Kosovo* faces challenges related to the delivery of social housing due to social, economic, political, and environmental factors and their combined effects. The main challenges are a weak policy environment, limited institutional capacity, an ineffective housing market, inadequate living including housing standards, and growing informal construction. Various shocks and stresses, including the Covid-19 pandemic, urbanisation, migration, climate change and energy crisis further compound these challenges.
In response to this challenging context, Kosovo, with the support of UN-Habitat, has designed the Adequate Social Housing Programme seeking to establish a long-term sustainable social and affordable housing system to improve living conditions of vulnerable, marginalised and low- to middle-income households and communities across Kosovo.
The programme aims to i) strengthen institutional capacities and coordination among Kosovo’s institutions relevant to the programme, ii) underpin further development of social and affordable housing legislative framework, and iii) facilitate the supply of social and affordable housing through mobilisation of capital for investments, potentially public-private partnerships, development of housing loan products, development of livelihood strategies and other initiatives. This is a 10-year-plus programme that would be implemented incrementally and in phases.
The Programme is divided into three components where WBIF will provide technical assistance for Component 1 (Adequate Social Housing), to increase the supply of adequate public social and affordable housing for rental to vulnerable, marginalised and low- to middle-income households, and Component 2 (Adequate Home Improvement) to improve housing owned by poor to low-income vulnerable groups to make their accommodation adequate for living.
Technical assistance will cover setting up the implementation system through a series of documents constituting a comprehensive Project Implementation Manual (PIM), and supporting the selection, preparation and implementation of sub-projects, procurement, execution of works and monitoring.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
