A two-day conference on “Policy Dialogue for All: What are the next steps for the development of policy dialogue between government and civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina?” began on Tuesday in Ilidža near Sarajevo. The Conference was organized within the Cidi project “Capacity Building of Civil Society to Take Part in Policy Dialogue in BiH”, financed by the European Union through IPA program in the amount of 1.2 million Euro.
The project’s team leader, Zelah Senior, said the conference was great opportunity for civil society organisations in BiH and government representatives to take part in a dialogue on practical steps that need to be taken in order to improve their cooperation in enacting, implementing and monitoring laws and policies which will efficiently solve problems and needs of BiH citizens.
Natalia Dianiskova, Head of the Operation Section for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross-Border Cooperation at the EU Delegation to BiH, said this is the opportunity for the representatives of the authorities and civil societies, who already have taken part in the Cidi project, to discuss the results of their efforts so far and exchange ideas and experiences.
“A developed civil society, and the participation of civil society in making decisions, is one of the foundations of a democratic state,” said Dianiskova. She stressed that it is impossible to imagine a democratic society without a developed civil society.
Dianiskova also said that authentically democratic governments invariably take recommendations and ideas of civil society into account when they make decisions, and this is why this project is so important to the European Union. She stressed that the European Union would, through IPA program, continue to support development of the civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a focus on fighting corruption, developing civil society networks, promoting environmental protection and strengthening local democracy.
“We are trying to support civil society and make it strong enough to be able to participate with government representatives in adopting laws and policies,” Dianiskova said.
Sadeta Škaljić, Assistant Minister at the BiH Justice Ministry, noted that cooperation with civil society in the adoption of laws means that citizens gave their contribution in legislation and will play role in its implementation.
Škaljić added that government and civil society are not opposed to each other. They both work on the same objectives and the main objective is a democratic society.
Participants at the conference will have an opportunity to exchange experiences in policy dialogue with representatives of authorities and civil society from Montenegro, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia.
