions, including where appropriate, with durable housing solutions.

The Project Team identified 170 potential beneficiary families who have been relocated from Belvil and other unhygienic settlements in Belgrade. The consultations about possible durable housing solutions were done to ensure full participation of men, women, elderly, children and those with disabilities, to take into account their needs, concerns and wishes before making a final decision on where the social houses will be constructed and how will they look like.

The two reports on social housing models currently implemented in Serbia and on the current practices pertaining to the legal security of tenure for beneficiaries of social housing will be ready by the end of February 2014 and will aid preparation of the Rulebook for Social Housing.

2.3 Results

Result 1: Planning of resettlement of target communities to durable housing solutions in compliance with the UN human rights standards, in specific the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

In order to ensure resettlement in line with the international human rights standards and legal solutions of the Republic of Serbia, one of the first steps in the Project implementation was to prepare the Methodology for the Consultation Process and the Communications Strategy, which focus on participation of the beneficiaries and necessity to take their views in the process. Both have been prepared in coordination with the Human Rights Advisor. Furthermore, the Project used other mechanisms for participation of Roma beneficiary

12 families, men and women outlined in several strategic documents: the Structure and Schedule of Thematic Consultations with beneficiaries on Proposed Social Housing Locations, the Structure and Schedule of Thematic Consultations with Beneficiaries on Housing Model, the Methodology of the Thematic Consultation on the Protection of the Environmental Conditions. All aim to test the community interest, to build trust among beneficiaries and the Project Team and to ensure higher involvement of women in the decision making process.

The presentation of the Project to all partners, as well as to the Roma beneficiaries and numerous other stakeholders (line Ministries, institutions, non-governmental organisations) granted free flow of information among all relevant factors. In the five newly formed settlements, at the beginning of June 2013, the Project was presented to 163 participants, from 131 families, out of whom 62 were women. The good communication with the focal points appointed by the City of Belgrade meant there was a high turnout at all events involving the beneficiary community. Subsequently presentations were held on: village house component and the documents needed as well as construction standards that have to be met; on proposed housing model and conceptual design of the buildings and flats, in order to ensure that the design is in line with the communities’ housing preferences and habits, and on proposed locations.

At the end of January 2014, there were 170 families on the list of beneficiaries. The list is updated continuously with the information on the newborns and deceased received from Belgrade Secretariat for Social Welfare.

The plan to empower authorities to conduct community consultations was put on hold due to the political changes in the City. Although the needs assessment for the human rights based approach training was conducted, a new one will be prepared after the March 2014 elections.

In regards empowerment of the communities to participate in consultations, structural indictors were developed on human rights aspects (rights to adequate housing, non discrimination and equality, violence against women etc.) and incorporated into the Methodology for Evaluation of Sites.

However, there has been no formal communication with the host communities, due to the failure of the City of Belgrade to facilitate the dialogues, which, according to the RAP is its responsibility.

Result 2: Locations for construction identified, communication with local communities established, all necessary analysis performed and final decisions on location made

Following the assessment of the six potential sites for relocation of Roma families, men and women, identified in the RAP, in accordance with the Methodology that contains

13 measurable indicators17, only two locations can potentially be used: Orlovsko naselje and Jabučki Rit, the latter being conditionally adequate because of its remoteness and isolation. The assessment results were presented to the Coordination Body on 25 July 2013, while in parallel, presentations were organised for Roma beneficiaries, both in the meetings with graphic documentation that pointed to site potentials, and in the “Go and See” visits to Obrenovac, Orlovsko naselje and Jabučki Rit. Other consultations with beneficiaries included sharing information on social housing model, focus groups for proposed locations and environment workshops.

The availability of only two locations reconfirmed the need for additional sites and the City of Belgrade has been advised formally and informally that it must urgently propose sufficient number of new locations, with adequate capacity to accept all beneficiaries interested in the social housing. It is of utmost importance that any new location has resolved urban-planning status and ownership, and that the location permit for social housing construction can be issued immediately.

According to the RAP, 34 families have shown interest for the rehabilitation of their houses or relocation to village houses. This number has changed and stands at 48 currently for the village houses and 11 for the reconstruction of own property. However, the list of beneficiaries to be relocated to the specific location couldn’t be defined at the time when the conceptual design was initiated due to delays in the OSCE village component implementation (please see Result 4).

Finally, the Database, which contains basic information about beneficiaries as well as socio economic profiles of families, has been created. The Database will be used for analysis of the opportunities to economically support the beneficiary families.

Result 3: Planning and technical documentation for construction of housing units and reconstruction of private and village houses developed

During August 2013, consultations were held with beneficiaries in all mobile settlements, in accordance with the Structure and Schedule of Thematic Consultations with Beneficiaries on the Housing Model and preliminary architectural solutions document18, energy-efficiency principles19 and UNOPS’ Sustainable Infrastructure Policy. All practical inputs from the beneficiaries were incorporated into the preliminary conceptual design.

Out of six locations specified in the RAP, only two (Orlovsko naselje and Jabučki Rit) were adequate for further development. According to the RAP, location permits for these two locations were supposed to be issued by the end of June 2013.

17 Including: access to social services, education, health and public transport, availability of potential employers, distance from sources of pollution, security 18 Prepared in line with the existing Standards and Norms for Planning, Design, Construction and Conditions for Use and Maintenance of Social Housing, Official Gazette RS no.26/13 19 Official Gazette RS no.72/09, 81/09, 64/10 and 24/11

14 The location permit for Orlovsko naselje was issued in October 2013. The deadline for completion of the main design for 12 social apartments was extended to 15 January 2014, due to a request from the Electrical Network of Serbia to include additional conditions. Some other technical conditions from utility companies have also changed compared to those in the location permit, influencing the development of the main design. Despite this, the Project was already submitted to some public utility companies for approval (Water and Sewage and the Secretariat of Transport). After collecting all approvals, the building permit will be requested. The estimated date for the submission for building permit is the end of February 2014.

The plot in Jabučki Rit was finally formed in mid January 2014. There is a two-week deadline for complaint, after which the request for location permit will be submitted, and the tender for the main design announced. Due to the City’s unsteady cooperation with the Municipality of Palilula, which demanded forming of the plot, the Belgrade Land Development Agency (Beoland) is unable to obtain the document, and this postpones requesting of the location permit.

It is clear that the City authorities need to conduct a series of activities regarding planning documentation and ownership for the new sites, in order to make the sites available for the construction (in accordance with the Law on Planning and Construction). Once the planning documentation and ownership issues are resolved, the relevant City institutions should prepare documents for the elaboration of the main technical designs. Belgrade Land Development Public Agency (Beoland), as investor and the City institution responsible for technical cooperation need to obtain relevant technical conditions from utility companies and location permit for the main design development.

Within the RAP, the City of Belgrade concluded that prefabricated wooden multi-storey blocks offer the most appropriate solution in terms of investment costs, land utilisation and construction time. The City, in the RAP, adopted a two-storey (ground and first floor) design, with 12 and 14 units. However, this design is no longer valid having been superseded by the new legislation.20 In addition, changes in legislation that occurred during 2013 are also influencing the increase of special standards depending on the number of family members. In RAP, for example, 28 square metres were envisaged for a three member family, compared with the new norms of 42 -52 square metres for the same family. All these result in the increased costs for the construction.

Currently, no private houses owned by the beneficiaries have adequate supporting documentation, and thus are considered illegal. The provisions of the Law on Special Conditions for Registration of Title Deed to the Buildings Constructed without Building Permit, which was adopted after the start of the Project, allow registration of ownership without legalization. This Law prescribes that although such houses can’t be demolished, no

20 Regulation on Standards and Norms for Planning, Design, Construction and Conditions for use and Maintenance for Social Housing, Official Gazette SRB, no 26/2013; Law on Fire Protection, Official Gazette SRB, no 111/09; Law on Energy, Official Gazette of RS no 84/04,57/11 and 80/11; Regulations on energy efficiency of buildings, Official Gazette, SRB, no.61/11, Regulations on conditions and way of issuing the certificate of energy performance for buildings, Official Gazette, SRB,no61/11

15 extensive works can be performed on them, other than maintenance and emergency interventions that remove immediate danger to life and health. When planning for the support of the Project, the beneficiaries included works accordingly. A Proposal has been made to the Delegation of European Union (DEU) to include expenditure for administrative procedures and infrastructure connections to the total sum for beneficiary assistance. The final decision will be outlined in the Project Addendum that should be considered in February 2014.

For the village houses, beneficiaries will receive assistance and instructions needed for self- construction, the process will be monitored and utilization of materials strictly controlled.

Result 4: Construction of multi-storey blocks, and reconstruction of private and village houses implemented in accordance with accepted standards of sustainable infrastructure

In early July 2013, the Delegation of the European Union informed UNOPS that there was a possibility to extend the village housing part of the Project. This decision came about after the preliminary community consultations according to which 50% of beneficiaries have expressed interest in the village households. The Coordination Body agreed that the ownership for this housing solution could be transferred immediately to beneficiaries.

The deadline for submission and final completion of the village housing documentation was extended until 31 January 2014. Those beneficiary families unable to identify suitable village houses within the given deadline are to be offered social housing in the City of Belgrade. The original number of 70 interested in the village houses dropped to 48.

Serious destabilisation of and delays to this Result occurred in January 2014, when the OSCE Mission in Serbia informed the stakeholders that 30 houses will be not purchased under the SIDA funded and OSCE implemented project. The Delegation of the European Union responded by formally requesting UNOPS to alter its activities to include the purchasing of all village houses required in the project.

Further planning of activities regarding the purchase of village houses solely depends on the OSCE clarification of the timeframe regarding the processing and verification of the documentation and City Sub-Committee final approval for the 48 village houses. In order for UNOPS to proceed with effective implementation of this activity, the OSCE should finalise verification of documentation and submit completed case files by mid of the fourteenth month of the Project implementation. However, according to the last agreed deadlines (31 January 2014) this will be additionally delayed by a minimum of two months. The Project hopes that the OSCE will adopt a staged approach to at least start receiving approvals from the Sub-Committee; however, at the time of writing this report, the process and the timetable remains uncertain.

In regards the designs for the multi-storey blocks, they comply with the international standards for habitability, accessibility to services, and affordability. Project development is in line with the current legal framework, which covers energy efficiency, waste material

16 disposal and environmental protection. Standards of sustainable infrastructure are built into every step of project development from urban-planning phase, designing and construction.

The tender for the construction works in Orlovsko naselje will be announced simultaneously with the application for building permit, at the end of February 2014.

After the engineering assessment of eleven houses of all beneficiaries for the reconstruction of the self-owned houses, the tender for procurement of building material was announced in December. As there were no applicants the deadline was extended from 22 January to 12 February 2014. The Project will provide families with construction materials and through expert supervision support them to conduct works on their own.

Result 5: Legal framework, ownership, management, maintenance and security models analysed and agreed among stakeholders

Two reports are being prepared: one on social housing models currently implemented in Serbia and the other on the current practices pertaining to the legal security of tenure for beneficiaries of social housing.

The former will be one of the basic documents for further development of the Rulebook for Social housing and will be presented to the Project’s stakeholders in mid February 2014. The preliminary results show that there are regulations in place based on which beneficiaries can qualify for either social housing or the social housing in the protected environment.

The initial findings in the latter report show that legislation in place does not oblige the authorities to provide alternative housing in cases of evictions from either social or socially owned housing. Consequently the only solution is to directly apply the stipulations of the international human rights law.

Furthermore, initial meeting was held with the Social Housing Legal Coordinator in the City of Belgrade to discuss elements of the Rulebook for Social Housing to be developed for the Project.

Six environment workshops were held in all mobile settlements, for 80 adults from 69 families (42 women), while seven creative workshops were organised for 98 children from 73 families (53 girls). The activity was supposed to raise awareness of the importance of environmental protection, empower beneficiaries to take measures in order to contribute to environment preservation and contribute to beneficiaries’ healthy and safe living. Although the approach taken in work with children yielded good interest and results, the work with adults wasn’t entirely fruitful and there wasn’t much interest in the topic. This workshop will be organised again, along with other planned sessions on (maintenance of the buildings, security and communal hygiene) in spring 2014.

Result 6: Resettlement schedule plan developed and implemented

17 Detailed planning will ensue as the locations for the construction are confirmed and details are known as to the exact number of families who are to be relocated to a new housing block. A separate plan will be prepared for the beneficiaries of village housing, once the houses are purchased.

Result 7: Community social and/or economic infrastructure in the host communities improved in order to meet needs of host community and integration of resettled men, women and families

Organisation of full and detailed consultations with the receiving communities is the responsibility of the City of Belgrade. Despite several attempts, no formal consultations have been organized so far. Some improvements were suggested in the occasional contacts with the host communities, while visiting and assessing the sites. In Jabučki Rit potential improvements are related to the general improvement of the access to the different social functions (road to Ovča, more frequent public transport…) while in Orlovsko naselje mainly to the improvement of the existing and introducing new infrastructure network as well as certain common children facilities.

18 2.4 Activities

Result 1: Planning of resettlement of target communities to durable housing solutions in compliance with the UN human rights standards, in specific the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

Activities:

1.1 Development of methodology for conducting meaningful and transparent consultations and decision making process with affected communities (both relocated and receiving communities) The Methodology for Consultations Process21 has been developed in close cooperation of the Project partners and key stakeholders. It describes how the community consultations will be carried out, including the main methods to be used to collect, analyse, record and report information. It also includes brief description of the main phases in the process, how stakeholders and specific target groups will be involved, i.e. participation promoted, the data/information collection tools and reporting mechanisms. Finally, it defines the non- exhaustive list of topics that the consultations will be carried around: proposed sites, proposed housing model(s), proposed design, typology and facilities, tenancy models, beneficiary selection process and criteria, preparation of relocation schedule and resettlement action, informative workshops on maintenance of buildings, security, communal hygiene and environment protection, etc.

The Methodology was approved at the first Project Sub Committee meeting, on 23 May 2013, with minor changes and was presented to the Coordination Body in the meeting on 25 July. It has provided a valuable guidance in the work of all Project partners.

1.2 Develop mechanisms for full participation of Roma beneficiaries in implementation of the project The Project has so far used the mechanisms for participation of Roma beneficiary families, men and women outlined in several strategic documents, such as: the Methodology for Consultation Process22, the Communications Strategy23, the Structure and Schedule of Thematic Consultations with beneficiaries on Proposed Social Housing Locations,24 the Methodology of the Informative Workshop on the Protection of Environmental Conditions.25All aim to test the community interest, to build trust among beneficiaries and the Project Team and to ensure higher involvement of women in the decision making process.

21 Sagradimo dom (2013) Methodology for the Consultations Process [Online] Available at: http://www.sagradimodom.org/dokumenti/en/26_538532_methodology-for-consultation-proces.pdf (Accessed on 31 January 2014) 22Ibid 23Available in Annex VIII, attachment 8.1 24 Available in Annex V, attachment 5.2 25Available in Annex IV, attachment 4.6

19 In order to bring closer the information about the Project to Roma beneficiaries, presentations were organised in each of the five settlements at the beginning of June 2013. A total of 163 participants, from 131 families, out of whom 62 were women, took part. The atmosphere was friendly and collaborative. The questions posed by the beneficiaries were noted down for further analysis. Mostly, beneficiaries were interested in available housing models, particularly, the village houses. Representatives of the Amnesty International and the Regional Centre for Minorities attended one presentation.

Subsequently presentations were held on: village house component and the documents needed as well as construction standards that have to be met; on proposed housing model and conceptual design of the buildings and flats, in order to ensure that the design is in line with the communities’ housing preferences and habits, and on proposed locations.

The Socio Economic Beneficiary Survey was completed at the end of October 2013. Its goal is to provide full information about the professional skills, education level and the work experience of beneficiary men and women, as well as their interest and needs related to potential income generation activities.26 During one month, 154 families (91% of the total listed beneficiaries), with 324 persons, out of whom 159 are women, were interviewed; 15 families were not interviewed due to absence from the current place of residence, or the head of household/family member does not have work ability due to various reason (age or health condition).27

The data indicate that more male than female respondents currently work.28Both males and females have low level of education and skills and are mostly engaged in the informal market. Great many households have limited sources of income - seasonal works in construction, collection of recyclables, remittances from abroad and social benefits from the Government. While collecting of recycling material still prevails, those families who opted for village housing consider undertaking agricultural activities, and said they’d need assistance with adequate machinery. Some women are showing low level of interest for any kind of vocation/training or activity they would start in the future, due to their occupation with children. Others are eager to engage in food production for household needs and market sale.

It was recommended that as many beneficiaries as possible should be included in the vocational training activities, while individual initiatives should be grounded on the experience already existing in the beneficiary communities.

26Please see Annex IV, attachment 4.3 for the Socioeconomic Profile Form/Questionnaire 27 Those able-bodied from the 15 families will be interviewed once available 28Please see Annex IV, attachment 4.5 for the results of the Socio-economic survey

20 1.3 Drafting of the Communications Strategy and the Action Plan The Communications Strategy, which identifies communication objectives, key audiences and tools, was approved by the DEU at the end of July.29In line with the Strategy, communication mechanisms were established with: the Project partners30, the line ministries31, the relevant Government institutions32 and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the field of human rights/housing.33

Visibility materials – banner, notebooks, pens, bags and folders - were designed and printed in autumn 2013.

The implementation of the Communications Action Plan, for November 2013 – February 2014, went smoothly and printing of the 300 copies of 2014 calendar and 50 New Year’s cards – both designed from the drawings of homes, as seen by children living in mobile settlements. Supplier was selected for provision of branded fluorescent protective vests (200) that will serve both for security and enhancing the visibility of the Projects. Furthermore, in a public tender, a company was selected to produce three features about the Project beneficiaries (one for each housing solution). 34

The general factsheet about the Project was developed in Serbian and English and approved by the DEU at the end of July 2013. The Project’s website went live at the end of August35, while the Facebook page was created subsequently.36The first Project’s Newsletter was published on the website: http://www.sagradimodom.org/Library/Newsletters.

1.4 Drafting the final list of beneficiaries In line with the agreement between the stakeholders37, the Project team prepared the list of beneficiary families eligible to participate in the Project implementation on 30 September 2013. There were 169 eligible families, with 703 family members.

At the beginning of November 2013, three families, accommodated outside of the settlements, contacted the Project staff and requested the involvement in the Project, which brought the final list of potential beneficiaries to 172 families. The City of Belgrade was informed about this change.

Upon the Project’s request, presented in the Project Sub-Committee meeting on 28 November 2013, the Secretariat for Social Welfare removed one family who has residence in

29 The Communications Strategy is available in Annex VIII, attachment 8.1 30 The City of Belgrade, the OHCHR through the HRA in Serbia, DRC and the Housing Centre, OSCE 31 The Ministry of Construction and Urban Planning, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Policy and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development 32 The Office of Human and Minority Rights, the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, the National Minority Council of Roma National Minority, the Council for Improving the Situation of Roma 33 The Platform for Adequate Housing including Praxis, the Minority Rights Centre, the European Roma Rights Centre, the Regional Centre for Minorities, children’s centre “Mali princ”, and also the Amnesty International. 34The ToR is available on: http://www.sagradimodom.org/dokumenti/sr/62_110285_1-50-rfq-unops-085495-201- s-021.pdf 35The website address is: www.sagradimodom.org 36The Facebook page can be seen at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/457342791053088/ 37 The City of Belgrade, the OHCHR through the HRA in Serbia, the DRC, the Housing Centre, and the OSCE

21 Bojnik, from the list of beneficiaries. In January 2014, the Secretariat for Social Welfare informed the Project Team that one person deceased (a single member family), which brought the total number of beneficiary families to 170, with 722 members (353 male and 369 female). 38 The list of beneficiaries is constantly updated in accordance with the information received from the Secretariat for Social Welfare regarding the newborn and those who deceased.

There was lack of clarity about the beneficiary Daut Đogaj against whom the criminal charges were raised and the Secretariat for Social Welfare requested the Project to remove him from the list. Having in mind that the list of beneficiaries was defined by the Description of Action for the Project and was later finalized in close cooperation of all Project partners, the Project Team cannot be mandated to decide on such a move. Furthermore, the Project Team emphasized that the presumption of innocence as a principle is of particular importance. The Secretariat put this case on hold.

The data on families who are internally displaced (62 out of 170) were checked against the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia durable solution and Register Databases and it was confirmed that no family have received any durable solution assistance through some other project and can be considered eligible for the planned assistance through this Project.

All data about possible beneficiaries39that was collected during interviews in summer 201340 were entered into the Beneficiary Database.

38 Please refer to Annex IV, attachment 4.1 for the list of beneficiaries 39 Including quantitative and qualitative data on potential beneficiaries, their households, displacement, vulnerability, livelihood, property and preferable housing solution. 40Please see Annex IV, attachment 4.2 for Beneficiary Questionnaire

22 Overview of Potential Beneficiary Families Within the Newly Formed Settlements

Overview of Family Members per Family

At the end of January 2014, there were 48 families who opted for the village housing solution, 111 families for social housing and 11 for the reconstruction of their own property.

23

Overview of family per family members and durable solution

SOCIAL HOUSING 111 VILLAGE HOUSE 48 RECONSTRUCTION OF ALL 170 FAMILIES FAMILIES FAMILIES PROPERTY 11 FAMILIES No of family TOTAL family TOTAL family TOTAL family TOTAL family members No of families members No of families members No of families members No of families members 1 17 17 13 13 4 4 0 0 2 33 66 24 48 7 14 2 4 3 25 75 19 57 4 12 2 6 4 29 116 15 60 11 44 3 12 5 18 90 12 60 6 30 0 0 6 20 120 13 78 5 30 2 12 7 11 77 8 56 2 14 1 7 8 6 48 3 24 3 24 0 0 9 1 9 0 0 1 9 0 0 10 7 70 3 30 3 30 1 10 11 2 22 1 11 1 11 0 0 12 1 12 0 0 1 12 0 0 TOTAL 170 722 111 437 48 234 11 51

During the interviews in the settlements, it was ascertained that there were 97 people (in 38 families) who do not hold one or more basic personal documents. Fourteen, who are the heads of household, don’t have an ID card and in 13 families neither the head of the household nor her/his spouse/common-law partner hold ID card. This can cause problems during the process of signing the contracts. The list of beneficiaries without personal documents was shared with the Secretariat for Social Welfare, DRC and the NGO Praxis in order that they potentially assist beneficiaries in the process of obtaining the needed documents.

During discussions with the City, about the preparation of the Social Housing Rulebook, it was agreed that all beneficiaries must have personal documents, so that they can apply for different housing solutions. Visits were made to 22 out of 25 families accommodated outside of settlements and it was ascertained that most have the documents or are in the process of obtaining them.

1.5 Establishment of focal points in Roma communities that are beneficiaries of the project In order to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in implementation, it was agreed that the Project would not appoint its own contacts within the newly formed settlements, but would use the existing focal points employed by the City of Belgrade (four men and two women). The high turnout of participants at the presentations of the Project and smooth interview process with the potential beneficiaries, confirm cooperativeness and commitment of those focal points. They also had an important role in encouragement of women within the beneficiary families to take a more active position in the consultations and for overall women participation in the implementation of the Project. For example, out of 106 participants at the presentation of village housing component, 57 were women.

24 1.6 Establishment of focal points within receiving communities Initial consultations and contacts in Zvezdara, Palulila and Obrenovac were identified through the City Architect and Presidents of the municipalities and preliminary wishes of the receiving communities were explored. The Project shared the list received in Orlovsko naselje with the Secretariat for Social Welfare asking for additional information regarding estimation of costs and possibility that the City funds some infrastructure improvements. Preparation for the consultation process with the community in Jabučki Rit was pressed on through a meeting with the Mayor of the Municipality Palilula. Despite two letters sent by the Project team to the President subsequently, repeating in detail three main topics discussed in the meetings (Glogonjski Rit petition, consultation process with receiving community in Jabučki Rit and potential new social housing locations), the answer has not been received to date.

The official consultations with the receiving communities are the responsibility of the Secretariat for Social Welfare, which hasn’t provided any support to the Project in this matter, despite the fact it was timely informed. Due to hostilities of the receiving communities, other Project activities were delayed (two-month delay in the visit to the proposed site in Zvezdara, which negatively affected organisation of thematic focus groups with the beneficiary on proposed sites).

Result 2: Locations for construction identified, communication with local communities established, all necessary analysis performed and final decisions on location made

Activities

2.1 Assessment of the sites regarding their potential for development in line with main attributes of right to adequate housing The Criteria for Evaluation of Social Housing Locations41 were prepared in close consultation with the Project partners and key stakeholders, and contain a set of measurable indicators for assessment of the proposed locations, including: access to social services, education, health and public transport, availability of potential employers, distance from sources of pollution. The Project Sub-Committee approved the Criteria on 23 May 2013. A Task Force42 was established from the representatives of all parties involved in the Project43 to evaluate the locations.

After the consultations with the Beoland and the Belgrade Urban Planning Institute it became clear that Jabučki Rit 2 (cadastral plot 468/1) and Kijevo could not be used for the housing purpose, which eliminated these two locations from further assessment.

41Sagradimo dom (2013) Criteria for Evaluation of Locations [Online] Available at: http://www.sagradimodom.org/dokumenti/en/26_609277_criteria-for-evaluation-of-locations.pdf Accessed on 24 January 2014) 42Working Group in the Project document 43 The City, the UNOPS, the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency, DRC, HC, HRA, OSCE and respective municipalities

25 Glogonjski Rit was not assessed following the recommendation of the City, due to the strong resistance of the receiving community. The UN Human Rights Adviser (HRA) informed the authorities that the UN could not accept community protests as a legitimate reason for giving up on a location, especially if the protests were motivated by discriminatory attitudes and aspirations. Based on the advice of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, the HRA and the Project team met with educated community mediators to seek their views, inputs and advice on the situation. It was assessed that there is a high probability that communities in other identified sites will react in similar way. Measures were agreed for the approach to the receiving communities and include: continuous communication, sessions with the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, presentation of the Project, workshop and agreement on projects to be funded.

The report44 on other three locations (Jabučki Rit 1, Obrenovac and Orlovsko naselje), along with the report on the locations’ assessment by beneficiary families45 was presented to the Project Sub Committee in November 2013.

The locations in Obrenovac and Orlovsko naselje are adequate according to the Criteria. The Human Rights Adviser raised the question of Jabučki Rit adequacy for the purpose of social housing, due to the potential risks considering segregation, isolation and accessibility of schools and other social services; therefore this location is conditionally adequate.

In August 2013, the Municipality of Obrenovac sent an official note that the assessed location is withdrawn from the further procedure owing to the restitution claim of previous owners of the plot. At the same time, Obrenovac offered another plot of land in Mislođin. It was only in December, after a number of reminders and enquiries by the Project Team, that the Beoland confirmed the location in Mislođin is owned by the City of Belgrade, and consists of three cadastral plots that can be used for social housing, within the defined urban parameters. According to the capacity check performed by the Housing Centre, 30-35 flats could be constructed on two plots. The evaluation of the location will be performed once the Interim City Council verifies the location officially for the Project purposes. The Project proposed another two locations – in Padinska Skela and Krnjača – and there was months long redirection from one institution to the other, as none wanted to claim the ownership of the process.

In December, after constant appeals to the City Administration, the Secretariat for Social Welfare asked the Interim City Council to discuss the new locations, and sent an official letter to 11 municipalities. However, four have already declined availability of plots for building of social housing for Roma families.

The Head of the DEU met with the newly appointed Chair of the Interim Council for Belgrade and drew attention to the problems in the implementation of the Project, and in particular the deficiency of commitments of the City administration to support it within the

44Please see Annex V, attachment 5.1 45Please see Annex IV, attachment 4.4

26 responsibilities defined in the RAP. The President of the Council for Improvement of Roma Status and the Decade of Roma Inclusion, Srđan Šajn also tried to support the Project in finding the new locations in Belgrade for the construction of social housing.

Finally, on 27 January 2014, during the meeting with Beoland, a new catalogue of locations was presented to the Project team, containing the locations in Mislođin, Padinska Skela, Krnjača and re-proposed location in Glogonjski Rit. Each location has certain obstacles and difficulties in development process but the Project Task Force will pre-assess them and report about the assessment findings.46

Signing of the Protocol, aiming to empower the Beoland, and to transfer the relevant technical functions and responsibilities from the City, has been pending for half a year. Beoland explained that they have mandate and capabilities to find new locations for social housing purpose, but they can do checking on ownership and urban-planning issues if locations are offered to them.

Given the extremely short period of time until the end of the Project it is of crucial importance that all newly proposed locations have resolved ownership, urban parameters and urban planning documentation in such a status to allow direct issuance of the location permits. Even if the special support and commitment of the relevant City institutions is achieved, it is impossible that the new locations can be developed up to occupational permit by the end of the Project.

2.2 Presentation of potential sites and consultation with families on preferred sites for multi- family blocks and resettlement in village houses Detailed presentation of all three locations assessed by the Task Force was held in all five newly formed settlements in July 2013. All presentations included elaboration of the sites’ potentials and accessibility of education, health care and jobs. Graphic documentation enabled easy communication and interactive dialogue. 47

“Go and See” visits were organised to Obrenovac and Jabučki Rit from 9 – 11 July 2013. There were negative reactions from the host community in Jabučki Rit, who objected to the possible changes of demographic structure (host community would become minority), and expressed stereotypical perceptions of behaviour of Roma population (Roma will not work, they are thieves). The Project Team managed these reactions by explaining the overall process of resettlement and potential benefits for the receiving community.

46 There is a strong resistance of the receiving community in Glogonjski Rit, in Mislođin there are some buildings with unclear ownership, Padinska Skela plot has unresolved ownership and an informal Roma settlement, in Krnjača the request is submitted for redefinition of the plot boundaries 47Please see Annex V, attachment 5.3

27 Breakdown by Number of Families and by Gender for “Go and See” Visits

The visit to Orlovsko naselje was postponed due to unresolved issues between the Municipality of Zvezdara, the City of Belgrade and the local community and it was only in September 2013 that 59 people (33 females), from 45 families saw the location. There was disappointment during the first visit, as the receiving community wouldn’t allow the beneficiary families to get off the bus. This was solved during the second visit when the beneficiary men and women walked around the location.

There were eight consultations with beneficiaries (Thematic Focus Groups) about proposed locations for social housing, with 74 persons from 54 families, out of whom 42 were women (57%), in September 2014. There were no negative comments when the Project team briefed the participants about the exclusion of Obrenovac from the process due to the restitution of property by the third party. One common concern for all, are the employment options. In light of inputs from the beneficiaries, locations were re-evaluated. This input was crucial for the final selection of the sites. All legitimate statements and standpoints given by the Roma beneficiaries were taken on board. It was ensured that the community members gave their free and uninfluenced views with regards to the adequacy of the locations. Special

28 attention was accorded to soliciting views of women, children and youth. The recommendations of the beneficiary families, as to possible improvements of the locations, will be presented also to the receiving communities.

2.3 Final confirmation of the locations for relocation According to the assessment conducted so far, a total of 27 housing units can be built in the two locations. As this is not sufficient for the stated needs of the residents of the newly formed settlements Makiš 1, Makiš 2, Resnik, Jabučki Rit and Kijevo, it is prerequisite that additional locations must be identified urgently.

Summary of the assessed locations

Site Municipality Number of housing units to be constructed

Obrenovac Rvati Obrenovac Evaluated, not available any more

Orlovsko naselje Zvezdara 12

Glogonjski Rit Palilula Not visited yet

15 Jabučki Rit Palilula (Improvements needed)

Kijevo Rakovica Not adequate

Total number of available housing units / families: 27

The conclusions of the evaluation of locations in Orlovsko naselje and Jabučki Rit were presented together with the improvements needed to harmonize them with the demands of adequate housing related to human rights principles at the Sub Committee meeting. As the City of Belgrade representative left the meeting before the conclusion on locations’ adequacy was made, further activities (conceptual and main design) will be performed in order to follow the Project timelines, but the Coordination Body must make the final decision. However, the Coordination Body meeting can’t be organized until the City appoints new members. Since there was generally positive attitude from the Sub Committee regarding the quality of locations, the main design documentation for Orlovsko naselje was submitted for approval to the public utility companies in January 2014.

The City authorities still do not have a clear vision what City institution is responsible for identification of new locations, while the coordination of the process does not exist.

2.4 Selection of families for resettlement to specific sites The selection of families for resettlement to specific sites will be done in accordance with the HRBA principles. The process will be coordinated with all stakeholders and carefully presented to the beneficiaries.

29 Result 3: Planning and technical documentation for construction of multi-family block and reconstruction of private and village houses developed

Activities

3.1 Conduct consultation with the families in each of the existing container settlements on the proposed conceptual design The consultations were held in August 2013, in line with the Methodology and Content of Consultations on Housing Model and Architectural Design48, using a set of 3D visual materials, with models of planned buildings and easy to understand explanations, which enabled interactive participation and dialogue.

Five presentations were attended by 107 persons from 80 families, out of whom 56 were women. The activity was undertaken to ensure: that the design is line with community’s housing preferences and habits and that affected community’s viewpoints on the proposed architectural design are duly taken into consideration in finalization of the design. Common for all presentations was a general view of participants that they didn’t expect “such nice flats”.

Another issue that was identified during the consultations was the need for basic furniture in the apartments. In each settlement parents suggested building a playground, which would be supported by the host community.

The results were outlined in the Report on consultation on social housing model and architectural design. 49 All practical inputs were incorporated in the preliminary designs.

3.2 Assessment of available conceptual solutions and development of preliminary design Taking into account the analysis of “Technical Study of Rational Choice of Construction Elements for Social Housing“, recommendations of the consultation process with beneficiaries about the social housing model and architectural design, as well as most of the provisions of the Regulation on Standards and Norms for Planning, Design, Construction and Conditions for Use and Maintenance of Social Housing, it was concluded that the Project cannot use the pre-fabricated wooden houses, but needs to construct the multi-storey buildings. The Housing Centre incorporated these conclusions into the conceptual design50 and developed them further into the preliminary designs for Orlovsko naselje51 and Jabučki Rit.52 Both were submitted to Beoland in order to complete documentation for the location permit request.

48Please see Annex VI, attachment 6.1 for the Methodology, which is in line with the existing Standards and Norms for Planning, Design, Construction and Conditions for Use and Maintenance of Social Housing (Official Gazette RS no.26/13), energy-efficiency principles (Official Gazette RS no.72/09, 81/09, 64/10 and 24/11) and UNOPS’ Sustainable Infrastructure Policy. 49 Please see Annex VI, attachment 6.2 50 Originally, three were developed, one for Obrenovac as well. However, as the location has been withdrawn due to the restitution process, this concept wasn’t developed into the preliminary design. 51 Please see Annex IX, attachment 9.1 for preliminary design for Orlovsko naselje 52 Please see Annex IX, attachment 9.2 for preliminary design for Jabučki Rit

30 The main principles that were guiding the design process were: existing laws and standards and urban planning requirements; UNOPS’ sustainable infrastructure principles; maximal spatial usage of the plot; alignment of the structure of apartments with the families’ structures; adequate living standard and respect for the beneficiaries’ input.

The preliminary design for Orlovsko naselje was further elaborated through the main design, which was finalized, technically approved and submitted to public utility companies for approval. The preliminary design for Jabučki Rit has been finalised and submitted to Beoland in order to complete documentation for the location permit request.53 The tender for the main design will be launched at the beginning of February 2014 (the plot was formed in January).

The rough site plans/pre-conceptual designs for Mislođin, with different disposition of houses, access road and parking spaces were discussed with the Beoland and Obrenovac Urban Department and a number of issues were cleared out.

3.3 Adoption of the preliminary design by relevant stakeholders The two preliminary designs (Orlovsko naselje and Jabučki Rit) were presented at the November 2013 Sub Committee meeting. However, the designs haven’t been approved yet as the Sub-committee wasn’t in its full decision making capacity, due to lack of commitment of the City officials.

The Housing Centre elaborated on the leading principles and the results of the design development, that include: legal framework, specific urban-planning conditions, maximum utilization of location, size and structure of the flats in line with the structure of beneficiary families, provision of adequate housing quality, respect for the beneficiary inputs regarding housing habits and preferences. The suggestions were incorporated into the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the main design and in the main project.

Design solutions for social housing in Orlovsko naselje and Jabučki Rit were developed in line with the Law on Energy Efficiency (EE), which foresees that all new buildings must have EE technical elaborate, as the precondition for obtaining building permit, and EE Passport, as the precondition for obtaining the permit of use. Following the request from the Coordination meeting, the Project Team analysed several options of heating in social flats. Beside the planned solution with individual cooker stove (“smederevac”), several others were analysed, including financial estimates, maintenance, technical documentation and approvals needed: - Hot air ducts running from individual solid fuel stove to different rooms in the flat - Cooker stove (“Smederevac”) with additional equipment (pipes and radiators) for heating the entire living space - Built-in masonry cooker stove - Built-in masonry cooker stove with additional equipment (pipes and radiators).

53 The request for Location permit will be submitted after technical conditions are collected for the whole plot containing both UNOPS and Beoland future facilities.

31

The analysis also showed that the use of renewable energy sources is still in pioneering process in Serbia, and that such solutions are mainly applied in the business facilities of the investors with strong financial capacities, villas or individual residences. The use of these sources would also imply significantly higher initial costs, very specific heating systems as well as maintenance specificities. Those conclusions impacted the Project Team’s decision to recommend the individual cooker stove as the heating solution, especially in Orlovsko naselje where this is a temporary solution till gas heating is brought to the site.

In regards the standards of sustainable infrastructure as well as environment protection, those were integrated in every step, from conditions and demands of the urban-planning documents for each separate location to the final design for social housing and each unit within.

The analysis was submitted to the DEU. The final decision should be made at the Coordination Body meeting.

3.4 Issuance of location permits for construction sites

Obrenovac: when the documentation for the location permit was submitted, the Project was informed that the plot in Obrenovac was not available due to the process of restitution.

Orlovsko naselje: request letter for the acceptance of ownership for social housing from the Secretariat for Legal Affairs Property was submitted on 23 August 2013 (case no. XX 102 – 463 – 680). The location permit was finally issued in October 2013. After obtaining the updated technical conditions from utility companies it was clear that they significantly differ from the outdated ones included in the location permit (by the Secretariat for Social Welfare). The Project Team was asked to wait until Beoland collects all relevant technical conditions for their neighbouring plot in order to present the cases jointly, which, allegedly, would raise the probability of getting a positive answer. The estimated deadline for collection of all conditions for Beoland is the end of January, but the meeting in Secretariat was not scheduled yet.

Jabučki Rit: the location permit will be requested when the decision on forming of building plot is officially obtained by Beoland. Beoland will also request technical conditions and location permit for the building plot as a whole including two buildings for the beneficiaries from “Gazela” (European Investment Bank funding) and one for beneficiaries from Belvil (DEU funding). Beoland’s estimation, if there is strong support from the City authorities, is that this can happen at the beginning of April.

In all procedures preceding location permit issuance (including obtaining all technical conditions), as well as those that require approvals of the main design documentation, building permit, registration of the start of the construction, technical inspection of the construction works and occupational permit, a great number of urban planning institutions, utility and public companies and other relevant authorities are involved. It is the task and

32 responsibility of the City of Belgrade to coordinate and provide priority for the Project passing in all these institutions and to appoint the lead person to carry out this task.

3.5 Issuance of building permits for construction sites The main project for Orlovsko naselje and its technical control were completed and the project was submitted to nine public utility companies for approvals (three already replied – Transportation, Waste Management and Water Supplying). However, new conditions from Water Supplying and Sewerage were announced at the end of January, without explanation. This is to be cleared in a meeting with Beoland on 3 February. There is 30 days legal obligation to issue technical conditions, however, some of conditions took almost two months (Telekom, requested on 17 October and received on 9 December).

Further delays were caused by the request from the Electrical Power Company of Serbia, which requested the Elaborate on conditions for construction and the influence by the high voltage transmission line running over the plot (contrary to the location permit). Although in the same situation, for the neighbouring plot, which should be developed by Beoland for European Investment Bank (EIB) beneficiaries, the Elaborate was not requested.

After collecting all approvals, the building permit will be requested (estimated date - 15 February).

Result 4: Construction of multi-family blocks, assistance to OSCE for the purchase of village houses and reconstruction of private and village houses implemented in accordance with accepted standards of sustainable infrastructure

Activities

4.1 Perform tendering procedure and construction of multi-family blocks Since obtaining of approvals for the main design for Orlovsko naselje is delayed by the additional changes of technical conditions from utility companies, issuing of building permit can be expected in March 2014. Tendering documentation for construction works will be prepared and the tender launched in parallel in order for the contract to be signed once building permit is obtained. The main project design tender for Jabučki Rit will be prepared in parallel with the process of obtaining the location permit and will be launched once the permit obtained.

4.2 Construction of multi-family blocks This activity is seriously delayed due to inability of the City of Belgrade to identify appropriate plots of land for the construction of multi-family blocks and further and timely provision of the documentation (up to location permit) preceding the main design development.

33 4.3 Reconstruction of private and village houses Reconstruction of private houses: 12 families are being considered, for eleven houses.54 Seven families are eligible for immediate assistance (two need financial assistance for additional documentations for legalisation), three should register under the Law on Special Conditions in order to become eligible, one needs to undergo standard legal procedure for construction (and as the family doesn’t have capacity to follow the requested procedure, the assistance should be given in the process) and one, with 11 members was encouraged to opt for the village housing as the foundations of his house are inside the protective zone of railroad tracks and it is impossible to get any legal permits.

Six families agreed with the proposed list of building materials and confirmed this by a written statement. One family didn’t sign the list because the head of the household considered that without connection to electricity he would not be able to organize normal life, in spite of all construction improvements with donated material. Electricity connection is a big expense for the financial capacity of the beneficiaries, especially as it cannot be paid in instalments. Two of these six families need drilling of the water well.

The tender for the procurement of the construction material was launched in December 2013, but had to be extended until February 2014, as no applications were received by January deadline. Some of the contacted potential bidders complained on extensive documentation to be submitted, especially on the bid security. UNOPS is considering the option to lower technical requirements, and amend and extend the existing tender.

The preliminary assessment shows that works and services for the reconstruction of privately owned houses would be 74,437 Euros. The financial assistance for obtaining of documentation is estimated at around 2,400 Euros, which makes the total amount of 76,837 Euros (77,000 Euros are available for this activity). Additional assistance should be considered for electricity connections, around 1,000 Euros per case. The issue of financial support for fees and connection costs are being included in the Project contract addendum. If approved, this will immediately open the possibility for the beneficiaries to start the procedure of registering the ownership of houses, in accordance with the Law on Special Conditions for Registration of Title Deed to the Buildings Constructed without Building Permit, and for those with already registered ownership and request for legalization submitted – submission of the requests for electricity connections.

The beneficiaries who opted for village houses had initial 15 November 2013 deadline to find the appropriate house, which was extended until the end of December as agreed in the Project Sub Committee meeting. Those who are unable to identify a suitable village house were automatically transferred as beneficiaries of the social housing component.

Serious delays in purchase of the village houses by the OSCE negatively impacted other Project activities. Although Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Approval Committee was prepared in November 2013, at the end of January 2014 it still hasn’t been constituted, while the questions arose as to the chairmanship of the body.

54 There are twelve families, but 11 cases, as two families live in the same house.

34 Initially 113 families expressed interest for village housing. However, only 48 families were active in finding one and are in the process of verification of documentation. Case files for 11 families have already been completed and are ready for the approval of the Evaluation Commission. Although the beneficiaries were informed about the changes in regards the ownership of the village houses that was to be granted to the head of household and their spouse/common-law partner, with a five-year restriction on the sale of the houses, during regular visits to the settlements, the Project Team learned that quite a few beneficiaries gave up looking for a village house as they visited a large area, spent a lot of money, time and energy and couldn’t find the property for the available funds and that they would change their decision to the social housing.

UNOPS on-call engineer has, with OSCE engineer, assessed 11 houses in November and made the list of works/materials needed for improvement of living conditions, within the planned budget of approximately 2,000 Euros for each house, which were included in the case files. The families were consulted and signed the agreement with the proposed list. UNOPS social inclusion associates interviewed those 11 families in November and assessed their capacities for future income generating activities and their needs for economical support. The social – economic reports and proposals for potential economic grants (up to 3,000 Euros per family) are part of the completed case files prepared for the first Evaluation Commission (initially scheduled for 15 November, but it is not organized yet).

On 9 January 2014, the OSCE informed UNOPS that they had withdrawn from the activity to purchase the village houses. On 16 January, the Project team received signed beneficiary petition (41 beneficiaries from all settlements) whit request to explain the current situation regarding implementation of this part of the Project. The Secretariat for Social Welfare was properly informed about the proposed plans, but they did not accept to join the consultation with explanation that the village housing component is not a part of their responsibilities. Otherwise, the Secretariat’s representatives supported the preparation process and informed the settlements’ representatives who invited families opted for village housing.

The agreed joint consultations with the beneficiary families were held on 31 January in Makiš 2 settlement (22 families) and Makiš 1 (three families). In Kijevo settlement eight families were present and one family from Resnik settlement. In Jabučki Rit consultations were done with three families. The OSCE took full responsibility for delays in purchasing the houses and apologized for the absence from the settlements since December. The OSCE also highlighted that sufficient funds were provided by the European Union, through Let’s Build a Home Together Project and that all verified houses will be purchased. The beneficiaries were informed that the City of Belgrade and the OHMR were responsible for establishing Evaluation Commission, while OSCE would finalize all case files by the end of February. The beneficiaries expressed their disappointment and anger with delays in purchasing the houses.

35 4.4 Technical acceptance of works and issuance of usage permits NTR

Result 5: Legal framework, ownership, management, maintenance and security models analysed and agreed among stakeholders

Activities

5.1 Analyse potentials for including social housing in protected environment for evicted Roma families in the policy of the City of Belgrade A Roma Housing Expert has been contracted to prepare an overview of the social housing models currently implemented on the territory of Serbia, with a focus on the City of Belgrade, including the analysis of available social housing models applicable under the existing normative and institutional framework.55 The preliminary results show that there are regulations in place based on which beneficiaries can qualify for either social housing or the social housing in the protected environment. The final report is due in February 2014 and it will be amalgamated with the “Legal Security of Tenure” analysis, and form the base for the development of the Rulebook for Social Housing.

5.2 Support the City of Belgrade in defining administrative procedures in line with applicable legislation for entitlements to social housing The preparatory activities for drafting of the Rulebook for Social Housing, included establishment of contact with the Belgrade Agency for Investment and Housing, which shared the existing Rulebook. All Project stakeholders will be involved in the process of finding the most appropriate legal solutions for users of social apartments.

Although the learning needs assessment within the City of Belgrade was conducted over the summer, the political changes that took place in October and November 2013 resulted in the staff turnover. It was decided to postpone the organization of the trainings until relevant group of people to benefit from such capacity building is defined by the authorities.56

5.3 Develop tenancy agreements with clearly defined rules of tenancy as well as define management, maintenance, and security models for multi-family blocks through participatory decision making process The Project Team sent comments on the Draft Report on Current Situation Pertaining to Legal Security of Tenure for Beneficiaries in Social Housing, prepared by an external expert, and asked for adjustments by the end of January 2014. 57

The initial findings show that legislation in place does not oblige the authorities to provide alternative housing in cases of evictions from either social or socially owned housing. The 2009 Social Housing Law does not define the main elements of the right to adequate

55 Please seen Annex VII, attachment 7.1 for the report 56The City elections were scheduled for 16 March 2014. 57 Please see Annex VII, attachment 7.2 for the report

36 housing and consequently the only solution is to directly apply the stipulations of the international human rights law.

Secondly, the difficulties in legal protection of the tenure stem from the fact that courts also have difficulties in determining whether the lease agreement signed between the City of Belgrade and a social housing beneficiary is an administrative act deciding on the right of a person(s) to use social housing or an act falling within the Law on Obligations (a contract between two parties: City of Belgrade and social housing beneficiary).

Before finalizing the Rulebook and the Lease Agreement formats, the Project Team will make the recommendation to the Coordination Body how to resolve this situation and to ensure Project beneficiaries enjoy full legal security of tenure along with all other elements of the right to adequate housing.

5.4 Develop curricula and perform informative workshops with beneficiaries on maintenance of buildings, security, communal hygiene and environment protection Workshops on environment protection were conducted in all settlements, gathering 80 adults from 69 families in six theoretical sessions (42 women) and 98 children from 73 families (53 girls) in seven creative workshops. 58 The activity was supposed to raise awareness of the importance of environmental protection, empower beneficiaries to take measures in order to contribute to environment preservation and contribute to beneficiaries’ healthy and safe living. However, the DRC approach wasn’t entirely fruitful and the adult participants didn’t show much interest in the topic. 59 A new round of workshop has been scheduled for January and then rescheduled for February due to delays in purchase of the village houses, which caused tensions and dissatisfaction of the beneficiaries.

Result 6: Resettlement schedule plan developed and implemented

Activities

6.1 Preparation of Relocation Schedule and Assistance Plan Relocation schedule that will outline the details of the physical movement of the beneficiary families will be developed in accordance with the actual date of the purchase transaction realization, completion of ownership transfer and the village houses locations, for each case respectively.

This schedule will include dates and times of movement, logistics of transportation of beneficiaries including their belongings including route to and on arrival at the final destination.

58 For workshop methodology please see Annex IV, attachment 4.6. (Methodology of the Informative Workshop on the Protection of Environmental Conditions - Part I) 59 Please see Annex IV, attachment 4.7 for General Summary on Informative workshops: Protection of Environment conditions

37

The UNOPS will jointly establish a resettlement team to support the families during the relocation process. The resettlement team will collaborate closely with the relevant state institutions and local authorities, and to the extent possible, will draw on their available resources.

The relocation of the families will be accompanied by the implementation (by UNOPS) of the planned social inclusion measures, as defined by the social inclusion reports and endorsed by the Evaluation Commission. The planning and implementation of the measures will be carried out in close collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Policy and the respective Centres for Social Work.

6.2 Organise logistics for the resettlement action The Project Addendum request proposes reallocation of additional funds for the resettlement of all beneficiaries.

Result 7: Community social and/or economic infrastructure requirements in the host communities improved in order to meet needs of host community and integration of resettled men, women and families

Activities

7.1 Perform needs assessment on community infrastructure requirements and prepare technical documentation for selected projects According to the RAP, “the City of Belgrade will establish a local community team composed of representatives of the respective City Secretariats, which will meet with different groups within the proposed host communities to discuss the attitudes of the host community to the proposed relocation and joint life with the resettled families.” Although repeated in every meeting with the Secretariat, municipal authorities or other City of Belgrade officials, the consultations with the host communities in Orlovsko naselje and Jabučki Rit were not conducted yet. The Mayors of Palilula and Zvezdara didn’t respond to several requests to start cooperation on the matter. During 23 December 2013 meeting with the new Deputy Secretary for Social Welfare, the DEU and the Project Team again presented the issue related to the consultation process and insufficient inclusion of the Secretariat for Social Welfare and officials from the municipalities of Zvezdara and Palilula. The Deputy Secretary agreed to follow up with the Municipalities and her team in order to organize consultations with receiving communities as one of the main priority in January 2014. Most of the proposed improvements are closely connected to significant infrastructure actions, which are outside the Project financial capacity.

7.2 Implementation of identified priority infrastructure requirements The projects are yet to be identified in consultations with the host communities.

38 3 Assumptions and risks

3.1 Assumptions

Item Assumption Assessment & Management Issues The continuation of the efforts of the Serbian Government to address the inclusion of Roma is the prerequisite for the successful implementation of the Project. There has been the change of some Government ministries in summer 2013, but the policies on Roma inclusion remained in place. In June 2013, Inclusion of Roma Serbia established the Council for Improvement of the Situation 1 remains priority of the of Roma with a four-year mandate to: prepare proposals for new Government improvement of the position of Roma, in line with the adopted policies of the Government. An Action plan for the implementation of the Strategy for Improvement of Roma position in Serbia was also adopted in June. It is expected that the new Government, to be elected in March 2014, will continue in the footsteps of the previous. From early days the Project Team established good cooperation with the Platform for Adequate Housing, as well as other non- governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the field of support to vulnerable population (Praxis, the Minority Rights Non-governmental Centre, the European Roma Rights Centre, the Regional Centre sector takes a for Minorities, Children’s Centre “Mali princ”, and the Amnesty 2 constructive approach International). The NGOs were regularly invited to witness the in cooperation with consultation process and take part in activities, particularly those the Project organised in the mobile settlements. The NGO Praxis has also been contracted to prepare a report on the current practices pertaining to the legal security of tenure for beneficiaries of social housing.

3.2 Risks

The Project Team monitors potential risks and in consultation with the stakeholders and the Coordination Body, takes counter measures. A risk assessment is undertaken on quarterly bases and formally updated in each Interim Report. However, many risk mitigation actions required are not necessarily under the control of UNOPS.

Risk Probability Impact Assessment & Management Issues After months of turbulences, and two months without the Mayor/City Council in Belgrade, on 19 November 2013 the Government of Serbia Political crisis/change of appointed the Interim City Council. In 1 government in the High High early 2014, the elections for the City course of project Assembly and the Mayor were scheduled for mid March. Subsequently, it was announced that the parliamentary elections would

39 also be scheduled on the same date. The new management was appointed in the Secretariat for Social Welfare, Belgrade Land Development Public Agency (Beoland), the Secretariat for Legalization Affairs, the Secretariat for Communal and Housing Affairs, the Secretariat for Urbanism and Building Affairs, the Secretariat for Property Affairs, and the Building and Urban inspection in December 2013. Immediately upon appointment the Project Team has established contacts with the new authorities. However, it is obvious that there is little understanding, or political will to fully commit to the implementation of the Project. Belgrade Land Development Public Agency - Beoland fails to acknowledge its responsibility in the Project, claiming it doesn’t know what its Lack of urban planning tasks are. Signing of a protocol documents needed 2 High High between the Beoland and the before any construction Secretariat for Social Welfare has is done been initiated in the late summer 2013, but so far, no progress has been made due to the overall political insecurity. To date, there has been very poor cooperation with the municipalities in regards allocation of land for the construction. Although the Project Team presented the Project rationale and activities to the heads of several municipalities (Mladenovac, Obrenovac, Zvezdara and Palilula), there has been no commitment to provide the locations. Likewise, the Municipalities willing to City Administration has not been 3 allocate land for High High dedicated to finding new locations for construction construction of flats that would house Roma. On the other hand, recently, the City has provided six locations for the flats for IDPs and refugees. In December 2013, the Secretariat sent a letter to 11 municipalities, enquiring about locations for the Project; four have already replied negatively. 1 February remains the deadline for obtaining locations, with location

40 permits, in order to be able to construct the flats during the Project’s lifespan.

The Secretariat for Social Welfare is not yet certain whether there is a budget line that would be used for co- funding of the Project activities. There Lack of financial is a temporary budget for the Interim 4 resources for provision High High City Council, for the first three of utilities to sites months of 2014. Negotiations are ongoing with the City to develop a financial plan. DEU and the Government are closely involved. The Project Team, together with the DEU is exploring legal options for Fees and taxes for the solving the fees and taxes for final transfer of ownership beneficiaries of the village houses 5 High High of village houses not component. This issue will be provided addressed in the Addendum that will be submitted to the donor in February 2014. The Project Team, together with the Private houses’ DEU is exploring legal options for beneficiaries don’t have solving the fees and participation for sufficient funds to utilities’ connections for beneficiaries 6 High High cover the fees and of the private houses. This issue will participation for be addressed in the Addendum that utilities’ connections will be submitted to the donor in February 2014. According to the RAP, the City is leading consultations with the host communities, while the Project should work on defining the communities’ needs. There have not been any official consultations with potential host communities, due to inefficient approach of the Secretariat for Social Welfare. Recently, the Hostilities from the host 7 High High Secretariat said they’d organise communities consultations by 15 February 2014. The Project Team prepared an action plan with measures how to approach the host communities. The Team has also discussed possible involvement of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality who should attend presentations in the host communities.

41 The Criteria for Evaluation of Locations list security as one of the Inadequate physical 8 Medium Medium starting point principles. All security selected/approved sites will have to adhere to the Criteria. The Criteria for Evaluation of Locations take care of the ability of beneficiary families to cover utility costs. The Criteria have a section on Accessibility and Availability of Services, Costs and Financial Sustainability. Furthermore, two Inability of beneficiary studies are being prepared in early 9 High Medium families to cover utility 2014: Report on Social Housing costs Models and the Report on the current practices pertaining to the legal security of tenure for beneficiaries of social housing. The reports will point to possibilities of subventions for different categories of socially vulnerable families. High management and This risks has been minimised by the maintenance costs due provisions within the Criteria for 10 to remote and Medium Medium Evaluation of Locations. scattered settlements Although the Project Team established good relations with the City of Belgrade authorities, their lack of commitment and involvement has State/local authorities been increasing over the months, are slow or fail to which caused serious delays in the 11 implement aspects of High High implementation. The lines of the Project for which communication between the involved they are responsible City institutions are not clear, while the lack of funding and the City’s disrespect for the obligations undertaken by the RAP also seriously delays delivery of the activities. The Project continues coordination with all relevant stakeholders in Medium Low relation to finding adequate social Increased partner housing solutions for Roma. There activity leads to have also been delays in the overlaps and confusion implementation of the village housing 12 within the beneficiaries component and failure to purchase and municipal any property to date, due to OSCE management structures internal reasons. This has brought about beneficiaries’ confusion and dissatisfaction (both those who opted for the village housing and the others who are losing patience waiting for

42 the construction of the social flats). In addition, there have been misinterpretations of the roles and duties of different partners: e.g. DRC has a contract both with the OSCE and the Project which confuses the beneficiaries and takes more time to explain what is going on. There are focal points in the newly formed settlements that serve as the first contact between the Project Team and the Roma beneficiaries. However, the Project unofficially Due to high level of learned that the temporary resignation and lack of employment of the focal points could

capacity, Roma Low Low be brought into question, following 13 representatives, and the Government’s decision to limit

especially women, are the number of such contracts. The

unwilling to participate Project Team pays regular visits to the

settlements, while the cooperation

with the Roma Health mediators and the municipal Roma coordinators eased communication especially with women. Community-based organisations and Roma women NGOs are also consulted as appropriate High High This risk is linked with the availability of locations. Unless the locations, Construction not with location permits, are provided by 14 finished by the end of 1 February 2014, there is little chance the Project construction will finish by the end of the Project. Weather conditions Medium Medium Construction plans will be developed slow down the process in the way to envisage all hard of construction construction (exterior) works during 15 spring, summer and autumn season. Delays with winter weather 2014- 2015 are however to be expected

43 4 Partnerships

Partnerships are a key prerequisite for the successful implementation of this Project, combining both horizontal and vertical expertise and competences in local governance, project management, construction and human rights, with active participation of beneficiary Roma communities. This is interwoven into all strategic documents and methodologies produced by the Project.

Regular meetings with the key project partners – the City of Belgrade and its institutions,60 the OHCHR, the OSCE, the DRC and the Housing Centre – allowed open and transparent discussions in order to target risks, problems and sustainability of Project activities, but also to divide roles.

Partnerships were developed through direct communication and cooperation with other key stakeholders: a. The Ministry of Construction and Urban Planning b. The Ministry of Health c. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development d. The Office of Human and Minority Rights e. The Commissioner for Refugees and Migration f. The National Minority Council of Roma National Minority g. The Council for Improving the Situation of Roma h. The Platform for Adequate Housing.

The Project is coordinating its activities with other projects: • The reconceptualised Sustainable Waste Management Initiative for a Healthier Tomorrow (SWIFT), which focuses on employment and income generation, and whose activities should include beneficiary Roma families of this Project • OSCE “Technical Assistance for Roma Inclusion” that aims to realise the objectives of Measure 5 of the Government’s sector fiche for social development for the implementation of the National Strategy for the Improvement of the Position of Roma in the Republic of Serbia (Roma National Strategy). • The World Bank’s Delivery of Improved Local Services programme, worth 46.4 million USD, which is increasing the capacity of institutional actors and beneficiaries to improve access to health, education and social protection services in a decentralising environment, while improving the efficiency, equity and quality of local delivery.

60 The City of Belgrade Secretariat for Social Welfare, The Office of the City Architect Belgrade Land Development Agency (Beoland), The City of Belgrade Secretariat for Urban Planning and Construction, Belgrade Urban Planning Institute, The City of Belgrade Secretariat for Property Rights, Building and Urban Inspection

44 5 Difficulties encountered

In October 2013, in response to the delays and remaining obstacles, the European Integration Office of the Government of the Republic of Serbia (SEIO) and the Delegation of European Union (DEU) included the Project on the ‘bottleneck list’, as its delays potentially jeopardise the achievements of results.

The following are the key difficulties that were encountered and that caused delays in the implementation of the Project: RAP: The RAP identified five locations with a capacity of up to 121 units for the construction of the social housing units. However, after the assessment of the locations, it was clear that only two locations, with capacity of 27 flats are eligible. Furthermore, changes have occurred in the legislation on standards and norms for construction and maintenance of the social housing, affecting the size of the flats (dependant on the number of family members) and excluding the possibility to use the prefabricated wooden multi-storey blocks, as envisaged by the RAP. Consequently the costs of the construction of masonry multi-storey houses will be higher than planned by the Project document. Furthermore, the City continues to show the lack of capacities to implement the RAP, it doesn’t demonstrate any accountability61, there is a lack of clarity when it comes to ownership of the tasks identified in the RAP, while the coordination among the City institutions is feeble. Changes are needed in the planning and implementation so that the RAP contributes to further development and improvement of the policies and institutional framework for advancing the status of social inclusion and poverty reduction in the Republic of Serbia as mandatory within the EU accession phase.

Inability to identify new locations for social housing: according to the RAP, identification of the new sites is one of the responsibilities of the City. In every weekly meeting with the Secretariat and the Beoland, the identification of additional sites was raised. On 26 August, the Project Team sent official letters to the City of Belgrade and the Beoland requesting additional sites. No answer was received until the end of September. The locations that were proposed, however, didn’t have resolved urban planning status and ownership. This slow pace and ineffective functioning was also observed in direct contact with municipalities, when the Project Team tried on its own to identify the plots of land for the construction of the social housing. Such approach has already negatively impacted the Project implementation. Unless the City of Belgrade allocates the locations, with location permits, until 1 February 2014, it is unlikely that the Project would be able to finish the construction on time and fulfil the beneficiaries’ needs in regards social housing. Given the extremely short period of time until the end of the Project it is of crucial importance that all newly proposed locations have resolved ownership, urban parameters and urban planning documentation in such a status to allow direct issuance of the location

61 The City was due to prepare the first six-month progress report on the implementation of the RAP in August 2013. No reports have been prepared yet.

45 permits. Even if the special support and commitment of the relevant City institutions is achieved, it is impossible that the new locations can be developed up to occupational permit by the end of the Project.

Political/change of power in the City of Belgrade: It took almost two months to appoint the Interim City Council, following the ousting of Dragan Đilas from the position of the Mayor of Belgrade on 24 September 2013. In December, there was replacement of the management in several City Secretariats, all relevant for Project implementation: Social Welfare, Legalization Affairs, Communal and Housing Affairs, Urbanism and Building Affairs, Property Affairs, as well as in the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency (Beoland) and the Building and Urban inspection. The elections for Belgrade Assembly were announced at the start of 2014 - for 16 March.

Coordination of the City institutions: the City of Belgrade institutions dealing with urban planning and construction issues, utility companies and public enterprises were so far not involved enough and one of the consequences is slow and complicated issuing of the location permits, technical conditions, approvals and building permits. In addition RAP named the Secretariat for Social Welfare as the institution with a mandate to identify, approve and allocate new locations for social housing, while in fact Beoland should be in charge of this process. The Protocol that would solve Beoland’s responsibility within the Project, and the budget for 2014 have not been signed yet, due to personnel changes in the Secretariat for Social Welfare; regular meetings with the City Architect were not possible, and neither were those with the municipal representatives, although requested several times. In addition, the Project was not kept informed of communication, results of the consultations of the European Investment Bank (EIB) with the sites of Jabučki Rit and Orlovsko naselje even though that the reports about consultations were requested several times officially from the EIB. The Project Team raised this issue in every operational meeting with the Secretariat, held at least bi-weekly.

Local communities’ objections to arrival of the new Roma neighbours: the City of Belgrade was hesitant to address the local community objections related to the arrival of the new Roma neighbours. Certain unofficial contacts with the host community members were made during the process of site evaluation in Orlovsko naselje, and some ideas for advisable infrastructure improvements were then presented. The Project team prepared brief outline of the steps proposed for the Consultation process with the receiving communities that includes cooperation with the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, and continuing sessions with the CoB Secretariat for Social Welfare, municipal authorities and local communities; to underline that discriminatory attitudes and behaviours would not be tolerated.

Village housing: there is a significant delay in implementation of the village housing activities, which reflects on the other activities.

46 The final list of beneficiaries to be relocated to the specific locations could not be defined due to the fact that there was delay within the OSCE village component implementation. Although the first houses should have been purchased in October 2013, the deadline for submission and final completion of the village housing documentation was extended until 31 January 2014. It was in January 2014, that the OSCE Mission in Serbia informed stakeholders that 30 houses will be not purchased under the OSCE implemented project due to technical reasons and that UNOPS will be responsible for the purchase. It is presently not known when the OSCE will complete its assessments, which affects the start of UNOPS activities.

6 Cross cutting issues

6.1 Gender Continual efforts have been made in order to ensure participation of women in the Project activities, which has been quite high – almost 50% on average. E.g. out of 163 people who attended the presentation of the Project, there were 62 females; 42.4% of those who visited the proposed locations for social housing were women, while out of 74 people who were present at the focus groups, to discuss proposals for the social housing locations, 42 were women (54%).

Furthermore, women’s perspectives have been taken into account when discussing the proximity of schools, convenient stores and other services that are related to women’s and children’s everyday life. Particular attention is paid to the safety of each location, especially as seen through women’s eyes – i.e. public lights, proximity of police, access to shelter for victims of domestic violence, counselling services and similar.

There are two women working as focal points in the newly formed settlements, and four men.

Out of 154 families currently residing in and out of the settlements, 324 individuals with work capacity were interviewed during the Socioeconomic Survey. Within this number, 159 are female and 165 are male.

6.2 Environment By respecting the current legislation of Serbia62 and the UNOPS’ Sustainable Infrastructure Policy, the Project is paying full attention to the environment protection, pollution prevention, sustainable resource use, sense for local context, environment and disaster risk reduction.

62To name a few: the Law on Environmental Protection (OG RS 135/04 and 36/09), Law on Energy (OG RS 84/04, 57/11 and 80/11) Regulations on Energy Efficiency of Buildings (OG RS 61/11) Regulations on Conditions and Way of Issuing the Certificate of Energy Performance for Buildings (OG RS 61/11) Law on Strategic Environmental Impact (OG RS 135/04, 36/09 and 88/10) Law on Nature Protection (OG RS 36/09, 88/10 and 91/10)

47 During the identification of the sites for the construction, assessment is undertaken to determine possible pollution sources, proximity of the busy traffic, etc. The measures for environment protection are being built in, defined and prescribed in the planning documents for the location and all the way through to further project elaboration. To mention a few: 1. Conditions and restrictions related to the soil characteristics have to be defined through further hydrogeological and geotechnical researches on the site ensuring the house will be designed accordingly ensuring its stability and safety 2. Each construction system has to be calculated and constructed to be resistant to the earthquakes, according to the local seismic zone 3. Provision of sufficient number of parking places – 0.7 per flat according to the Law, ensuring the protection of surrounding green areas 4. Connections of the houses to all available utility infrastructure, or definition of independent, local solutions; centrally organized heating system wherever possible, applying sustainable and renewable sources of energy advice; 5. Enough light and sun to all living spaces, bigger flats should be double oriented to provide undisturbed flow of air 6. Selection of materials which are local, natural, environmentally friendly and easy-to- maintain 7. Covering at least 30% of free surrounding surface with greenery 8. Separate collection and treatment of waste materials – enough space and sufficient number of containers for waste and used materials disposal.

In addition, the beneficiaries attended the first cycle of informative workshops on environment protection, while the second circle is scheduled for March 2014.

6.3 Institutional and management capacity The City of Belgrade (the Secretariat for Social Welfare) have thus far shown lack of institutional capacity and leadership in the implementation of the RAP, which along with the political changes in the City significantly impacted the overall delivery of the results. Primarily, there are unclear lines of communication between the relevant City institutions, uncertainties when it comes to funding and the disrespect for the obligations undertaken by the RAP.

Once the new government is constituted, after March 2014 elections, a Human Rights Based Approach training will be organised, and will also include sessions on the right to adequate housing, forced evictions, legal security of tenure, and similar.

The two reports currently being prepared by the Project - Overview of the Existing Social Housing Models and the Current Situation Pertaining Legal Security of Tenure for Housing Beneficiaries in Social Housing Programmes - will also contribute positively to the overall institutional and management capacity of the City of Belgrade in dealing with the social housing issues, especially as they will serve as the basis for the development of the Rulebook for Social Housing.

48 6.4 Good governance Participation is one of the key good governance principles adhered to in the Project implementation. The entire Project has been designed in such a manner to ensure participation of the most vulnerable communities - beneficiary Roma families, men and women - in each phase of the activities, thus contributing to their empowerment and sense of ownership over the Project results.

The beneficiaries took a dynamic role in the conceptual design of the buildings and accommodations, and will have an important role for designing the rules of the distribution of accommodations to the families and definition of the rules of co-habitation in the multi- family blocks. Opportunities for beneficiaries to participate in the construction works under supervision are being explored.

However, other good governance principles are yet to be taken aboard, primarily by the City of Belgrade, in order to improve the overall implementation of the Project. For example, in regards the transparency and accountability, the City has not prepared a single report on the RAP implementation, which was supposed to be presented to the Coordination Body in August 2013. There have been indications of discriminatory actions, or failure to oppose the discriminatory attempts – e.g. unavailability of the sites for the construction of the social housing units for the Roma families, at the same time offering solutions for similar housing projects for the refugees and internally displaced persons.

In regards effectiveness and efficiency, the RAP identifies the City Secretariat for Social Welfare and the Beoland as the lead organisational units for further development and implementation of the Plan including monitoring and reporting on the progress. However, the lack of coordination is obvious as well as failure to include the line institutions from the start of the implementation (the Office of the City Architect, Belgrade Land Development Agency, the Secretariat for Urban Planning and Construction and the Secretariat for Property Rights, Building and Urban Inspection, as well as Belgrade Urban Planning Institute).

7 Visibility

This was always regarded as a high risk Project and the visibility opportunities were carefully planned with all partners to avoid any possible backlashes.

There was extensive publicity for the signing of the cooperation protocol between the Delegation of the European Union (DEU), the City of Belgrade and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), on 8 April 2013. All daily newspapers (Politika, Blic, Danas, Novosti, Kurir) published the news, accurately acknowledging the 3.6 million Euros funding coming from the EU. There were also reports on the national news agency Tanjug, state and local radio and television (including the Radio Television of Serbia, B92, Studio B, OK Radio).63

63 Please see Annex VIII, attachment 8.2 for the links to the media reports.

49

Further visibility was achieved: 1. On the occasion of the visit of the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, László Andor to the beneficiaries living in the Makiš 1 settlement 2. During the UNOPS’ workshop on Project management, attended by the Government and municipal officials, as well as the representatives of the civil society and the media, when seven panels with photographs about the Project/its activities were published and displayed, all clearly acknowledging EU support 3. At a number of conferences attended by the Project representatives who gave presentations about the Project and its activities.64

However visibility must be limited until Results are achieved i.e. the construction of social housing units commenced, houses purchased and material for reconstruction delivered.

8 Implementation

In accordance with the Description of Action, the contribution agreement with the Office for High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was signed in May 2013, for advisory services and trainings. Two contracts for professional services were also signed in May 2013, with two other partner organisations, which were pre-selected in the Description of Action. The first, with the DRC, relates to the services for consultation and decision-making processes among stakeholders and Roma families. The other, with the Housing Centre includes provision of services for development of planning and technical documentation for the construction of housing solutions for Roma families.

Over 12-month long implementation, the Project has been challenged by the circumstances outside UNOPS’ control resulting in severe delays to the work plan, while serious challenges remain ahead for a successful completion of activities. Some of the reasons for delays65 include the changes in legislation, inaccuracies in the RAP, lack of proactivity by the City of Belgrade in securing the sites for the construction of social housing flats, examples of discriminatory behaviour towards the Roma, and failure of the OSCE to purchase the village houses. All this placed great pressure on the Project timeline and budgets.

In October 2013, in response to the delays and obstacles remaining, the European Integration Office of the Government of the Republic of Serbia (SEIO) and the Delegation of European Union (DEU) included the project on the ‘bottleneck list’, as its delays potentially jeopardise the achievements of results.

64Such as, for example, "Improving Roma living in Serbia-from strategy to practice", organized by the Housing Centre, http://www.housingcenter.org.rs/index.php/vesti-housing-centar/171-15112013-hausing-centar- organizovao-konferenciju-o-stanovanju-roma 65 Described in detail in the Section V of this report

50 8.1 Procurement

All financial and administrative records are kept in the Project Office, in accordance with the UNOPS’ rules and procedures. The following major public procurements were conducted during the reporting period: • Office and IT equipment, including LAN, and telephone network • Two project vehicles, registration and insurance • Photocopying machine • Provision of the main design for the building for social housing in Orlovsko naselje with number of shopping cases related for the provision of supporting legislative documents and elaborates • Purchase of the construction materials for self-owned and village houses (in progress). Contracts for long term agreement that would be mutually used by all UNOPS projects have been signed, regarding the purchase of stationery, travel and conferencing services, office supplies and toners.

8.2 Human resources

The Project is being implemented by a seven-member team headed by the Project Manager, and includes Engineer, two Project Associates, Project Assistant, Finance/Administrative Assistant and Operations/IT Assistant. The staff was recruited in March 2013, and the recruitment panels were made up of relevant UNOPS’ staff66 and the representatives of the donor, the Delegation of the European Union who strictly followed UNOPS’ recruitment guidelines.

Two retainers were recruited in August 2013: On-call Legal Advisor and On-call Project Engineer. Other support staff (Graphic Designer, Translators/Interpreters, Web Designer and Communications/Reporting Specialist) has been engaged in line with the UNOPS’ procedures, which contributes to efficiency and effectiveness of the use of resources.

8.3 Finance

From 9 February 2013 – 31 January 2014, total Project expenditures amount to 509,596.88 Euros, which represents 14.16% of the contract budget (3.6 million Euros), and 30.91% of the first received tranche (1.65 million Euros). Please see Annex X, attachment 10.1 for full financial report and 10.2 for the UNOPS Interim Financial Statement.

8.4 Logistics/Travel

66SRPC Project Manager, European Partnership with Municipalities’ Component Managers

51

The Project has two vehicles, operational as of June 2013. One driver engaged. The Project Manager certifies travel authorizations through given UNOPS’ delegation of authority. For the purpose of conferencing and local transportations of beneficiaries - local travel agency has been engaged. Transportation for three site visits has been organized with the assistance of MIROSS Travel Company (contracted under Long Term Agreement).

8.5 ICT

• All staff have UNOPS’ email addresses and access to Intranet which enables internal and external communication • Operations staff have Atlas user profiles, which allows them to process payments, record assets and issue contracts. Atlas approver right has been dedicated to the Project Manager, who is authorised to sign payments through e-banking system • IT infrastructure, email accounts and ATLAS ERP accounts active and fully functional.

9 Monitoring and evaluation

9.1 Monitoring

The regular visits to the settlements and coordination with the main stakeholders including the City of Belgrade, Beoland, line Ministries and implementing partners, allowed the Project Team to make informed decisions about the future course of the Project activities. The lessons learned and identified risks were documented to ensure accountability to stakeholders, in terms of the achievement of objectives but also to identify solutions to overcome those. Weekly and monthly reports prepared by the Project Team allow close monitoring and appropriate planning of all activities.

Result Oriented Monitoring Mission (ROM) The Result Oriented Monitoring Mission (ROM) took place from 14-18 October 2013 and the monitor met the implementing team(s), the project partners and stakeholders, experts, the Government officials, and beneficiaries. 67 The ROM report was produced in November 2013 and recommended revision of indicators to measure Project performance, further lobbying of the new administration to gain support for delivery of the Project objectives particularly related to additional social housing construction sites and with involvement of the DEU, development of a sustainability strategy, with a multi-sector approach, ensuring sufficient storage space in the architectural design of social housing and enhance participation of implementing partners in Project planning. All ROM recommendations are being taken into account and addressed by the Project as appropriate.

67 ROM Mission agenda available as Annex XI attachment 11.1

52 To the City of Belgrade, the ROM recommended taking immediate action to identify, formally propose and approve new social housing construction sites, as per the RAP.

9.2 Steering Committee meetings

There were two Sub-Committee meetings, on 23 May and 28 November 201368, and one Coordination Body meeting on 25 July 2013. 69 The unconstructive behaviour of the City of Belgrade representative, who walked out of the 28 November meeting, affected negatively the Sub-Committee decision-making process, which caused further delays in the activities.

9.3 Evaluation

This project will be evaluated by the DEU through external independent evaluators. The Project Team will cooperate with the evaluators and facilitate any aspect of the evaluation as requested.

68 Both available at: http://www.sagradimodom.org/tekst/biblioteka/28/ 69 Available at: http://www.sagradimodom.org/tekst/biblioteka/56/

53 Annex I - Progress against indicators

Indicator Overall Status LEVEL OF IMPACT (OVERALL OBJECTIVE) To contribute to improvement of living conditions for The right to adequate housing is one of the basic human rights, embedded in a number of refugee and IDP families. international treaties and domestic legislation. Housing gives security and shelter, sense of privacy and provides area for family activities. By settling into the homes that will be provided by the Project, the first condition towards improvement of living conditions of beneficiary group will be achieved. LEVEL OF OUTCOMES (PROJECT PURPOSE) Provision of adequate support for up to 200 Roma The Project Team identified 170 potential beneficiary families who have been relocated from families affected by resettlement actions, including Belvil and other unhygienic settlements in Belgrade. The consultations about possible durable where appropriate, with durable housing solutions housing solutions were done to ensure full participation of men, women, elderly, children and those with disabilities, to take into account their needs, concerns and wishes before making a final decision on where the social houses will be constructed and how will they look like. The two reports on social housing models currently implemented in Serbia and on the current practices pertaining to the legal security of tenure for beneficiaries of social housing will be ready by the end of February 2014 and will aid preparation of the Rulebook for Social Housing. LEVEL OF RESULTS Planning of resettlement of target communities to In order to ensure resettlement in line with the international human rights standards and legal durable housing solutions in compliance with the UN solutions of the Republic of Serbia, one of the first steps in the Project implementation was to human rights standards and the Convention on prepare the Methodology for the Consultation Process and the Communications Strategy, Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against which highlight participation of the beneficiaries and the respect of their views in the process. Women (CEDAW) Both have been prepared in coordination with the Human Rights Advisor. The presentation of the Project to all partners, as well as to the Roma beneficiaries and numerous other stakeholders granted free flow of information among all relevant factors. In the five newly formed settlements, at the beginning of June 2013, the Project was presented to 163 participants, from 131 families, out of whom 62 were women. The good communication with the focal points appointed by the City of Belgrade meant there was a high turnout at all events

54 Indicator Overall Status involving the beneficiary community. The plan to empower authorities to conduct community consultations was put on hold due to the political changes in the City. Although the needs assessment for the human rights based approach training was conducted, another will be prepared after the election of new officials. In regards empowerment of the communities to participate in consultations, structural indictors were developed on human rights aspects (rights to adequate housing, non discrimination and equality, violence against woman) and incorporated into the Methodology for Evaluation of Sites. Locations for construction identified, all necessary Following the assessment of the six potential sites for relocation of Roma families, identified in analysis performed and final decisions on location made the RAP, in accordance with the Methodology that contains measurable indicators, including: access to social services, education, health and public transport, availability of potential employers, distance from sources of pollution, security, only two locations can potentially be used: Orlovsko naselje and Jabučki Rit, the latter being conditionally adequate because of its remoteness and isolation. The assessment results were presented to the Coordination Body on 25 July 2013, while in parallel, presentations were organised for Roma beneficiaries, both in the meetings with graphic documentation that pointed to site potentials, and in the “Go and See” visits to Obrenovac, Orlovsko naselje and Jabučki Rit. Other consultations with beneficiaries included sharing information on social housing model, focus groups for proposed locations and environment workshops. The Database, which contains basic information about beneficiaries as well as socio economic profiles of families, has been created and will be used for analysis of the opportunities to economically support the beneficiary families. Planning and technical documentation for construction During August 2013, consultations were held with beneficiaries in all mobile settlements, in of multi block and reconstruction of private and village accordance with the Structure and Schedule of Thematic Consultations with Beneficiaries on the houses developed Housing Model and preliminary architectural solutions document, prepared in line with the existing Standards and Norms for Planning, Design, Construction and Conditions for Use and Maintenance of Social Housing, energy-efficiency principles and UNOPS’ Sustainable Infrastructure Policy. All practical inputs from the beneficiaries were incorporated into the preliminary conceptual design.

55 Indicator Overall Status Location permit was issued for Orlovsko naselje in October 2013. The deadline for completion of the main design for 12 social apartments was extended to 15 January 2014, due to a request from the Electrical Network of Serbia to include additional conditions. Some other technical conditions from utility companies have also changed compared to those in the Location Permit, influencing the development of the main design. Despite this, the project was already submitted to Water and Sewage and the Secretariat of Transport). After collecting all approvals, the building permit will be requested. The estimated date for the submission for building permit is the end of February 2014. The plot in Jabučki Rit was finally formed in mid January 2014. There is a two-week deadline for complaint, after which request for location permit will be submitted, and the tender for the main design announced. Due to the shaken cooperation with the Municipality of Palilula, which requested forming of the plot, Beoland is unable to obtain the document, and that postpones requesting of the location permit. Reconstruction of private houses: none of the houses owned by the beneficiaries has adequate supporting documentation and thus all are considered illegal. However, the provisions of the Law on Special Conditions for Registration of Title Deed to the Buildings Constructed without Building Permit, which was adopted after the start of the Project, allow registration of ownership without legalization. Houses registered according to this Law can’t become subject of demolition but no extensive works can be performed on them, other than maintenance and emergency interventions that remove immediate danger to life and health, which includes works planned according to the technical assessment of the Project Team. Proposal has been made to the DEU to include expenditure for administrative procedures and infrastructure connections to the total sum for beneficiary assistance. The final decision will be outlined in the Project Addendum, currently being prepared. For the village houses, beneficiaries will get assistance and instructions needed for self- construction, the process will be monitored and utilization of materials strictly controlled. Construction of multi-storey blocks, and reconstruction Designs for the multi-storey blocks comply with the international standards for habitability, of private and village houses implemented in accessibility to services, and affordability. Project development is in line with the current legal accordance with accepted standards of sustainable framework, which covers energy efficiency, waste material disposal and environmental

56 Indicator Overall Status infrastructure protection. Standards of sustainable infrastructure are built into every step of project development from urban-planning phase, design and construction. The tender for the construction works in Orlovsko naselje will be announced simultaneously with the application for building permit, at the end of February 2014. The tender for procurement of building material for the reconstruction of self-owned houses was announced in December, as there were no applicants the deadline was extended from 22 January to 12 February 2014. Legal framework, ownership, management, Two reports are being prepared: one on the social housing models currently implemented in maintenance and security models analysed and agreed Serbia and the other on the current practices pertaining to the legal security of tenure for among stakeholders beneficiaries of social housing. The former will be one of the basic documents for further development of the Rulebook for Social housing and will be presented to the Project’s stakeholders in mid February 2014. The preliminary results show that there are regulations in place based on which beneficiaries can qualify for either social housing or the social housing in the protected environment. The initial findings in the latter report show that legislation in place does not oblige the authorities to provide alternative housing in cases of evictions from either social or socially owned housing. Consequently the only solution is to directly apply the stipulations of the international human rights law. Furthermore, initial discussions were held with the Social Housing Legal Coordinator in the City of Belgrade to discuss elements of the Rulebook for Social Housing. Six environment workshops were held in all mobile settlements, for 80 adults from 69 families (42 women), while seven creative workshops were organised for 98 children from 73 families (53 girls). Although the workshops with the youth were successful and showed some results, the approach with the adults wasn’t entirely fruitful and the participants didn’t show much interest in the topic. This workshop will be organised again, along with other planned sessions on (maintenance of the buildings, security and communal hygiene) in spring 2014. Resettlement schedule plan developed and The activities within this result will be planned as the locations for the construction are implemented confirmed and details are known as to the exact number of families who are to be relocated to a new housing block. A separate plan will be prepared for the beneficiaries of village housing

57 Indicator Overall Status solution, once the houses are purchased. Community social and/or economic infrastructure in Some preliminary discussions were held during the process of evaluation of locations, with the the host communities improved in order to meet needs members of the receiving communities. of host community and integration of resettled men, However, full and detailed consultations with receiving communities will be organized by the women and families City of Belgrade, with the support of the Project Team in order to define the needs for infrastructure improvements planned through the Project.

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Annex II – Indicative Plan for Q1 and Q2 2014

1.1 Sub-Committee and Coordination Body70 meetings 1.2 Informative Thematic Workshops with the beneficiaries, visits to newly proposed sites, focus groups with the beneficiaries on the new sites RESULT 1 1.3 Start of video production about the different housing solutions 1.6 Establishing contacts with the host communities in Orlovsko naselje and Jabučki Rit (the City of Belgrade, according to the RAP, has the lead in this process) RESULT 2 2.1 Evaluation of new locations by the Task Force, including pre-assessment of urban planning documentation for new location/s, urban and planning site/s eligibility71 2.2 Presentation of the location in Mislođin to the beneficiary families in the settlements (if Beoland confirms the ownership issues are finally solved) 2.3 Final report for Mislođin finished by March and submitted to the Project Sub Committee for confirmation 2.4 Defining a set of criteria for beneficiaries selection related to social housing; developing social housing Rulebook RESULT 3 3.1 Finalizing conceptual architectural design for Mislođin and submission to the Sub Committee, along with the Report on the location. Preparation of the preliminary design for Mislođin 3.2 Presentation of preliminary design for Mislođin to all stakeholders 3.3 Submission of the request for the location permit for Jabučki Rit (by Beoland) in March and for Mislođin in April. Tender for technical documentation/main design for Jabučki Rit and Mislođin. Development of technical documentation and technical revision for Jabučki Rit; issuance of building permit for Orlovsko naselje72 RESULT 4 4.1. Tender for the construction works, selection of the contractor, start of works 4.3 Purchasing eligible and verified village houses73 4.4 Reconstruction of the village houses 4.5 Reconstruction of the private houses RESULT 5 5.2 Support the City of Belgrade in defining administrative procedures in line with applicable legislation for entitlements to social housing 5.3 Development of tenancy agreements and presentation to the stakeholders at the Coordination Body meeting 5.4. Development of the curricula on maintenance of buildings including informative consultations with beneficiaries on maintenance of buildings, security, communal hygiene and presentation to the stakeholders RESULT 6 6.1 Preliminary discussion with the partners about relocation schedule and assistance plan 6.2 Delivery of household appliances for the beneficiaries

70 Organization of the Coordination Body meetings is the responsibility of the City of Belgrade 71 The precondition for the Task Force to start assessment is for the City of Belgrade to propose locations 72 The City Secretariat for Urbanism is responsible for issuing of the location permit 73 Verification of the houses is the responsibility of the City of Belgrade

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6.3 Development of logistics resettlement plan

RESULT 7 7.1 Host community consultations (that should be led by the City of Belgrade); host community needs identified and report prepared by the City of Belgrade 7.2 Receiving community needs assessment performed; technical documentation for selected projects developed

Annex III - Key developments

It took almost two months to appoint the Interim City Council, following the ousting of Dragan Đilas from the position of the Mayor of Belgrade on 24 September 2013. The Government of Serbia nominated Siniša Mali, Nebojša Čović, Andreja Mladenović, Nikola Nikodijević, and Tatjana Pašić to run the City.74 In December, there was replacement of the management in several City Secretariats, all relevant for Project implementation: Social Welfare, Legalization Affairs, Communal and Housing Affairs, Urbanism and Building Affairs, Property Affairs, as well as in the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency (Beoland) and the Building and Urban inspection.75 At the beginning of 2014, elections for Belgrade Assembly were scheduled - for 16 March.76

Although initially the ruling coalition denied they’d call for general elections, at the end of January, coinciding with the resignation of the Minister of Economy Saša Radulović, the ruling Serbian People’s Party (SNS) decided during the Presidency session that the voting for the Parliament will be held on 16 March 2014.77

In January 2014, the European Union (EU) adopted a mechanism, which allows suspension of the visa free regime for countries that are seen as producing high numbers of false asylum seekers. 78 Some 17,000 citizens of Serbia sought asylum in 2010; 13,980 in 2011; while in the first ten months of 2012 that number rose to 15,135. Mostly, asylum seekers submit requests in Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Switzerland. According to a research conducted by a group of non- governmental organisations (NGOs) in five Serbian towns, poor economic situation is the key reason Roma apply for asylum in the EU. 79

74Slobodna Evropa (2013) Imenovana privremena uprava Beograda [Online] Available at: http://www.slobodnaevropa.org/archive/news/20131118/500/500.html?id=25172148 (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 75 Danas (2013) Smenjeni direktori i sekretari [Online] Available at: http://www.danas.rs/danasrs/srbija/beograd/smenjeni_direktori_i_sekretari.39.html?news_id=272608 (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 76 Tanjug (2014) Izbori u Beogradu 16.marta [Online] Available at: http://www.tanjug.rs/novosti/113485/izbori-u- beogradu-16--marta.htm (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 77 Blic (2014) Vučić: Dačić nije bio loš premijer, atmosfera u društvu sprečavala brže reforme [Online] Available at: http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/437514/Vucic-Dacic-nije-bio-los-premijer-atmosfera-u-drustvu-sprecavala-brze- reforme (Accessed on 26 January 2014) 78 Blic (2014) Danas stupa na snagu mehanizam za privremeno uvođenje viza [Online] Available at: http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Drustvo/433192/Danas-stupa-na-snagu-mehanizam-za-privremeno-uvodjenje-viza (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 79B92 (2013) Ekonomska situacija motiv za azil [Online] Available at: http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2013&mm=04&dd=30&nav_category=12&nav_id=709880 (Accessed on 24 January 2014)

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The Office for European Integration Report on the implementation of the Action plan for the fulfilment of the recommendations of European Commission, among others, recognizes that the Council for National Minorities of the Republic of Serbia is still insufficiently active, that there was a failure to adopt the Law on Free Legal Aid, and there was a need to be more active in the implementation of the National Strategy for the improvement of the Position of Women.80

All 28 EU member states pledged to implement measures aimed at improving economic and social integration of Roma. This is the first legal instrument for the inclusion of Roma in the EU and, although not legally binding, it is expected that specific measures by the member states contribute to greater integration of Roma into society. There are up to 12 million Roma in Europe, out of whom about six million live in the EU. One third of European Roma population lives in the Western Balkans countries and Turkey.81

During his visit to Belgrade in September 2013, the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Laszlo Andor, participated in the launch of the new EU – Serbia dialogue that will contribute to the overall policy discussions within the negotiations on Chapter 19 "Social Policy and Employment" and support alignment with the EU legislation in this field. Andor visited Roma settlement in Makiš 1, where some 30 families (122 persons) evicted from informal settlements are waiting for new homes. 82

Previously, in June 2013, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay also praised the progress that Serbia has made in the field of human rights protection and appealed to the Government to formulate more precise priorities in line with the UN standards, pointing to four areas important for enhancing the position of Roma: health, education, housing and employment. 83

In June 2013, Serbia established the Council for Improvement of the Situation of Roma with a four-year mandate to: prepare proposals on comprehensive and coordinated policies for improvement of the position of Roma, in line with the adopted policies of the Government.84 Furthermore, an Action plan for the implementation of the Strategy for Improvement of Roma

80 Euractiv (2013) Srbija ispunila vise od 80% preporuka EK [Online] Available at: http://www.euractiv.rs/srbija-i- eu/6294-srbija-ispunila-vie-od-80-preporuka- ek?params=XP55NTbUb1224CrGqF1368AlKlH1332hVZCB1308DwrKW1140YhAjH1308uuiIi1164SDhMM1260NsO cn1296NZPWQD696OeWEC1320HWdNI1260mNIXi1284XHAaW1332tfNYN1296LTonq1164LCcbHJ552HcmbvzeU fo7q2Qa12i1272NQRkL1332KshIE1416JhqKC1164hqkna1320tfOFV1332KWNjD1416AzmUQ1260POPTL1188NXm DYn768QQFvP1176XfQay1296VUQVk1260GLoAl1188FpKjXE552nRhdg1368HUEMM1380KUWBtZ7082w9r (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 81 Ljudska prava (2013) EU usvojila prvi legalni instrument za inkluziju Roma [Online] Available at: http://www.ljudskaprava.gov.rs/index.php/yu/vesti-l/569-eu-usvojila-prvi-legalni-instrument-za-inkluziju-%20roma (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 82 DEU (2013) Podrška Beogradu u brizi za Rome [Online] Available at: http://www.europa.rs/mediji/najnovije- vesti/2971/Podrška+Beogradu+u+brizi+za+Rome.html (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 83Inkluzija (2013) Pilaj: Srbija mora da precizira prioritete u ljudskim pravima[Online] Available at: http://www.inkluzija.gov.rs/?p=19443 (Accessed 24 January 2014) 84Inkluzija (2013) Formiran Savet za unapređenje položaja Roma [Online] Available at: http://www.inkluzija.gov.rs/?p=19060 (Accessed on 24 January 2014)

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position in Serbia85 was adopted, while the Office for Human and Minority Rights started collecting data on nationality and maternal language of the employees in municipal and city administrations.86

A regional initiative, the Declaration about Inclusion of Roma, was signed as the result of the first meeting of parliamentarians from Serbia, Macedonia, Slovakia, Croatia and Hungary, held at the National Assembly of Serbia in May 2013. The signatories vowed to ascertain the conditions in which Roma live, to identify challenges in improving the current situation, to work on affirmation of good practices, while cooperating with national and international institutions in defining policies. Srđan Šajn was elected the President of the inter-parliamentary organization.87

According to the Ambassador of Norway in Serbia, Nils Ragnar Kamsvåg, more than 160,000 Roma managed to obtain personal documentation in the past three years.88 The State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice Gordana Stamenić said there was a plan to register all Roma by 2015. 89

Legislation

The Parliament adopted the Law on Legalization, which allows ratification of all premises built without permits. The deadline for submission of requests is 90 days after the Law comes officially into force. The legalization will be allowed for the buildings constructed before 11 September 2009. The local self-governments can define the legalization fee and to allow payment is made in instalments within 20 years. The citizens will be obliged to submit extensive documentation for the legalization purposes and the legalization costs will be significantly higher than before. It will not be possible to legalize the buildings built from low quality material, as well as unstable buildings built on the sinking terrain or on the public property land. 90 The criteria for tax deduction will be developed by the local self-governments. The Law recommends that the municipalities decrease fees for vulnerable social groups including single mothers, persons with disabilities and persons receiving social benefits. Roma community was not recognized as vulnerable and is faced with housing exclusion in the Law. 91

85Inkluzija (2013) Donet Akcioni plan za sprovođenje Strategije za unapređenje položaja Roma u Srbiji do 2015.godine [Online] Available at: http://www.inkluzija.gov.rs/?p=19163 (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 86Kancelarija za ljudska i manjinska prava (2013) Počela obrada podataka o nacionalnoj pripadnosti zaposlenih i korišćenju manjinskih jezika u radu uprava jedinica lokalnih samouprava [Online] Available at: http://www.ljudskaprava.gov.rs/index.php/vesti/253-pocela-obrada-podataka-o-nacionalnoj-pripadnosti-zaposlenih-i- koriscenju-manjinskih-jezika-u-radu-uprava-jedinica-lokalnih-samouprava (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 87B92 (2013) Deklaracija o inkluziji Roma [Online] Available at: http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2013&mm=05&dd=07&nav_category=12&nav_id=711473 (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 88 Vesti (2013) Više od 160.000 Roma dobilo lične karte [Online] Available at http://www.vesti- online.com/Vesti/Srbija/364039/Vise-od-16000-Roma-dobilo-licne-karte (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 89 Inkluzija (2014) Do 2015. svi Romi sa dokumentima [Online] Available at: http://www.inkluzija.gov.rs/?p=23403 (Accessed on 31 January 2014) 90 Poslovno jutro (2013) Usvojen Zakon o legalizaciji objekata [Online] Available at: http://www.poslovnojutro.com/details&id=56384 (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 91 Zavod za izgradnju Grada Novog Sada (2013) Zakon o legalizaciji objekata [Online] Available at http://www.zigns.rs/misc/zakon_o_legalizaciji.pdf (Accessed on 24 January 2014)

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After 11 months of waiting, the Minister for Urbanism and Construction approved the General Regulation Plan (GRP) for the City of Belgrade in November 2013. However, it won’t be before late spring 2014 that the Plan comes into force, due to the present political situation. Without the GRP, no construction is possible in parts of ten Belgrade municipalities, including the EU-funded Inter-modal terminal, a project worth 13.5 million Euros.92

The Republic Housing Agency and the Ministry of Construction organized a public debate in Čačak to promote energy efficiency in the social housing, within their campaign that should be implemented in 33 towns in Serbia in support of the implementation of the standards and legislation that came into the force during last year.93 The legislation has to be respected in all future housing designs and constructions and is especially important for the social flats having in mind the savings in the exploitation process.

Discrimination against Roma

There were mass protests of the local community in Zemun Polje against the Roma neighbours, with abundance of racist and threatening messages in November 2013, after a breakout of scabies: “We don’t want Gypsies, we don’t want scabies”, “Scabby Gypsies, get out”, “Kill the Gypsies” and “Get out of Zemun Polje”. The protesters requested that relocation of the Roma living in unhygienic settlements is stopped, as they were “not socialised”. They claimed that the City Secretariat for Social Welfare promised there wouldn’t be further moving of Roma and that the contracts of those already inhabiting social housing in Kamendin would be re-examined.94 The National Council of the Roma National Minority strongly condemned the reports in certain media, which stigmatized the Roma as the only culprits for the breakout of scabies in Zemun Polje95, while the Commissioner for Equality, Nevena Petrušić, asked the authorities to react immediately.

The Assistant Commissioner for Equality, Kosana Beker, reported that most of the cases received by the office related to the discrimination against Roma, also highly present in media, and pointed to the issues of problematic content of the articles, rather than terminology used.96

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) research indicates that the number of Roma in special schools in Serbia has decreased, although one fifth of the enrolled children in such schools are Roma. 97

92Politika (2013) Politički sukob odložio usvajanje urbanističkog ustava [Online] Available at: http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Beograd/Politicki-sukob-odlozio-usvajanje-urbanistickog-ustava.lt.html (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 93Republička agencija za stanovanje (2013) Kampanja Otkriti energiju u Čačku [Online] Available at: http://www.rha.gov.rs/kampanja-otkriti-energiju-u-cacku/ (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 94 Alo (2013) Demonstranti u Zemun Polju: zaustaviti doseljavanje Roma [Online] Available at: http://www.alo.rs/vesti/aktuelno/demonstranti-u-zemun-polju-zaustaviti-doseljavanje-roma/36262 (Accessed on 25 January 2014) 95 Blic (2013) Nacionalni savet Roma: Osuditi rasističko divljanje u Zemun Polju [Online] Available at: http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Beograd/417977/Nacionalni-savet-Roma-Osuditi-rasisticko-divljanje-u-Zemun-Polju (Accessed on 25 January 2014) 96 RTV Vojvodina (2014) Beker: mediji diskriminišu Rome [Online] Available at: http://www.rtv.co.rs/sr_lat/drustvo/beker-mediji-diskriminisu-rome_453481.html (Accessed on 24 January 2014)

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The Ministry of Labour, Social Policy and Employment pointed to the fact that although 760 couples wait for adoption of children, none of them was ready to adopt a Roma child, a child with health problems or with disability.98

Civil society

Several civil society organizations published reports about the socio-economic and political status of Roma population. According to Praxis, nongovernmental and non-profit organisation dealing with protection and promotion of human and minority rights, Roma population is facing severe problems with access to work and employment rights, as well as the right to adequate housing.99

The Centre for Minority Rights report showed that average life expectancy of Roma is 62,2 years, which is by ten years shorter than the country average. Furthermore, Roma are indirectly discriminated in access to health services, which points to the need to continue with improvement of the legal protection. 100

Social housing

The estimates show that Serbia needs at least 10,000 flats for the most vulnerable population. 101The funding has been provided for construction of 1,850 flats, but due to delays in project preparation the building has not commenced yet. The municipalities are obliged to provide building plots, while the state covers the costs of construction.

The Republic Housing Agency (RHA) and the City of Čačak started construction of 24 social housing flats, investment worth 70 million Dinars.102 The RHA is contributing with 47 million, while the rest is paid from the local budget. In Novi Sad, 35 social housing flats will be constructed, while the City plans to sign a contract with the RHA to initiate the construction of another 200 social flats.103

97 Danas (2013) Rome teraju u specijalne škole [Online] Available at: http://www.danas.rs/danasrs/drustvo/rome_teraju_u_specijalne_skole.55.html?news_id=271953 (Accessed on 25 January 2014) 98 E-novine (2013) Srbi ne usvajaju romsku decu [Online] Available at: http://www.e-novine.com/drustvo/88953-Srbi- ele-usvajaju-romsku-decu.html (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 99Praxis (2013) Report: Analysis of the main problems and obstacles with access to rights to work and employment of Roma and Report: Analysis of the main problems and obstacles with access to right to adequate housing of Roma [Online] Available at: http://www.praxis.org.rs/images/praxis_downloads/Analiza_glavnih_problema_i_prepreka_u_pristupu_Roma_pravima_ na_rad_i_zaposljavanje.pdf and http://www.praxis.org.rs/images/praxis_downloads/Izvestaj_pravo_na_adekvatno_stanovanje.pdf (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 100Centar za prava manjina (2013) Okrugli sto na temu: Pokazatelji kvaliteta zdravstvene zaštite Roma [Online] Available at: http://www.mrc.org.rs/sr/vesti/215-okrugli-sto.html (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 101Republička agencija za stanovanje (2013) Dinamika izgradnje socijalnih stanova [Online] Available at: http://www.rha.gov.rs/zasto-kasni-izgradnja-socijalnih-stanova/ (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 102Ministarstvo građevinarstva i urbanizma (2013) Započeta izgradnja stanova za socijalno ugrožene građane [Online] Available at: http://www.mgu.gov.rs/aktuelno.php#35 (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 103Republička agencija za stanovanje (2013) Novi Sad gradi ponovo socijalne stanove [Online] Available at: http://www.rha.gov.rs/novi-sad-gradi-ponovo-socijalne-stanove/ (Accessed on 24 January 2014)

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The Housing Centre conference on "Improving Roma living in Serbia-from strategy to practice", with over 85 participants from various national and local institutions and civil sector provided platform for a debate on the accessibility of legalisation and social housing to Roma, as well as an opportunity to exchange good practises on improvement of Roma housing – among which the Let’s Build a Home Together project. Since one of the conclusions of the conference was that the existing regulation doesn’t recognize reality of Roma settlements, proposition was presented by Roma NGO network to draft the Lex specialis which would regulate specific standards for legalisation of Roma settlements.104

The Office for Human and Minority Rights and Council of Europe CAHROM team, organized a visit of experts to discuss new housing solutions and alternative measures related to (forceful) Roma evictions. The main conclusions were that the Ministry of Urbanism and Construction would instruct local self-governments about the implementation of the new Law on Legalization especially regarding the vulnerable groups; that there should be consideration of introducing Lex specialis to facilitate the implementation of the Law; attention should be paid to the need of preserving cultural identity of Roma and that there should be consideration of participation of Roma in projects that tackle their problems.105

Refugees and internally displaced persons

The second meeting of the Managing Board of the Regional Housing Programme was held in Belgrade in July 2013, with representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia, who confirmed commitment to solve housing needs of 74,000 refugees in the region. The funds identified in 2012 Sarajevo donor conference will be allocated in two stages: the first call for proposals was finished in April, while the second will be finalised by October 2013.106

There are still 57,247 refugees living in Serbia.107 From 700 collective centres at the start of regional conflicts, that accommodated 60,000 people, 29 are left, with 2,400 beneficiaries, mainly internally displaced persons (IDPs). The closing down of the remaining centres, with the financial support of the European Union and the Government of Serbia, through cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is expected in the next three years.

CEDAW Report

104Housing centar (2013) Hausing centar organizovao konferenciju o stanovanju Roma [Online] Available at: http://www.housingcenter.org.rs/index.php/vesti-housing-centar/171-15112013-hausing-centar-organizovao- konferenciju-o-stanovanju-roma (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 105Kancelarija za ljudska i manjinska prava (2013) Organizovana poseta CAHROM grupe [Online] Available at: http://www.ljudskaprava.gov.rs/index.php/yu/vesti-l/489-organizovana-poseta-cahrom-grupe (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 106KIRS (2013) Četiri zemlje u regionu odlučne da uz pomoć međunarodne zajednice reše izbegličko pitanje [Online] Available at: http://www.kirs.gov.rs/articles/navigate.php?type1=3&lang=SER&id=1923&date=0 (Accessed on 24 January 2014) 107KIRS (2013) Srbija obeležava Svetski dan izbeglica [Online] Available at: www.kirs.gov.rs/articles/navigate.php?type1=3&lang=SER&id=1918&date=0 (Accessed on 24 January 2014)

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In July 2013, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) considered the second and the third combined periodical reports of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, focussing on the legislative and institutional changes that were conducted in the country with the aim to improve the position of women.108 The Committee welcomed the adoption of the key legislation that tackles elimination of discrimination against women, but called for implementation of the laws, introduction of mechanisms that would deal with discrimination, allocation of resources, to name a few key conclusions.

In addition to the State Report, four shadow reports were submitted by the non-governmental organisations, one of which was made by the Roma Women Network about current position of Roma women in Serbia. The NGO reports requested from the Committee to set up strict demands to the Government of Serbia in order to protect women from deterioration of their rights.

Annex IV – Consultation Process

Annex V – Social Housing Locations

Annex VI - Social Housing Model and Architectural Design

Annex VII - Social Housing Models and Legal Security of Tenure

Annex VIII - Project communications

Annex IX - Preliminary architectural design for the sites

Annex X - Financial report

Annex XI - ROM

108 Gendernet (2013) Concluding observations on the combined second and third periodic reports of Serbia [Online] Available at: http://www.gendernet.rs/files/dokumenta/Engleski/Reports/CEDEW_concluding_observations_2013_engl.pdf (Accessed on 24 January 2014)

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