Belgrade, 17 October 2008 - SIRP awards seven as the Programme ends
The Settlement and Integration of Refugees Programme (SIRP), on its Closure Ceremony, held on October 17th 2008 at Palazzo Italia in Belgrade, presented seven awards to the most prominent local contributors to the overall success of the Programme

The Settlement and Integration of Refugees Programme (SIRP), at its Closing Ceremony, held at Palazzo Italia on October 17th 2008, awarded seven local actors and teams, for their outstanding contributions to the success of the Programme in their respective cities.

The Head of UN-HABITAT Office in Belgrade and the Chief Technical Adviser of SIRP, Ms. Ligia Ramirez, praising each of the recipients with chosen and warm words, presented two SIRP Awards and five Special Awards.

The recipients of the SIRP Awards were: Mr. Ljubisa Simonovic, of Nis, for “Believing in Change and Making It Happen for and With the City of Nis”, and Mr. Zivorad Stankovic, of Kragujevac, for “Enduring Enthusiasm and Pioneering Work in Social Housing”.

The five special awards went to the TIS Teams in Cacak and Valjevo, both for “Pioneering Work and Strong Collaboration within the Local Administration and Introduction of Innovative Tools for Territorial Management”, to IDA Ibar Development Association, for “The Successful Implementation of the Pilot Initiative for Integrated Rural Development”, to Cacak Safety Board, for “The Successful Implementation of the Pilot Initiative Cacak Safer Town” and to Kraljevo Housing Agency for “The Commitment in the Sustainable Upgrading of the Roma Settlement – Grdicka Kosa 2”.

Deeply touched and pleasantly surprised, the awardees were looking for the right words to express their gratitude and feelings for what the Programme did in the past three years in their cities and municipalities with themselves and other numerous local partners, emphasizing the importance of keeping up the pace of change and work on planning for development set by SIRP.