The one-year project “Improving the Development and Capacity of Social Dialogue and Social Partners in BiH“ which started  last December  was officially presented to the media on January 27th 2010 in the conference hall of Hotel “Bosnia” in Sarajevo. The project was financed by the EU with the objective to overcome present difficulties through application of achievements and experience of other organizations working in the field of social dialogue.

„We’ve invested 500 000 EUR in this project and the main goal is the support to the creation of a Social-Economic Council on the state level which will be in accordance with the Convention of the International Labor Organization, but also in accordance with best practice in the EU. We expect this project to positively influence economic development in BiH, and that the outcome will be establishment of the Social-Economic Council, because we wish to reach a consensus at the state level regarding the policies which might lead to economic regeneration“, said Maria Farrar-Hockley, Head of the Operations Section I within the EU Delegation to BiH.

Ms. Farrar- Hockley explained that the only way to take this project towards better functioning of social dialogue, and in the end, to a more functional society is through active participation of the project’s partners.

Also, the project will assist in development of capacities of the BiH Confederation of Trade Unions, BiH Employers’ Association and representatives of relevant institutions for active and efficient participation in the work of Social and Economic Council.

„We wish to strengthen social partners so that they would be able, later on, to deal with social and economic issues themselves. The accent in this project is on partnership building. I already see that the participants are open and interested to make this project a success. I think that BiH is not in a bad situation when it comes to social dialogue. My country is Hungary and it also went through this phase and it managed to overcome all obstacles, and I really think BiH can do it too“, said Bela Benyo, Project Team Leader.

The project will promote  social dialogue as a functional part of the relation between the institutions, employers and workers on all levels, from planning to administration of the policies, practice and implementation.

„The problem in BiH, when it comes to social cohesion and establishment of social partnership on all levels, is that the public still lacks sufficient information which is what this institute of social partnership represents. We will ask media to make time for issues that we deal with, issues that are of key importance for our country“, said Alija Remzo Bakšić, the Director of BiH Association of Employers.

The training program will include study trips in order to examine the best practices in the EU, and the focus will be on issues such as European integration and the social dialogue, social dialogue skills, and the analyses of the policies for formulation of capacities.