In the frame of the activities of the UN Joint Programme PBILD Peacebuilding and Inclusive Local Development in South Serbia, and specifically the Promotion of Peacebuilding in South Serbia Component financed by the Spanish MDG Achievement Fund, UN-HABITAT is launching the Open Call to submit proposals for the formulation of Local Safety Diagnosis in the 11 municipalities of Bojnik, Crna Trava, Lebane, Vlasotince, Medvedja, Bosilegrad, Bujanovac, Presevo, Surdulica, Trgoviste and Vladicin Han, and the two cities of Vranje and Leskovac.

This call is open for legal entities with no-profit status and established in Serbia. The Call is open starting as of 27 May 2010 and will be open until 5pm on 10 June 2010.

Guidelines for the Call for Proposals for the formulation of Local Safety Diagnosis in 13 cities/municipalities of Pcinjski and Jablanicki Districts (PDF FORMAT)

Annex A: Application Form (WORD FORMAT)

Annex B: Budget Plan and Payment Schedule (EXCEL FORMAT)

Annex C: Work Plan and Implementation Schedule (EXCEL FORMAT)

Annex D: Local Safety Diagnosis – Preparation Guidelines (PDF FORMAT)

Further information regarding Local Safety Diagnosis formulation process and Safer Cities methodology will be presented at a Workshop open to all interested applicant organizations. The workshop will have a Questions and Answers session where clarification on the project task will be given.

The Workshop is scheduled on: 4 June 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Location :PBILD Office conference room, Karadjordja Petrovica bb, 17520 Bujanovac
Working language: English

Applicants who may be interested in participating to the workshop are encouraged to send an email confirming their participation to office@unhabitat.org.rs no later than Wednesday 2 June 2010.

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The conference Access to social and affordable housing was held on February 11, 2010 in Belgrade, co-organized by the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning and the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration with the technical assistance of UN-HABITAT and the support of the Italian Government.

The conference reflects the Serbian political will of sharing experiences with other European countries on affordable housing policy development and strategic options to better target social inclusion. The conference aimed at confronting different housing policy options and experiences for strengthening affordable housing delivery systems in Serbia.

H.E. Oliver Dulic the Minister for Environment and Spatial Planning, in his opening speech, highlighted the ongoing steps the Government of Serbia is undertaking, following the adoption of the Law on Social Housing last August, to further develop appropriate policy instruments and mechanisms for the implementation of social housing programs in the future. The Ministry is currently identifying possible policy options to target the needs of the socially vulnerable population with a strategic approach in a medium/long term perspective, which would be adequate also for possible integrations of housing and urban/spatial planning policies especially in respect of the legalization of informal settlements and the provision of land for social housing.

The relevance of the ongoing reforms in the social housing sector to the EU integration process of Serbia was highlighted by Mr. Adriano Martins Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, and H.E. Armando Varricchio the Ambassador of Italy to Serbia who confirmed the commitment of the Italian Government to continue supporting Serbia in the path towards EU.

“The efforts of the Government in reaching the housing needs of the most vulnerable will contribute to the process of achieving peace and stability and the fight against poverty and social exclusion, one of EU’s main objectives”, said Mr. Martins. 2010 is the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. Building a more inclusive Europe is vital to achieving the European Union's goals of sustained economic growth, more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. The involvement and cooperation of all stakeholders, central government, local self governments and the civil society, is key to successfully reach adequate and appropriate solutions for the inclusion of the most vulnerable in their communities, added Mr. Martins.

The Mayor of Nis, Mr. Simonovic, called as representative of the Local Authorities at the conference, addressed the participants pointing out the important role of Local Self Governments in further shaping the housing policy and the development and implementation of strategies and programs at the local level, addressing the need to further strengthen the collaboration between Local Self Governments and Ministries.

In this respect, the methodological approach of the Conference itself was highly valued as it aimed at involving all actors, bringing together representatives of central and local governments, the private sector, the academia and research institutes, and the civil society.

Mr. Krzysztof Mularczyk the Director of the UN-HABITAT Warsaw Office, congratulated the Government in its endeavors in organizing and shaping the policy framework, and stressed its key role in then facilitating and supporting local initiatives, as well as the initiatives of the citizens and the private sector. UN-HABITAT is continuing supporting the Government in its efforts to develop the housing policy for Serbia and to facilitate the exchange of experiences with partners and institutions from the Region and the EU.

[ Click here to access the link to the Agenda of the conference ]

The conference presented some of the previous experience in the field of social and affordable housing in Serbia from different perspectives by the Housing Centre (Serbian NGO), the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and the Commercial Bank.

The Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning presented the study “Elements for national social housing strategy” prepared by the Center of Liberal and Democratic Studies and carried out in late 2009, to identify possible strategies and options which will feed the development of a national social housing strategy.

The Deputy Director of the Environment, Housing and Land Management Division of the UNECE and international experts from the University of Calgary, the Department of Urban Studies of the University of Glasgow, the Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies of the Delft University of Technology, the London School of Economics, and Federcasa Italian National Housing Federation brought experiences and analysis from other European countries highlighting issues that could be of considerable importance for the ongoing housing reform process in Serbia.

Related abstracts and presentations can be viewed following the links below.

The participation has been numerous and active, including the representatives of the Serbian Parliament, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, Republic Agency for Spatial Planning, Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, Faculty of Architecture of the University of Belgrade, the Institute of Urbanism of Belgrade, the Serbian Chamber of Engineers, the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, representatives of Cities’ Assemblies and Councils, local self-governments (Cities of Belgrade, Nis, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Cacak, Valjevo, Uzice, Vranje, Leskovac, Novi Sad, Subotica, Pancevo, Stara Pazova, and Municipalities of Krusevac and Kikinda), Municipal Housing Agencies, Association of Housing Agencies, Centres for Social Care, commercial banks, the Council of Europe, the European Integration and Economic Section of the EU Delegation to Serbia, OSCE and other international organizations, the Local Technical Unit of the Italian Cooperation in Belgrade and other representatives of the donor community, civil society organizations and non-profit associations.

The robust dialogue and discussion that has stemmed from the presentations of experiences has provided a set of recommendations for the new social housing policy in Serbia.

Download here the Conference documentation:

Agenda                                                                        [in English]        [in Serbian]
List of participants                                                    [in English]

Presentations:

Ms. C. von Schweinichen, UNECE                                 [in English]        [in Serbian]
Ms. S. Tsenkova, University of Calgary                         [in English]        [in Serbian]
Mr. M. Stephens, Univerity of Glasgow                         [in English]        [in Serbian]
Mr. G. van Bortel, Delft University of Technology          [in English]       
Ms. A.M. Pozzo, Federcasa                                           [in English]       
Ms. C. Whitehead, London School of Economics           [in English]       

Abstracts:

Ms. S. Tsenkova, University of Calgary                           [in English]        [in Serbian]
Mr. G. van Bortel, Delft University of Technology            [in English]        [in Serbian]
Ms. C. Whitehead, London School of Economics             [in English]        [in Serbian]

Bujanovac, 2 December 2009 – Mayors of the 13 Municipalities of the Pčinja and Jablanica Districts of South Serbia signed on 2 December the Letters of Intent for the implementation of the UN Joint Programme “Promoting Peace Building in South Serbia” funded by the Spanish MDG Achievement Fund.

The letters of intent were signed by the UN Resident Coordinator on behalf of UN participating Agencies, and representatives of the Governments of Spain, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway, main supporters of UN joint activities in South Serbia.

The ceremony was held in the presence of the Mr. Milan Markovic, Minister for Public Administration and Local Self Government and President of the Coordination Body for Medvedja, Presevo and Bujanovac, lead partner to the UN participating Agencies in Serbia for the design and implementation of the project.

Following the signing ceremony, the high school children from South Serbia municipalities screened the play “You and I are We” in Albanian, Serbian and Roma languages, which communicated in a very joyful and lively way the strong commitment of south Serbia youth to be part as well as actors in strengthening social cohesion within their interethnic community.

Bringing together several specialized UN Agencies, the Programme “Promoting Peace Building in South Serbia” will be implemented jointly by UN-HABITAT, UNDP, UNICEF, IOM and UNHCR.

The 13 partner Cities/Municipalities are Vranje, Trgovište, Bosilegrad, Vladičin Han, Surdulica, Bojnik, Medveđa, Leskovac, Lebane, Vlasotince, Crna Trava, Preševo and Bujanovac.

[ More news on the Programme “Promoting Peace Building in South Serbia” ]

Photo: Architecture students meet the Peti Park community. M.Keranovic

Belgrade, 20 October 2009 - Within the Framework of Cooperation with the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Belgrade, UN-HABITAT has been engaged in providing professional training on ‘The basics of participatory planning methodology’ to the second year students of the faculty’s master program, enrolled in the design studio “Peti park”.

The design studio course sees the students working on the development of a shared vision and project ideas for the spatial and functional organization of the public park in the neighborhood of ‘Peti Park’ in Belgrade.

The students will be engaged in field work in close collaboration with the community and will develop design tools to ensure the full participation of the individuals and local associations in the development of the projects’ ideas.

UN-HABITAT training provided students with an introduction to Community Participation and Participatory Planning tools, Vision and Visioning processes, Stakeholder Analysis, Conflict Management Strategies and Facilitation techniques, among others.

Belgrade, 15 September 2009 - UN-HABITAT will support community cohesion and inclusive development in thirteen municipalities in South Serbia through the UN Joint Programme “Promoting peace building in South Serbia”. The 2.5 million US Dollars  programme is funded by the Spanish MDG Achievement Fund.

Implementation is foreseen to start within the end of the year and will last two and a half years.

The Programme was formally endorsed on 15 September 2009 in Belgrade with the signatures of the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self Government of the Republic of Serbia, the representative of the Spanish Government, the UN Resident Coordinator and representatives of UN-HABITAT Office in Belgrade and other participating UN Agencies.

In the frame of joint efforts of the UN Country Team in support of the Government of Serbia for the achievement of the MDGs and in preserving peace among interethnic communities living in this part of Serbia, UN-HABITAT will partner with the 13 municipalities to strengthen capacities of local self governments, institutions and civil society to engage in conflict/violence prevention planning through participation, dialogue and partnership for improved safety, and integrating safety concerns within development efforts, fostering long term stability, reintegration and good governance. 

UN-HABITAT will adapt its Safer Cities methodology, already successfully used in other parts of Serbia in the frame of the SIRP Programme, to provide a structured process of capacity building measures to support municipal administrations and civil society partners.  This will help them develop and upgrade strategies and plans, through participation and partnership building (including with police), which will address issues related to safety, conflict and security concerns at local level and integrate them within the development efforts, fostering social cohesion, and conflict management capacities. Vulnerable members of the communities, as well as women, youth and ethnic minorities will be involved from the beginning in the planning process for the development of safety strategies and action plans and benefit of capacity building activities. These partnerships and coalition groups should become formal part of the municipals’ structures by the end of the programme. Small grants will support the implementation of key relevant pilot initiatives through partnerships, as identified by the local communities, targeting the community as a whole, including women, youth, minorities and vulnerable groups.

The MDG Achievement Fund is a United Nations resource that finances and supports national efforts to accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The MDG Fund was created in December 2006 and works through the UN in support of national Governments, local authorities and civil society towards: i) Implementing joint programmes that strengthen public policy development and ensure measurable impact on select MDGs; ii) Engaging in advocacy and mobilization efforts that keep the MDGs high on the political agenda; iii) Learning through continuous monitoring and evaluation using these to scale up and inform future action.

The MDG-F supports about 130 joint programmes world wide in the areas of gender equality, youth employment, economic governance, culture and development, conflict prevention, environment, child nutrition and private sector.

Belgrade, 15 June 2009 - On June 1 2009, at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration of the Government of Serbia, through its Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit, and together with UN-HABITAT organized a national workshop for the presentation of the SILD Settlements and Integrated Local Development Programme in Serbia.

The workshop launched the start of the preparatory phase of the programme financed by the Italian Government and executed by UN-HABITAT in partnership with 11 cities/municipalities in Serbia.
The opening note was given by the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration at the Serbian Government, Mr. Božidar Đelić.
The workshop was attended by the Head of the Italian Cooperation in Serbia Ms. Anna Zambrano, UN-HABITAT Regional Coordinator Mr. Jean-Yves Barcelo, representatives of the Ministries of Environment and Spatial Planning, of Human and Minority Rights, of Labor and Social Policy, the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, CSOs, the mayors and other representatives of the 11 Cities/Municipalities participating to the Programme, namely Bor, Cacak, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Leskovac, Nis, Novi Sad, Subotica, Uzice, Valjevo, Vranje.

The workshop presented the results of the Programme formulation process carried out through a wide consultative process and with the strong involvement and contributions of partners and main stakeholders from central and local government institutions.

Designed as a scaled-up follow-up to the previous program in Serbia (SIRP – Settlement and Integration of Refugees Programme), which was also financed by the Italian Government, SILD is a sub-regional programme to be implemented simultaneously in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania, aimed at contributing to participatory development processes of integrated and sustainable urban settlements towards inclusive cities in line with and through harmonization with EU standards and practices.

During the consultations with partners and stakeholders, matching needs and opportunities under SILD resulted in the identification of the programme overall objective in Serbia: to support the process of social housing policy reforms under the wider frame of integrated, sustainable and inclusive urban development taking into account EU social cohesion and territorial cooperation agendas.

The contributions of local representatives to the discussion, during the workshop, reiterated the relevance of the approach and the targets of the programme.

Similar presentations of the respective national programme documents and workshops have been already organized in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania.

To download the Agenda of the Workshop in English     [ Click here ]
To download the Agenda of the Workshop in Serbian    [ Click here ]
To read more about the SILD Settlements and Integrated Local Development Programme [ Click here ]