The project implemented by the Danish Refugee Council, with the city of Kragujevac and organizations ‘Bozur’ and ‘Sveti Spas’, will assist 30 families of internally displaced persons to return to Kosovo, by providing transportation to families and their belongings to the place of return and basic returnee packages, according to their needs., reports Radio Mitrovica Sever.
The project was done in close cooperation with the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, The Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, UNHCR, municipalities in Serbia and other relevant actors.
In addition, in order to strengthen employment opportunities, 60 IDP families will receive economic grants to generate revenues and start business while 90 internally displaced persons will attend courses or trainings for vocational training.
DRC Project Coordinator Milosava Smiljanic pointed out as the most important economic grants for returnees’ economic empowerment to start their business.
Sustainable return of internally displaced persons is a significant project, the first such implemented by the city, said Gordana Damnjanovic, a member of the City Council for Health and Social Care, and reminded that over the past few years 170 apartments were purchased through numerous projects, and have been bought over 50 rural households. 220 families of internally displaced persons were resettled.
She adds that this would be the first project of this type that finances a sustainable return to Kosovo. There is a lot of interest in return, and this was also shown by a survey done with 361 families. In addition to this, the fact that during the last census of the population in the territory of the city 12,500 internally displaced persons were registered and today in Kragujevac there are 10 650, reports Radio Mitrovica Sever.
