MAPPING THE ILLEGAL DUMPS IN FBIH The project has during 2019 continued to collect and process the information about the locations and contents of illegal dumps received from the local self-government units as well as the information received through the “green alarm” number (080 05 05 06).  The information about 1,400 locations received from 56 local self-government units was entered into the database by the end of March. The number of reports made by citizens through the green alarm number is 300. Total amount of waste illegally disposed of in FBiH is around 5.5 mil m3, whereof more than 80% of dumps are still active. The data and the follow-up analysis point to the urgency of a solution to this problem and the need to alarm all government levels to adopt financial and planning documents for the removal and rehabilitation of two illegal dumps, soil rehabilitation and prevention of re-emergence of the dumps at the particular location.

EKOVIZIJA The highlights of the Ekovizija project include the street actions and street quiz. The street actions took place in nine (9) towns across the Federation of BiH: Kakanj, Goražde, Konjic, Bihać, Tuzla, Zenica, Sarajevo, Livno and Mostar, where the CCI and volunteers distributed 6,500 copies of leaflets called “eco manifest”. The project also produced six tv shows -- the street joker quiz-  that were aired on FACE TV (Monday night and Tuesday reruns).  The quiz is also available on InicijativaTV. Information about the street joker announcement and all other information about the campaign were available at the project’s Facebook page. During this period, the CCI produced five texts on the topics addressed in the eco manifest leaflet, fossil fuels, energy efficiency, waste, water, natural resources, etc. The articles are posted on the Facebook page and sent to the media for further exploitation. All contacts with the media and meetings with environmentally friendly and responsible companies are the activities that were realized during this reporting period.

Early Elections to elect Mayors Early Elections to elect Mayors/City Mayors in nine municipalities in BiH "under the magnifying glass" of the Coalition's “Pod lupom” observers For the Early Elections to elect Mayors/ City mayors in nine municipalities/cities in BiH, held on February 17, 2019., the Coalition "Pod lupom" engaged 173 civic, nonpartisan observers. Of these, 143 were deployed at regular polling stations, 14 were deployed in 7 mobile teams, 9 were deployed in local election commissions whilst 5 of them were engaged as long-term observers (LTOs). The Coalition's mission during early elections was to prevent possible abuse and frauds, to ensure compliance with the Election Law of BiH and electoral rules, and to protect voters’ votes.

Evaluation of 2019 Early Elections

Election Day in most of the polling stations was implemented in accordance with the BiH Election Law but with few irregularities and procedural failures in the work of Polling Station Committees. However, it is worrisome that certain irregularities are continuously repeating during every BiH elections while any serious reaction by the legislature, investigative bodies or electoral administration at the highest level is constantly missing. Until 09:00 p.m., the Coalition "Pod lupom" did not record any incidents at polling stations. The Coalition received four calls from citizens. Some of them referred to cases in which voters, upon arriving at the polling stations, recognized that their signature was already in the Central Voters' Register, even though they did not vote earlier.

Final Report on civic, nonpartisan observation of 2018 General Election finished

The Coalition "Pod lupom" finished the final report on civic, nonpartisan observation of the 2018 General Elections. The coalition observed pre-election, election and post-election period in BiH from its Head Office located in Sarajevo and from seven regional offices located throughout BiH.

2018 Impact Report developed.

After finishing all its activities planned in 2018, the Coalition "Pod lupom" developed a short Infographic Impact Report in order to inform the public on its activities implemented during the previous year.

Ongoing preparations to organize the Central Conference of the Coalition "Pod lupom"

Conference "The Future of BiH's Elections: How to Achieve International Standards and Prevent Election Frauds?”, will take place on April 24, 2019, starting at 11:00 a.m.,  in hotel Holliday in Sarajevo. The conference will gather relevant representatives of legislative institutions at all levels in BiH, representatives of the Central Election Commission of BiH and local election administrations, representatives of the international community, representatives of the academic community,  media and civil society. The conclusions of the conference should serve the legislators while making changes/amendments to election legislation in BiH.

The Coalition "Pod lupom" at the international observation mission in Ukraine

Members of the Coalition "Pod lupom" participated in the international monitoring mission of ENEMO (European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations) to observe the 2019 Presidential Elections in Ukraine.

                                          

The Coalition "Pod lupom" continued to monitor the work of the BiH CEC also in 2019. We would like to remind you that in the period before the Coalition was established, BiH CEC's meetings were not attended by civic, nonpartisan observers.

CURING THE UNHEALTHY HEALTH SYSTEM IN BIH Curing the Unhealthy Health System in Bosnia and Herzegovina” is a project implemented by Transparency international BiH (TI) and Centers of Civic Initiatives (CCI) with the support of the European Union. Its implementation started in December 2018.

The project anticipates advocacy for improving the legal regulation and practices of the healthcare institutions in building an anticorruption system. The focus is on public procurement, conflict of interest, human resource management and financial governance. The goal is to improve internal regulations of the healthcare institutions and to amend the legislation to reduce possibilities for corruption. It is also anticipated to develop and establish a model of a transparent electronic waiting list for medical services (key surgeries and examinations with the longest wait time in a selected healthcare institution in BiH.
The highlights of the activities in the first quarter of 2019 include a Public call for projects in the field of fighting corruption in the health care sector. It is anticipated to award five (5) grants to CSOs in BiH in the amount of up to 5,000 Euros, and the implementation of the projects will start in September 2019. The project proposals may include watch dog activities and public campaigns in the field of prevention of corruption in health care, monitoring the provision of services in health care at the local level and investigation and publication of investigative stories about corruption in health care. The goal is to strengthen local and specific advocacy initiatives seeking the introduction and adoption of new anti-corruption policies in the public health care sector and their implementation.

Over the course of this observed period, the project identified the institutions that are to establish a model of a transparent waiting list. Also, meetings with government representatives took place to discuss this matter. The management of the Cantonal Hospital in Zenica expressed their interest in cooperating on this matter, and the project has also received support from the Cantonal Anti-corruption Team of Zenica-Doboj Canton.

Moreover, the project is currently working on an Analysis/Study of the legal framework for introduction of transparent patient waiting lists in the healthcare institutions in BiH. The study will present the legal foundation, a road map and the benefits of disclosing the waiting lists for certain medical examinations and interventions.

Meeting with the management of the Cantonal Hospital in Zenica

MORE EFFICIENT PUBLIC AUDITS FOR LESS CORRUPTION IN BIH In early March 2019, the CCI has launched the implementation of the project “More Efficient Public Audits for Less Corruption in BiH“ aiming to contribute to a more responsible public expenditure and reduction of corruption in the public institutions of BiH. The project is supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency SIDA.  

Project is contributing to a more responsible spending of budget funds and to reduction of corruption in the public institutions in BiH.

Half of audited public institutions are chosen to be audited almost randomly, so a good part of the institutions have never been subject to an audit, and those that have been – they will not be audited again for years, and no one will control implementation of the recommendations from the previous reports until public auditors come again and review previous report.

Since there are no legal sanctions prescribed for failure to comply with auditors' recommendations, they are generally not implemented, thus leaving open space for continuing misusing public resources and feeding corruption.

The project involves creation of a public e-database and recommendations from public audit reports as well as the monitoring and analysis of the implementation of the given recommendations. Also, change of a law regulation will be initiated in order to increase and individualize penalties for failing to meet auditors' recommendations, as well as to reform the role and practice of parliamentary auditing committees. At the same time, efforts will be made to establish coordination bodies between prosecutors' offices and public audit in order to exchange information and improve synergies in dealing with corruption in public institutions.

RESOURCE CENTER FOR BIH CIVIC SOCIETY IN EU INTEGRATIONS The goal of the Resource Center is a strong civil society for better BiH, especially in the context of the EU integration process. This will be achieved through a) strengthening the capacities of CSOs (including civic activists) to become competent, independent and recognized actors in the upcoming negotiation process between BiH and the EU; b) improvement of the institutional framework in BiH as a catalyst for the development of CSOs and a more efficient cooperation with the institutions of BiH and c) strengthening the country’s momentum in the EU reforms and integrations.

The Resource Center is thea commitment of the European Union, the CCI and ACED to support BiH civil society organizations (CSO) to create a service center to provide support to all CSOs through capacity building programs, help-desk services, research, PR and information tools, organization of public events, conferences, and similar activities.
Besides building the capacities of the existing CSOs, we will support the development of new civic initiatives/groups to build on and help the civil society in BiH to position itself as a competent and publicly recognized actor in the decision/making process in BiH – with an accent on the EU integration process. Using this approach will also benefit the institutions in BiH in preparing for the opening of the negotiation chapters with the EU. The project is funded by the EU. This is a four-year project whose implementation started on October 10, 2018.