CCI presented the results of monitoring of work of 13 governments and parliaments in BiH for the first six months of 2017. These activities are part of the project „Civil Society Sustainability Project“ (CSSP) supported by USAID.
By way of these findings, CCI provides to BH citizens the information about the work of their elected representatives in state, entities' and cantonal authorities’ bodies. These activities are a part of the project CSSP – project of sustainability of the civil society, supported by USAID.
One of the goals of these reports, that are published quarterly, is to present to the public the recommendations for improving the work of the mentioned institutions and the improvement of „two-way communication“ between the authorities and the civil sector. 13 press conferences were held across the BiH and more than half million citizens were informed about results of the work of elected representatives.
On the following links you can read summary of monitoring reports.
BiH Federation - Monitoring performance of the FBiH Government and FBiH Parliament 1.1. – 30.6.2017
All proposals made by CCI with regard to the new Law on Civil Service in the Una-Sana Canton were accepted and adopted.
Cantonal Assembly adopted this Law in July 2017. CCI proactively participated in the public debate and prepared specific solutions and proposals that made an impact on the depoliticization of civil service. Concretely, proposals were adopted as follow: clear delineation of civil service from political functions; selection of the best ranked candidates to take office in civil service (e.g. selection as per the list, not from the list of candidates); and the limitation of a mandate of heads of administrations and administrative organizations, which shall not be related to the mandate of a body that appoints this person, which reaches a higher level of the depoliticization, professionalization and continuity in civil service.
The informative and promotional campaign under a new slogan "Pošteni javni konkursi - jednaka šansa svakome" (Fair public vacancies - equal opportunities for everyone) intensified parallel to the lobbying campaign. The campaign was continually implemented in the web and Facebook page "Sposobnim, a ne podobnim" (To the capable, not the suitable), but also in street actions and direct communication with the citizens.
These acctivities are part of the project “Strengthening the Integrity of the Public Sector: De-politicization for the Rule of Law”which is supported by EU Delegation to BiH.
Donation in equipment, which in addition to other activities for flood prevention amounts to more than 60,000 KM, was delivered to the Civil Protection in Bijeljina
within the project implemented by Centres for Civic Initiatives (CCI) in cooperation with the City of Bijeljina and supported by the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Equipment, which was delivered on 8 September 2017, comprising four dinghies with full related equipment and communication systems, represents significant investments into prevention and protection from floods in the City of Bijeljina.
This donation is aimed at strengthening the capacities for prevention and protection from natural disasters, as defined by the mentioned project titled "Improvement of the system for prevention and protection from floods in the city of Bijeljina and the municipalities of Sapna, Teočak, Lopare and Šekovići".
The equipment was delivered to the representatives of the Civil Protection in Bijeljina, in the presence of CCI and local authorities.
"Improvement of the system for prevention and protection from floods" in the mentioned areas is a project developed in a partnership with city administrations, financially supported by the EU; it represents a cooperation of which CCI is especially proud.
"A reason is primarily that that activities are performed in the interest of citizens, those who were most vulnerable by the 2014 floods. The project is implemented in the municipalities of Sapna, Teočak, Lopare and Šekovići with the same objective, where in addition to investments into furnishing the headquarters of Civil Protection, also conducts the activities relating to the cleaning of more than 5.500 metres of canals and drainage systems and their deepening with the installation of diverse culverts ", said Denis Telić, CCI project manager.
Project "Improvement of the system for prevention and protection from floods" also comprised the remediation of two larger landslides that were generated as a consequence of the 2014 floods. Total investments in the mentioned local communities exceed 300,000 KM; in addition to the cleaning and remediation, the money was invested into equipment that was identified as priority, and contributes to the strengthening of capacities of Civil Protection.
Representatives of Civil Protection in the city of Bijeljina expressed their gratitude to the project leaders; on behalf of the city, the gathered were addressed by mayor Mićo Mićić.
"City administration and department of Civil Protection received a great donation that reflects in not only equipment but funds that we received to clean the canals in the Ljeljenča Local Community, within the aid after the 2014 floods. I would like to thank the EU for the funds invested so far, but also for what will be done in the future with regard to flood protection", said Mićić.
Let us remind, during the devastating floods, the total damaged caused by the disaster reached an amount of 2.04 billion EUR or 15% of the total gross domestic product (GDP) in BiH in the year 2014.
CCI still continues to implement the project "Improvement of the system for prevention and protection from floods" through the implementation of activities such as specialist training of members of Civil Protection from the city of Bijeljina, who, as certified rescuers on and under water, will be able to efficiently contribute to the strengthening of capacities of prevention and protection from floods.
By conducting the public debate ‘Constitutional Reforms in the Sarajevo Canton, a large step forward?’ CCI started the implementation of a new project 'Inclusive legal reforms for a good management'.
The debate caught extensive public awareness; it was attended by the Prime Minister of the Sarajevo Canton, Konaković, and Minister of Justice and Administration in the SC Nenadić. All political parties and representatives in the Assembly of the Sarajevo Canton were publicly invited to give their maximum contribution in a session of the Assembly in order to assure extensive assembly support to this great reform.
These efforts were fruitful because two weeks later, an amendment to the Constitution of the Sarajevo Canton was adopted in a session of the Assembly of the Sarajevo Canton on 31.07.2017, which launched the constitutional reforms. After the amendment was adopted, the project team conducted a series of consultations with relevant ministry and other stakeholders in order to consider possibilities for further steps in the process of implementation of constitutional reforms but also adoption of other laws.
Parallel to these activities, a visual identity of the lobbying campaign titled "Bolje Sarajevo - za sve nas!" (Better Sarajevo - for all of us!) was also defined; it is aimed at involving the citizens into decision-making processes, i.e. into the constitutional reform processes. A Facebook page was created and launched in early September; its goal is to create a platform for informing the citizens of project activities, implementation of constitutional reforms, (non)quality of public services, but it will also serve as space for a discussion on topics relating to the implementation of constitutional reforms. The content of Facebook page "Bolje Sarajevo" is updated on a daily basis, this is an attempt to encourage the citizens to discuss and be involved in the processes of constitutional reforms in Sarajevo.
The Project ‘Inclusive legal reforms for a good management’ implemented by CCI supported by the Government of Switzerland, is focused on the removal of constitutional ambiguities, and conflict of jurisdiction among nine councils in Sarajevo, City of Sarajeva and Sarajevo Canton. Through the informative and educational campaign "Bolje Sarajevo" (Better Sarajevo) the project shall contribute to making the reforms inclusive, enabling an ample participation of citizens and placing public interest, quality of services and satisfaction of citizens above all other priorities.
Street actions 'Fair public vacancies - equal opportunities for everyone' were conducted during the period from 30.06. to 15.09. in Tuzla, Bijeljina, Bihać, Banjaluka, Sarajevo and Mostar.
Street actions caught a great media attention, citizens provided a strong support, and, in addition to more than 10 thousand signatures collected in a petition for changes in the subject legislation, a significant number of citizens directly addressed CCI. Notably, more than 400 citizens conveyed their (mostly negative) experiences relating to the participation in the procedures of employment in the public sector; there has also been launched a video/photo challenge "Pošteni javni konkursi - jednaka šansa svakome" (Fair public vacancies - equal opportunities for everyone) where the citizens, in an original way, show their attitude towards corruption in employment and propose solutions to this problem. All the mentioned stories, creative video records and photographs were published in social media, and citizens were provided with legal counsel for specific further actions and protection of their rights.
These activities are a part of the project 'Strengthening the public sector integrity: depoliticization for the rule of law', which is implemented by CCI supported by the Delegation of the European Union to BiH, which is aimed at contributing to the rule of law and a good management in BiH, lobbying for professionalism and integrity of the public sector, especially the procedure of appointment and employment in the public sector.
Coalition "Pod lupom" held a public debate in Stolac and a regional conference in Mostar on September the 12th and 13th, within the lobbying campaign for changes in the electoral legislation.
The public debate in Stolac was focused on the issue of interruption of the election process, whereas the regional conference in Mostar was focused on the lack of local elections in this city since the year 2008.
These events gathered more than 80 participants; they presented the Final report on the Monitoring of Local elections in 2016, recommendations by the Coalition "Pod lupom" to improve the election process; irregularities in elections in BiH were also discussed.
The work of the Coalition "Pod lupom" is supported by the Delegation of the European Commission to BiH through the BASE (Building Accountability and Systems in Elections) Project.
City stands were organized in 4 towns. The citizens were notified of the prevention and protection from floods and fire.
During August, CCI organised street stalls in Točak, Sapna, Šekovići and Bijeljina. On this occasion, the prepared printed materials were used to introduce the citizens in more detail to the rights and obligations during extraordinary situations, specifically during floods and fires. The messages are educational so that citizens could identify potential hazard on time, but also react in the best possible way if they find themselves in a situation of natural disasters that we had in 2014. These activities are implemented within the "Improving the flood protection system” Project that is supported by the Delegation of the European Union to BiH.
A new project ‘Strengthening the responsibility of the authorities in BiH for reform implementation’ implemented by CCI, is aimed at providing a contribution to increasing the efficiency in the implementation of the second phase of Reform Agenda
and acceleration of EU integrations, and development of image and legitimacy of CSO in the lobbying for the resolution of problems of BiH citizens. The project is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Holland in BiH,
One of the first activities in the project, which was implemented during August 2017, was the development of a draft methodology for the measurement of realization and efficacy of the Reform Agenda and EU integrations. The methodology document defines the purpose and structure of project activities of monitoring. A matrix was created to assess the course of reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This matrix consists of four units: An overview of the implementation of the Reform Agenda, Efficacy of the Reform Agenda, EU integration processes and Annexes. A key property of the methodology is that each field of the Reform Agenda has 1-3 specific indicators for efficacy assessment, not only statistics of reform implementation. The purpose of monitoring is to interpret in a simple way to the public the importance, principles, scope, effects and procedures of issuing and implementing the measures comprised by the Reform Agenda, as well as the status of EU integrations through three reports "State of the nation".
Draft methodology document is presented in Sarajevo in late August, to a focus group of experts in the field of economy and employment. All remarks and proposals by the present members were taken into consideration when finalizing the document "Draft methodology for measurement of implementation and efficacy of the Reform Agenda and European Integrations". The result of a joint assessment conducted by the focus group was that the most significant objective of domestic authorities should be acceleration of EU integrations, a stronger economic growth, reduction of unemployment, increasing the level of active and employed population and a more fair distribution of social aid.
By the end of September 2017, the activities of CCI are directed at the collection of data on the implementation of measures contained in Action plans for the Reform Agenda implementation for all levels of authority, as well as economic indicators published by the state and entity institutions and agencies, and available data from international agencies and institutions. The collected data and indicators are crucial input for the generation of first report "State of the nation", which shall give an overview of the implementation of the Reform Agenda and EU integrations in the first three quarters of the year 2017.
A new project of CCI focusing on reducing unemployment.
The cooperation between the City of Bijeljina and the Centres for Civic Initiatives continued by singing the Memorandum of Understanding. The Memorandum was signed on 19 August 2017 on the occasion of the beginning of the implementation of the project “Strengthening integral agricultural production for decrease of unemployment and substitution of import in processing industry”, which includes the plan to work on the decrease of unemployment in the area of Bijeljina City, through the partnership of the Centers for Civic Initiatives, the City of Bijeljina, the Republic of Srpska Employment Bureau, Company Sava Semberija doo and the Adult Education Institution “Dositej”.
The project envisages to provide, by 31 December 2018, for 50 non-registered agricultural farms, support, training and the supply of necessary production material to be used for production of 600 tons of red paprika that will be placed as rare raw material in the domestic processing industry Company Sava Semberija doo. The project also plans that the farmers would register and acquire the status of the employed persons, and then have a long-term business cooperation that could set an example for other activities too.
After signing the Memorandum, the Contract on Co-financing was signed too, which sets forth that the project would be implemented by the Centres for Civic Initiatives with the financial support of the International Labour Organisation (87%) and co-financing of the Bijeljina City (13%). The total value of the project is 215.194 Euro (420.883 KM).
The project is being implemented through the Local Partnerships for Employment, which is a part of the program financed by the European Union, which aims at re-qualification and harmonization of supply and demand for labour and creation of new jobs in Bosnia and Herzegovina local communities.
Kontakti
cci@ccibh.org