To build a house and live in it

In situations when one's house and job are lost after one becomes a refugee, the only hope for help and support is the state. Yet there are some other organizations that deal with refugees. One of them is the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Fifteen years ago its department was opened in the North Caucasus, with the head office situated in Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia. This was the place which had to meet the stream of refugees from South Ossetia and some inner districts of Georgia. The first thing the UN office is dealing with is housing for the refugees.

There are two criteria to grant financial support to refugees: the possession of land and the ability to build a house without hired construction workers. The question of land is more complicated than the question of construction because it can be resolved only by the state, which has the right to decide to whom the land can be granted. Oleg Dzugayev, the head of administration of the Ardon district says that almost all the families of refugees are given land, 4000 people overall. The district administration is constantly cooperating with the UN HCR office. 280 families in the district are waiting for their new houses to be built with UN support.

Although many problems with housing for refugees have already been
resolved, a lot of work still remains to be done. Good results can be
achieved through the cooperation of the refugees themselves, the
federal and local authorities and the UN.