As part of the project "Strengthening local participation and cooperation through partnership of public authorities and civil society organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina - LINK 4 Cooperation", financed by the European Union, the first Forum for the exchange of best practices of cooperation between civil society organizations (CSOs) and local authorities was held in Zavidovići on March 17, 2022.
In addition to representatives of the international community and representatives of donors, the Forum was also attended by representatives of local authorities and CSOs from Berković, Jablanica, Kostajnica, Maglaj, Mostar, Nevesinje, Novi Grad, Prijedor, Ravno, Trebinje, Zavidovići and Žepče, who jointly identified specific challenges of cooperation and expressed readiness to find solutions to strengthen cooperation.
The central event of the Forum was the launch of the ELoGE program of the Council of Europe in Bosnia and Herzegovina, designed to support communities in their quest to improve their local self-government, which will be implemented in 12 cities and municipalities covered by the project. The goal is to conduct self-assessments of those cities and municipalities in accordance with the 12 principles of good democratic governance. The first ELoGE accredited platform in BiH, which consists of project consortium representatives, will be continuously available to cities and municipalities in the self-assessment process in the coming months.
Bearing in mind the importance of starting such a process, Bojana Urumova, head of the Council of Europe Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, addressed the audience via video link, saying:
"In the year when Bosnia and Herzegovina marks 20 years of membership in the Council of Europe, it is a pleasure to see that local organizations like the Mostar Local Democracy Agency have the capacity to work on improving the quality of local democracy. In cooperation with the Center for Expertise in Good Governance of the Council of Europe, I am convinced that the 12 local communities, participants in this program, will improve governance processes at the local level. Through the new Action Plan for the period from 2022-2025, the Council of Europe will continue to support the development of democracy, transparency in work and the inclusion of citizens in decision-making processes."
Some of the recommendations that emerged from the work in groups during the Forum, as well as the moderator's analysis, showed that:
- There is a formal framework for cooperation such as the Statute, the Rules of Procedure of the Council, services and/or officers for cooperation with CSOs (80%-100%), and to a lesser extent: strategic documents that ensure the involvement of civil society organizations, communication strategy/plan, cooperation agreement with CSOs (30%-60%);
- There are budget items intended for financing associations and foundations, as well as funds for projects of interest to the local community (70% -100%), but there are no clear and transparent procedures and criteria for the allocation of these funds (35% - 40%);
- There is a basis for communication and the inclusion of citizens in decision-making processes: websites and Facebook pages, specific dates for the reception of citizens, online communication, participation in budgeting, reports from local council sessions (60%-100%), there is a need to inform citizens andCSOs in general about the work of local self-governments, about the services they provide to citizens, about the possibilities and methods of communication with local authorities, and about the methods and tools of involving citizens in planning and decision-making processes.Also, there is a great need for digitization and general modernization of communication mechanisms and citizen participation in these processes.
The project "LINK for cooperation " aims to strengthen the capacity of local authorities and civil society organizations in conducting participatory processes in order to jointly identify specific community problems and, thanks to the participatory approach, find the most optimal solutions. The Mostar Local Democracy Agency is the project manager in cooperation with project partners: Zavidovići Local Democracy Agency, Prijedor Local Democracy Agency, Herzegovina Development Center (CRH) from Trebinje, ALDA - European Association for Local Democracy and ALDA Skopje as an associate partner. Its implementation began on January 1, 2021 and will last until December 31, 2023. Its value is over EUR 540,000, of which the European Union provided over EUR 490,000 in grants.
The "LINK 4 cooperation" project aims to strengthen the capacity of local authorities and civil society organizations in conducting participatory processes in order to jointly identify specific community problems and, thanks to a participatory approach, find the most optimal solutions. The Local Democracy Agency Mostar is the project leader in cooperation with partners of the project: Local Democracy Agency Zavidovići, Local Democracy Agency Prijedor, Center for Development of Herzegovina (CRH) from Trebinje, ALDA - European Association for Local Democracy and ALDA Skopje as an associated partner. The implementation started on January 1, 2021 and will last until December 31, 2023. Its value is over EUR 540,000, the European Union provided over EUR 490,000.
FORUM ZA RAZMJENU NAJBOLJIH PRAKSI SARADNJE ORGANIZACIJA CIVILNOG DRUŠTVA I LOKALNIH VLASTI
Dana 17.03.2022. godine je u Zavidovićima, u okviru projekta „Jačanje lokalnog učešća i saradnje kroz partnerstvo javnih vlasti i organizacija civilnog društva u Bosni i Hercegovini – LINK za saradnju/suradnju”, finansiranog od strane Evropske unije, održan prvi Forum za razmjenu najboljih praksi saradnje organizacija civilnog društva (OCD) i lokalnih vlasti.
Pored predstavnika međunarodne zajednice i predstavnika donatora, Forumu su prisustvovali i predstavnici lokalnih vlasti i OCD-a iz Berkovića, Jablanice, Kostajnice, Maglaja, Mostara, Nevesinja, Novog Grada, Prijedora, Ravnog, Trebinja, Zavidovića i Žepča, koji su zajednički identificirali konkretne izazove suradnje i iskazali spremnost za pronalaženje optimalnih rješenja za jačanje suradnje.
Središnji događaj Foruma bilo je pokretanje ELoGE programa Vijeća Europe u Bosni i Herzegovini, osmišljenog da podrži zajednice u njihovoj potrazi za poboljšanjem svoje lokalne samouprave, a koji će se provoditi u 12 gradova i općina/opština obuhvaćenih projektom. Cilj je sprovesti samoprocjene tih gradova i općina/opština u skladu s 12 načela dobrog demokratskog upravljanja. Prva ELoGE akreditirana platforma u BiH koju čine predstavnici konzorcija projekta, kontinuirano će biti na raspolaganju gradovima i općinama/opštinama u procesu samoprocjene u narednim mjesecima.
Imajući u vidu važnost pokretanja ovakvog procesa, prisutnima se putem video linka obratila Bojana Urumova, šefica Ureda Vijeća Europe u BiH, rekavši:
“U godini kada Bosna i Hercegovina obilježava 20 godina od članstva u Vijeću Evrope, zadovoljstvo je vidjeti da lokalne organizacije poput Agencije lokalne demokratije Mostar imaju kapacitet da rade na poboljšanju kvalitete lokalne demokratije. U saradnji sa Centrom za ekspertizu u dobrom upravljanju Vijeća Evrope, ubijeđena sam da će 12 lokalnih zajednica, učesnica ovog programa, unaprijediti procese upravljanja na lokalnom nivou. Vijeće Evrope će kroz novi Akcioni plan za period od 2022-2025. godine nastaviti da pruža podršku razvoju demokratije, transparentnosti u radu i uključivanju građana u procese donošenja odluka.”
Neke od preporuka koje su proizašle iz rada u grupama tokom Foruma kao i analize moderatora pokazale su da:
- Postoji formalni okvir za suradnju poput Statuta, Poslovnika o radu Vijeća/Skupštine, službi i/ili službenika za suradnju s OCD-ima (80%-100%), te u manjoj mjeri: strateški dokumenti koji osiguravaju uključenost organizacija civilnog društva, komunikacijska strategija/plan, sporazum o suradnji s OCDima (30%-60%);
- Postoje budžetske stavke namijenjene financiranju udruga i zaklada, kao i sredstva za projekte od interesa za lokalnu zajednicu (70% -100%), ali ne postoje jasne i transparentne procedure i kriteriji za dodjelu tih sredstava (35% - 40%);
- Postoji osnova za komunikaciju i uključivanje građana u procese donošenja odluka: web stranice i Facebook stranice, određeni datumi za prijem građana, online komunikacija, sudjelovanje u budžetiranju, izvješća sa sjednica Vijeća/Skupštine (60%-100%), iako postoji potreba za informiranjem građana i OCD općenito o radu lokalnih samouprava, o uslugama koje pružaju građanima, o mogućnostima i načinima komunikacije s lokalnim vlastima te o metodama i alatima uključivanja građana u procesi planiranja i donošenja odluka. Također postoji velika potreba za digitalizacijom i općenito modernizacijom komunikacijskih mehanizama i sudjelovanja građana u tim procesima.
Projekt ‘’LINK za saradnju/suradnju’’ ima za cilj jačanje kapaciteta lokalnih vlasti i organizacija civilnog društva u provođenju participativnih procesa kako bi zajednički identificirali specifične probleme zajednice i, zahvaljujući participativnom pristupu, pronašli najoptimalnija rješenja. Agencija lokalne demokratije Mostar je nositelj projekta u suradnji s partnerima projekta: Agencijom lokalne demokratije Zavidovići, Agencijom lokalne demokratije Prijedor, Centrom za razvoj Hercegovine (CRH) iz Trebinja, ALDA – Europskom asocijacijom za lokalnu demokraciju i ALDA Skoplje kao pridruženim partnerom. Sa implementacijom je počeo 1. januara 2021. godine i trajat će do 31. decembra, 2023. godine. Vrijednost mu je preko 540.000 EUR, od čega je Evropska unija obezbijedila preko 490,000 EUR bespovratnih sredstava.