Back Promoting the full and effective equality of persons belonging to minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina is committed to undertake promotion of the full and effective equality of the persons belonging to minorities in all areas of economic, social, political and cultural life. This is something that is ratified through Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) and is aimed to allow national minorities to express, preserve and develop their culture and identity. The application of this Convention in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the topic of the Conference held on 12th April in Neum.

The conference gathered around 50 participants from competent authorities and other relevant representatives who are involved in reporting towards monitoring bodies of the Framework convention.

Executive secretary and Head of Division of the Framework convention for the protection of national minorities, Council of Europe, Marco Leidekker, stated that “FCNM is the only legally binding multi-lateral instrument dedicated to national minorities and we insist on the proper implementation of the instrument in BiH”.

Besarion Bokhasvili, President of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, highlighted that he Committee was caught up with the existing legal requirements stating that teaching in languages of national minorities has a prerequisite that 33% of the population needs to belong to national minorities in order to maintain that teaching. The numerical thresholds must not be an obstacle to the use of the language of national minorities.

Gianluca Vannini, Head of Operation Section for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross Border Cooperation of EU Delegation to BiH emphasized that “….non discrimination and social integration of minorities belong to core values of the EU” and that “some progress has been achieved on human rights and minority issues….but the national minorities continue to have low presence and participation in political and public debates and in the media.”

Saliha Đuderija, Assistant minister, BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees presented a legal overview relating to minority protection and promotion and highlighted that the inclusion means together with others, not separated from the others, and in BiH, the differences between national minorities and the rest of the population continues to be made.

Conference was organised jointly with the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees within the project "Strengthening the protection of national minorities in BiH" that is funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe. This project is part of the joint programme called “Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey”, implemented by the Council of Europe.

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As a part of the European Union and Council of Europe joint programmatic framework “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey” (Horizontal Facility), the Council of Europe will implement the Action “Strengthening the protection of national minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, in close partnership with Ministry for Human Rights and Refuges BiH, Federation Ministry of Justice, Federation Ministry of Labor and Social Politics, RS Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self Government, RS Ministry for Economic Relations and Regional Cooperation, BiH Government of Brcko District, local authorities, Councils for National Minorities at state and entity level as well as civil society organisations and other relevant stakeholders in the area of minority protection and promotion in BiH.

The Action aims at supporting the authorities in enhancing the rights of persons belonging to national minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina by strengthening institutional coordination among the relevant stakeholders in minority fields and increasing their capacities. In addition, it will raise awareness of promotion and protection of minority rights in BiH, which will also be implemented by local governments themselves.

The Action has an overall budget of 418,000 EUR and it is expected to be completed on 24th May 2019.

 

Objectives and expected results

The aim of the Action is to contribute to strengthening the protection of the persons belonging to national minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in line with the European standards.

The Action intends to address the following specific objectives:

  • Strengthen institutional coordination among the relevant stakeholders;
  • Foster intercultural dialogue while systematically addressing issues relating to the protection and promotion of rights.

Accordingly, the objectives of the Action will be supported through the realisation of the following expected results:

  • Established coordination principles among the relevant stakeholders;
  • Increased knowledge of relevant institutions about minority protection standards;
  • Increased knowledge of the general public about the existence, roles and rights of national minorities, including minority languages in BiH.

 

This webpage has been produced using funds of a joint project between the European Union and the Council of Europe. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.