Improved legislative framework and merit-based human resource management practices at all administrative levels in BiH are basic conditions for the development of public administration that efficiently and professionally performs public functions and provides quality services to citizens.
Nicolas Bizel, Head of Operations Section I (Justice, Home Affairs and Public Administration Reform) at the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, said the project was part of wider EU support to BiH for the public administration reform process, one of 14 key priorities which the state must meet to be recommended for the opening of EU accession negotiations. In addition, he underlined that “Professional and depoliticized, merit-based civil service is crucial to ensure the functionality of institutions and high-quality services to citizens of BiH.”
Dragan Cuzulan, Public Administration Reform Coordinator highlighted: “An efficient and effective state administration that will be available to all citizens is one of the main goals of public administration reform, and in order to achieve that, we need professionals and competent people. This project provided administrations at all levels to improve the tools for selecting the best, but also to improve the existing human capacities, who will be the leaders of BiH on its European path tomorrow.”
“The project activities in the past two years were aimed at strengthening human resource management following good practice and trends in the EU, which is based on the principles of professionalism, merit and efficiency. Together with representatives of beneficiary institutions, our partners in project activities, we worked on improving all human resource management processes at the main administrative levels in BiH and strengthening the capacity of key human resource management institutions” said Dubravka Prelec, project team leader.
Two publications were published within the project: “Manual for the use of a competency framework in recruitment and selection for the Civil Services of BiH”, and “Guide for the application of competencies in human resources management in the civil service of Bosnia and Herzegovina” which are useful tools for all officials in public administration involved in human resource management processes.
In the past two years, the project “Strengthening Human Resource Management in BiH” has carried out activities aimed at improving the capacity of public administration to achieve better and modern administration, able to implement the requirements of the European integration process in human resources management. The project was funded by the European Union under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) in the amount of 1 million euros. The project was implemented by NIRAS SR, from 29 January 2020 to 31 January 2022.