The International Donors Conference on Durable Solutions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons took place on 24 April 2012 in Sarajevo, at the invitation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The conference was organized in close co-operation with the Governments of Montenegro, the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia, as well as with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the European Commission,  the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Government of the United States of America and the Council of Europe Development Bank.

Representatives of 41 countries met to pledge their support to the Joint Regional Multi-Year Programme on Durable Solutions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons aimed at resolving the protracted displacement situation in the four Partner Countries - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia.

The Conference gathered a number of high level representatives, including the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, Vjekoslav Bevanda; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia, Branko Grčić; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zlatko Lagumdžija; Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Montenegro, Milan Roćen; Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, Vesna Pusić; Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Vuk Jeremić; Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of Montenegro, Suad Numanović and Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Damir Ljubić who chaired the Conference. Also in attedance was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres; EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan Füle; OSCE Secretary General, Lamberto Zannier; Council of Europe Development Bank Governor, Rolf Wenzel; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration of the United States of America David M. Robinson. 

The Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, Vjekoslav Bevanda, opened the Conference, thanking the international community for its consistent support for the region and urging the participants – potential donors - to support this final collective effort to close the chapter of the refugee population from 1991-1995 in the region.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the four Partner Countries reconfirmed full commitment of their countries to respect the rights of refugees and internally displaced persons and to closely cooperate to ensure durable solutions for these persons, either through voluntary return and reintegration in their place of origin, or through local integration in their current place of residence.

The Partner Countries’ ministers responsible for refugees and displaced persons presented the Joint Regional Multi-Year Programme on Durable Solutions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, which encompasses a Regional Housing Programme providing for housing solutions to an estimated 27,000 households or 74,000 individuals. The Programme will be implemented in parallel in the four Partner Countries over a five-year period beginning in autumn 2012. According to initial estimates, the total investment cost of the Regional Housing Programme should amount to € 584 million, of which the Partner Countries have committed to providing € 83 million. 

The Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank, Mr. Rolf Wenzel, presented the Regional Housing Programme Fund, which will formally be established in autumn 2012 to manage the financial contributions from the international donors and channel them to the Partner Countries for housing projects support. A Steering Committee composed of the donors, the partner countries, the Council of Europe Development Bank as Fund Secretariat and partner institutions and organizations such as the UNHCR and the OSCE will be established. An Assembly of donors within the Steering Committee will formally approve the Grants requests.

Participants commended the four Partner Countries for the concrete steps that they have taken towards closing the regional aspects of the 1991-1995 displacement chapter. In particular, they expressed confidence in the structures that have been presented to implement the programme efficiently, in a transparent manner and with accountability towards the donor community.

260.505.000 € has been registered today in firm pledges towards the Regional Housing Programme to be released over the estimated five-year implementation period:
- The Government of Turky pledged a total of EUR 1million in support to the Regional Housing Programme
- The Government of the Czech Republic pledged a total of EUR 50.000 in support to the Regional Housing Programme….
- The Government of the USA pledged a total of EUR 7.500.000 in support to the Regional Housing Programme….
- The Government of the Swiss Confederation pledged a total of EUR 5.000.000 in support to the Regional Housing Programme….
- The Government of the Hungary pledged a total of EUR 30.000 in support to the Regional Housing Programme
- The Government of the Denmark pledged a total of EUR 1.300.000 in support to the Regional Housing Programme….
 -The Government of the Germany pledged a total of EUR 5.000.000 in support to the Regional Housing Programme….
 -The Government of the Norway pledged a total of EUR 5.000.000 in support to the Regional Housing Programme….
 -The Government of the Luxemburg pledged a total of EUR 500.000 in support to the Regional Housing Programme
 -The European Commission announced that it will pledge a total of EUR 230 million, , mainly through the instrument for pre-accession assistance (IPA).
- The ammount that the Government of the Slovak Republic will pledge in support to the Regional Housing Programme shall be determined at a later date.
- The Government of the Cyprus pledged a total of EUR 50.000 in support to the Regional Housing Programme….
- The Government of the Italy pledged a total of EUR 5.000.000 in support to the Regional Housing Programme….
- The Government of the Romania pledged a total of EUR 50.000 in support to the Regional Housing Programme
- Ms. Sadako Ogata, as a special guest of UNHCR, pledged a total of EUR 25.000 in support to the Regional Housing Programme.

All donors expressed their strong intention to continue with their contributions beyond the current budget cycle of their respective governments, until the end of implementation of the Regional Housing Programme.

The four Partner Countries expressed deep appreciation to the donor countries, for their sincere support in the joint effort to address the housing needs of vulnerable refugees and internally displaced persons, as defined in the Regional Housing Programme. 

Furthermore, the four Partner Countries called on all donors present and hopefully a number of additional ones, to lend strong support to the Regional Housing Programme budget, throughout the estimated five years of its implementation. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia confirmed their readiness to start the implementation of the Joint Regional Multi-Year Programme on Durable Solutions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons.