UN Country Team Assistance to Refugee and Migrant needs in Serbia so far amounts to USD 7.45 Billion

Belgrade, 9 December 2015 – Between June and early December, the UN Country Team in Serbia has already provided support in value of USD 7.45 million (or 901 billion RSD) worth of assistance to help the country deal with the refugee and migrant crisis, reported Michel Saint-Lot, the acting United Nations Resident Coordinator in Serbia at a briefing for international partners in Belgrade on Wednesday. More support is on the way. The UN Country team announced the launch of a Regional Response Plan in which the UN agencies seek a total of nearly 45 million USD the coming year for Serbia alone.

 

“The Regional Refugees and Migrants Response Plan calls for assistance to Greece, FYR of Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia and Turkey in addressing the needs of refugees and migrants in 2016,” said Hans Schodder, Head of the UN Refugee Agency in Serbia. The launch will take place in Geneva this December under the auspices of UNHCR and IOM. In addition to the 45 million USD requested in the Response Plan, UNHCR will receive relief items from its global stocks worth 4 million USD.

 

Additional funding will enable the UN Country Team to continue its humanitarian efforts in the country which so far included the delivery of aid services, works and human resources.

 

The United Nations Country Team in Serbia organized its fourth briefing for international partners in close cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs in Belgrade. More than 70 representatives of embassies, international organizations and civil society organizations.

 

Mr. Saint-Lot said he was also „pleased to announce that the first of the two UNFPA mobile clinics will be delivered in Primary Health Center in Šid on Friday.“ This will enable refugee and migrant women to access reproductive health services while en route. Many women currenty shy away from visiting the larger health facilities off the migrant route because  they do not want to delay their own and their families’ onwards movment.

 

Coordinated by the UN Refugee Agency, the UN Country Team comprises the efforts of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN), the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the World Food Programme (WFP).

picture credit © UNHCR / Daniel Etter

 

More information:

Aleksandra Stamenković, UN Country Team Communications Expert

m: 063 302 831, t: 011 2040-406 e: aleksandra.stamenkovic@one.un.org.

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