At the conference “Bell of change”, held in Sarajevo on the 2nd of February, the Center for Promotion of Civil Society (CPCD) called on the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina to urgently establish functional mechanisms for dialogue with the citizens, stressing the importance of mobilization of all capacities in BiH for speeding up the EU accession process by increasing the participation of the civil society and interested public.
The conference was held in the premises of the Parliamentary Assembly of BIH, with the aim for CSOs to put organized and articulated pressure on the Council of Ministers to take the necessary actions and measures that will create conditions for greater participation of citizens and CSOs in the current reform processes of BiH on the way towards the EU. In these processes, in which civil society has an important contribution, it is expected that number of laws and other public policy instruments will be enacted, which are of key importance to all BiH citizens.
The Director of CPCD, Aida Daguda pointed out that the authorities of BiH must enable citizens to participate in the political process – and not just during elections – to give them the opportunity to advocate for and defend their legitimate interests in the process of making and implementing public policies. Furthermore, Daguga stressed that the cooperation of the state with civil society is one of the key political criteria for the Western Balkan countries to become full members of the European Union. Yet, as pointed out by the Director of the CSO “Initiative for a better and humane inclusion” Žarko Papić, the Progress Report for BIH gave a very negative evaluation of this cooperation.
The Manager of the project, Slaviša Prorok, and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Denis Zvizdić, also addressed the public at the conference. CPCD expects that the cooperation between the elected representatives of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH will give an added value to this process.
The conference was organized in the framework of the Project for sustainable development of civil society in BiH, supported by USAID in BiH. More information is available here.