Donors in the public administration reform sector, who participated in today’s meeting organized by the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office (PARCO) once again stated that there are no new investments in public administration reform, until the adoption of the Strategic Framework for continuing Public Administration Reform and the Action Plan for its implementation.
This was stated by the representatives of the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the embassies of Sweden and Great Britain, who, among other donors, attended the meeting.
Dragan Ćuzulan, State Coordinator for Public Administration Reform, pointed out that RS representatives had informed him that the Strategic Framework for Public Administration Reform would soon be submitted to the RS Government and that a positive opinion of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Finance had been obtained on this document. Deputy Coordinator for Public Administration Reform from the Republic of Srpska, Mikan Davidović also has confirmed this. Davidović pointed out that the representatives of RS participated in the process of preparation of the Action Plan and that they remain committed to the reform of public administration.
However, Deputy State Coordinator for Public Administration Reform Ferid Otajagić said that the Government of Republika Srpska has been waiting for two years to adopt the Strategic Framework for continuing Public Administration Reform, and called on donors in this sector to deny further financial assistance to “those obstructing the European integration and public administration reform”.
The non-adoption of the Strategic Framework for Enver Išerić, Public Administration Reform Coordinator from the Federation of BiH, is an “irresponsible attitude towards public administration reform and the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, while addressing the responsibility for blocking the reform and the Fund to the RS Government.
He assessed that he agrees with the representatives from RS that the existing procedures of the Public Administration Reform Fund should be improved, but that he still considers it completely unacceptable for the entities to independently lead the public administration reform process without the role of the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office.
“The Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office was established to coordinate the entire process,” Išerić pointed out.
Vesna Mišević, Public Administration Reform Coordinator, emphasized the importance of adopting strategic documents and added that it would not be possible to carry out all reform activities without donor assistance.
Krasimir Nikolov, Head of the Section for European Integration, Political Affairs, Public Relations and Information in the EU Delegation to BiH, emphasized that the adoption of strategic documents must be a priority for all authorities in BiH.
Aneta Raić, Head of the Unit for Donor Coordination, Finance, Supervision and Evaluation, presented to the donors the activities on the preparation of strategic documents and pointed out that about 56 million convertible marks are missing for the implementation of the Action Plan. She mentioned that the work in the Public Administration Reform Fund was stalled due to the non-signing of Annex VI of the Memorandum of Understanding and the establishment of the Public Administration Reform Fund in the Government of the Republika Srpska.
Representatives of the German GIZ and the British Embassy emphasized that they will continue to support public administration reform through the Fund for Good Governance (GGF), and the money was previously provided until March 2021.
The meeting was attended by 40 participants, and in addition to the above-mentioned donors, also representatives of the embassies of Germany, Norway, France and Switzerland and the World Bank.