Bosnia and Herzegovina - Supporting Civil Society Engagement

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Supporting Civil Society Engagement Business Challenges


The current engagement of civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is weak and sporadic. This fact was highlighted during the preparation of the country’s Justice Sector Reform Strategy (JSRS) , in which Atos Consulting played a central role.


In relation to civil society, the JSRS states that “ … active participation of the non-governmental sector has to be increased. At the moment, in all sectors there is a lack of active participation of NGOs… Input from diverse interest groups can assist the justice sector as a whole in the resolution of present and potential conflicts in society, and improved access to justice. It is of great importance to find a systematic model for more active engagement of the NGO sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina through their greater involvement at all key stages of development of justice policies… ”


Solutions

Against this background, Atos Consulting is working to improve understanding of the potential role of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the BiH justice and security sectors and to identify mechanisms to increase their participation, so as to assist the accountable and equitable delivery of justice and security services to BiH citizens.


Project activities in Phase I have included the following:

  • Research into civil society engagement in other countries, identifying lessons that can be learned for BiH;
  • Mapping CSOs currently operating in BiH in the justice and security sectors;
  • Identifying the opportunities for CSO involvement in the BiH justice and security sectors, and the potential barriers which CSOs and BiH public servants face;
  • Building capacity of BiH civil servants and representatives of CSOs iso that they can engage better with each other;
  • Proposing mechanisms to enhance CSO involvement.

We worked closely with a wide range of stakeholders, both internal and external to the State Ministries of Justice and Security (MoJ and MoS), ensuring that they are aware of their responsibilities in relation to the role that CSOs play in developing strategy and policy, as well as holding justice and security sector institutions to account.


Phase II of the project began in February 2009. This phase of the project has 4 key activity areas:

  • CSO Engagement with the MoJ’s Strategic Plan
  • CSO Engagement with the MoS’s Strategic Plan
  • More active engagement of the CSO sector in monitoring the BiH justice sector
  • Strengthening the Engagement of Civil Society in Monitoring the Implementation of the JSRS.

Benefits

Benefits arising from arising from Phase I of the project included:

  • Increased awareness amongst BiH MoJ and BiH MoS personnel of the importance and benefits of CSO engagement in the security and justice sectors;
  • Knowledge of which CSOs operate in BiH in the justice and security sectors, and their strengths and weaknesses;
  • The development of a capability framework for CSO engagement which identifies the key factors which influence the ability of the BiH MoJ and BiH MoS to engage with CSOs;
  • The development of a capability framework for CSO engagement which identifies the key factors which influence the ability of the CSOs to engage with the BiH MoJ and the BiH MoS;
  • Increased awareness amongst justice and security related CSOs of the ways in which they can engage with the BiH MoJ and BiH MoS;
  • Identification of tangible areas where CSOs can work to assist the BiH MoJ/BiH MoS to implement their respective strategic plans;
  • Establishment of dialogue between representatives from BiH MoJ and BiH MoS and representatives from relevant CSOs;
  • Agreement between CSO and BiH MoJ representatives on a methodology to involve CSOs in the monitoring of the JSRS.

By the end of Phase II of the project, in addition to embedding tangible CSO engagement in the BiH MoJ and BiH MoS, we expect to have achieved the following across the 4 Components:

  • Increased engagement of CSOs in the work of selected sectors of the State Ministries of Justice and Security e.g. CSOs are communicating with officials in the sectors, and are undertaking activities that engage with the policy areas and strategic programmes of the sectors (Ministry Strategic Plans and JSRS).


  • Strengthened capacity of BiH MOJ and BiH MOS staff in selected sectors to engage with CSOs e.g. ministry staff aware that CSOs have a role to play in their sectors, are aware of the relevant CSOs for their sector, are aware of possible mechanisms and procedures to facilitate engagement, and are communicating with CSOs to facilitate their implementation of engagement activities.


  • Strengthened capacity of CSOs to engage with the BiH MOS and BiH MOJ e.g. CSOs are aware of the strategic priorities of the sectors, are aware of their own strengths and weaknesses.

The overall impact of the project to date has been to strengthen the participation of civil society in the delivery of justice and security in BiH, in line with EU Accession priorities, the Millennium Development Goals and the UK Government’s own Conflict Prevention Strategy for BiH.

Key Facts

Sector

Public Sector