The signing ceremony of the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between six BiH municipalities that suffered damage in the recent floods, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), marked the beginning of the fourth phase of the 2 million euro EU funded project “Reinforcement of Local Democracy IV (LOD IV)”.

The Mayors of Bijeljina, Doboj, Domaljevac – Samac, Maglaj, Samac and Zepce signed the MoUs at the event which was attended by the representatives of the BiH Ministry of Justice, the EU Delegation to BiH, UNDP in BiH, Entity Associations of Municipalities and Cities and civil society representatives.

The event marked the beginning of new activities contributing to the following LOD IV goals: 1) Establishing permanent partnerships between civil society organisations (CSOs) and local authorities by raising awareness on mutually beneficial cooperation; 2) Generating an unified and transparent mechanism for disbursing municipal budget funds designated for CSOs’ project activities; 3) Building CSOs’ capacities for improved responses to local needs.

“These six municipalities and cities will directly participate in the fourth phase of the LOD project which represents a part of the EU response to the damages caused by the recent floods. We are establishing cooperation in order to normalize life in the areas affected by floods and to support development of vital and democratic society, promoting more efficient cooperation with civil society and enhancing sustainable local development, that is one of the LOD project goals”, said Slobodan Tadic, UNDP Senior Programme Coordinator.

Head of Operations Section for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross Border Cooperation at the EU Delegation to BiH, Natalia Dianiskova, welcomed the beginning of the fourth phase and successful implementation of the previous three phases, also funded by the EU in the total amount of 5 million euros. “Through projects like this, the EU shows its strong commitment to the improvement of mutual cooperation between civil society and local self-government units and improvement of the situation directly in the field,” she said.

Secretary of the BiH Ministry of Justice, Zeljko Bogut, emphasized the importance of the LOD project in connecting citizens with local authorities and developing transparent mechanisms for disbursing the LSU’s budget funds designated for CSO project activities. He was very pleased with the active participation of parties in the LOD project and its support to the flooded areas to provide quick responses to the needs of these areas.

The Reinforcement of Local Democracy IV is a project implemented by UNDP and funded by the European Union (EU) through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) in the amount of 2 million euros. The LOD project, in its fourth phase, continues to build local democracy and improving cooperation between civil society and local authorities.

Apart from the listed six signatory parties, the LOD IV project will soon announce a public call to select an additional number of local self-governance units to participate in the project.