Back Towards structured measures aiming for equality of LGBTI people in Bosnia and Herzegovina

People belonging to the LGBTI community should have access to same rights as any other citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), such as education, health, decent family environment, employment, to exercise freedom of assembly, to visit their loved ones if they are hospitalised in intensive care and many more. All this should function without discrimination or verbal/physical violence. Right now, in BiH there is still room for improvement when it comes to exercising rights of LGBTI people!

In order to improve this, ministries/institutions from the state level, Federation of BiH, Republika Srpska and Brcko District nominated their representatives to be part of the working group developing LGBTI Action plan. On 18th December 2019, the first meeting of the working group was held in Jahorina, discussing the methodology of developing a joint LGBTI action plan in BiH. One of the key guidelines for its development will be Council of Europe’s recommendation CM/Rec(2010)5 on combating discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. During discussion, especially welcome was the active participation of civil society representatives.

What is it like to be a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex person in BiH? What are consequences of being different in the society where sexual orientation and gender identity is still taboo? What are existing protection mechanisms for the protection of LGBTI persons in place? These are some of the questions raised during the thematic discussion held a day before, on 17th December, for the working group participants. Broadening their understanding of LGBTI issues in BiH was important in order for them to use this gained knowledge in their work when coming across issues concerning sexual minorities, but also to adequately reflect it in the drafting the Action plan aiming to improve the state of this minority group.

Saša Leskovac from the Gender Equality Agency, Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees BiH said: “The event was well-conceived, a combination of training on LGBTI rights and a concrete first preparatory meeting of the working group to develop an action plan for LGBTI rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. He also added that “…a major step has been made towards the development of a strategic document that will allow a co-ordinated approach to improve the situation of LGBTI persons in BiH society.

One of the messages of this activity was: LGBTI rights are not special rights, LGBTI rights are human rights!

These activities were jointly organised by the Gender Equality Agency, Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees BiH and by the Council of Europe, as part of the European Union and the Council of Europe’s Action “Promotion of diversity and equality in BiH”. This Action is financed by the European Union and Council of Europe through the joint programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II”.
Jahorina 18-12-2019
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The Action builds upon the work of the Horizontal Facility I project on strengthening protection and promotion of national minorities in Bosnia, while introducing two additional thematic components related to addressing discrimination on sexual orientation and/or gender identity grounds and combating hate speech.

The Action is implemented in close partnership with institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees, Institution of Ombudsman for human rights, Agency for Gender equality, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate for European Integration), from Republika Srpska (Ministry for European Integration and International Cooperation, Ministry of Justice), from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Ministry of Justice, Government) and from Government of Brcko District as well as with the local European Union delegation, civil society organisations, local authorities and other relevant stakeholders.

GOALS
How will the Action work ?
  • Legal and strategic support to institutions
  • Capacity building activities
  • Peer-to-peer exchanges with regional and European partners
  • Awareness raising campaigns and public discussions on selected anti-discrimination topics
  • Support to civil society organisations and/or local authorities by small grant schemes, to enhance their capacities to tackle discrimination and reach out to the people
Expected results
  • The dialogue and co-operation between institutions and civil society organisations in promoting and protecting human rights is enhanced
  • The knowledge and awareness of general public about the existence and rights of national minorities is increased, about the rights of LGBTI persons and the dangers posed by hate speech, offering means to develop counter-narrativeson their rights and mechanisms to defend them 
  • Better protection of human rights of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and build a more diverse, equal and tolerant society is achieved
  • Support initiatives to harmonise the anti-discrimination framework across the country and to develop and implement the respective action plans/strategies in relation to national minorities, LGBTI rights and hate speech
When we are fewer

 

"When we are fewer"

Flashmob in Konjic

 

Game in Konjic

 

ECRI RECommendations

ECRI General Policy Recommendation N°2 revised on Equality Bodies to combat racism and intolerance at national level - adopted on 13 June 1997 and revised on 7 December 2017 ENGLISH BOSNIAN

ECRI General Policy Recommendation N°15 on Combating Hate Speech - adopted on 8 December 2015 ENGLISH BOSNIAN

Project at a glance

Duration: 43 months (May 2019 to December 2022)

Beneficiaries :

► Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina

► Public authorities

Councils of national minorities at all levels and other stakeholders working on national minority issues
► Civil society organisations engaged in promoting and protecting human rights

Funding: The European Union and the Council of Europe

Budget: 650,000.00 Euros

Mini grants information
LEAFLET
Project team

Maja Lukic-Schade, Project Officer, Sarajevo

Beti Colak, Project Assistant, Sarajevo

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