Partnership with FOSM and NRC

Roma legalization project in its final phase

After four years of implementation the Roma Housing Legalization project enters its final stage. The project, implemented by Habitat Macedonia and its partners Foundation Open Society Macedonia and the National Roma Centrum, supports the most vulnerable Roma families in their effort to legalize their homes, based on the Law on Proceeding with Illegally Built Objects, adopted in 2011.

The multiple amendments of the original text of the law, including the recent involvement of the state agencies in providing the services which were originally developed by the project, didn’t prevent the partners in achieving their goals. As of the end of June 2015 the project supported 1191 families with loans aimed at obtaining the necessary geodetic elaborates, based on which the local governments in Macedonia already issued 290 legalization certificates, with the rest of applications still being processed. In addition to these activities, 37 legalized homes were supported by Habitat Macedonia with another loan for renovation or reconstruction.

The project will remain active until the end of 2015. Before its formal closure there is international thematic conference planned. The organizers are expected to present the results of their engagement, while the participants from the region of Central and Eastern Europe are to be invited to present their experience with the similar activities.