SARAJEVO, 30 October 2009 - UNHCR, on Friday, presented a report containing the results of a survey on the situation facing residents of collective centres in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Almost fourteen years after the end of the war, some 7,500 people are still living throughout BiH in what was originally envisaged as temporary collective accommodation.
The results of the survey, undertaken by the Danish Refugee Council with UNHCR's support, highlight the vulnerability of a significant proportion of collective centre residents. For example, almost two-thirds of the households surveyed contain or support someone who is infirm or otherwise socially vulnerable. Around a fifth of respondents are chronically ill, physically disabled or are invalids.
Furthermore, over half of all surveyed households are female-headed and almost one third of all respondents are single-member households. Unfortunately only 15 per cent of respondents stated that they are employed in some manner, while 70 per cent of families receive limited income through social welfare payments.
The study also, however, highlighted the opportunities to realise durable solutions for this group. The population, for example, includes many people of working age with 62 per cent of the surveyed population falling within the 18 - 64 age range. Importantly the report also sets out key recommendations to the competent authorities as well as to donor governments and development agencies.
Speaking at the presentation, Naveed Hussain, UNHCR Representative in BiH, urged the BiH authorities to take the necessary action towards closing the remaining collective centres in the country, adding that the survey results "reinforce UNHCR's advocacy of the need to secure durable solutions for this group of vulnerable displaced people as a matter of urgency. Adoption of the Revised Strategy for the Implementation of Annex VII of the Dayton Peace Agreement would be one important step towards this goal."
The UNHCR/DRC survey was conducted between June and September of last year and comprised 831 families (2,212 individuals) in 21 collective centres across the country.