The final conference of the project “Reinforcement of Local Democracy IV – LOD”, that helped establish partnerships between local authorities and civil society across the country, was held today in Sarajevo. The project was funded by the European Union in total amount of EUR 7 million, and implemented by United Nations Development Programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNDP BiH), in partnership with BiH Ministry of Justice, local self-government units and number of civil society organisations.
Over the past seven years, the project supported 50 local self-government units and 234 civil society organisations in jointly reinforcing local democracy, strengthening the capacity of local authorities and their cooperation with civil society, especially in the transparency of fund allocation and project design. These activities also contributed towards an improved delivery of services of municipalities and cities to citizens.
“The citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina should be able to participate in policy making at all levels of government, both directly or via civil society organisations. Therefore, the constructive cooperation between authorities and civil society as well as increased participation of civil society in the democratic processes, are in the interest of citizens,” stated Melvin Asin, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to BiH. “We hope that the authorities at the upper level in BiH will follow the positive practices of partnerships between local authorities and civil society organisations that have been established within this project, because this will assist BiH in implementing the reforms necessary for its path toward the EU”.
Among many activities, the project introduced a specific methodology for transparent allocation of funds to civil society organisations, which replaced the previous model of direct distribution.
“The Reinforcement of Local Democracy project contributed to the creation of the methodology for transparent funds disbursement and improving service delivery through the services provided by civil society which consequently led to improving the quality of life for more than 80,000 socially excluded people in 50 local communities,” said Sezin Sinanoglu, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in BiH.
LOD project has enabled the effective participation of civil society in defining local policies and decision-making processes. In that way, municipal and city authorities have become more open to citizens, and worked in cooperation with civil society organisations to identify and resolve real problems in local communities. Civil society organisations have achieved a more active role in local communities, which enabled them to become better service providers and equal partner to local authorities.
“The activities implemented within the LOD project show that this project is successful, as it contributes to enhancing connections between citizens and municipalities, as well as to better communication between civil society organisations and local governance, and also represents a significant contribution to democratic stabilisation, reconciliation and further development of BiH in the processes of European integration,” said Željko Bogut, Secretary of BiH Ministry of Justice.
The project also contributed to the recovery of flood affected communities in BiH, by reconstructing facilities for social services in six cities and municipalities. Today’s conference also discussed future project plans, and it was announced that due to the positive results of the LOD project achieved in BiH, a possibility is considered to launch a broader initiative and replicate this model of strengthening local democracy in the countries in the region in 2016.
