UNHCR will continue working with the government and other stakeholders in facilitating voluntary return, with a focus on enabling IDPs to make an informed choice on their durable solution through the organization of ”go and see” visits, return informative meetings and participation in municipal working group meetings of IDP representatives, and will participate in the discussions within the so-called Skopje Process and the inter-institutional initiative on durable solutions for displaced people from Kosovo (S/RES/1244(1999)).
As of 2015 UNHCR provided operational assistance to IDPs within the SEEDS Project and through the preparation of a Programmatic Document, which provides pathways and direction for action to all relevant stakeholders dealing with IDP durable solutions (government, civil society, international organizations and international donors). On the basis of The Programmatic Document, UNHCR will focus on operational activities in 3 to 5 Serbian municipalities with comprehensive solutions directed at (2 or 3 municipalities) for Roma IDPs and (1 or 2 municipalities) targeting the most vulnerable IDPs. The comprehensive solutions will encompass areas of shelter (village houses, shelter improvements, etc.), income generation, access to education, access to employment, capacity building directed at facilitating cooperation between the local communities and the IDP beneficiaries. These comprehensive solutions should represent a series of best practices on which the government should in the future base its durable solutions activities.
Together with the Ombudsman and Commissioner for Equality, UNHCR will continue building the capacity of local administrative organs in the area of UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, anti-discrimination and good governance, with the aim of preventing ethnic incidence and removing obstacles for the full integration of Roma IDPs.
UNHCR’s assumptions are the following:
1. The Government takes a proactive approach in IDP durable solutions;
2. The Government accepts the two-fold approach for IDP durable solution, i.e. voluntary return and local integration in displacement;
3. The Government incorporates the needs of IDPs identified in the IDP Needs Assessment, the internally displaced Roma’ needs assessment and the programmatic document into their policy documents and action plans.