Local Communities in BiH: Challenges and Prospects for Institutional Development

In February 2014, Analitika – Center for Social Research began implementing the project “Local Communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Challenges and Prospects for Institutional Development“.

 

Due to institutional changes that occurred in the post-war period, local communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have lost the original competences and functions they previously enjoyed. Although there is renewed interest of different actors at international and local level to strengthen these bodies, due to their potential of being venues for increased citizen participation and for delivering some basic community services, local communities in BiH encounter a number of obstacles. Some of the main challenges relate to deficiencies in the legal framework, which does not provide enough detail on their functioning, establishment and financing, a lack of formal competences, non-transparent appointment and election procedures, a lack of capacity and financial sustainability. 

 

Given the overall lack of comprehensive empirical evidence on the work of local communities, this project seeks to: 

 

- Systematically increase the available knowledge on the functioning of the local communities in BiH, both in terms of rules and procedures that are place and their performance in practice;

 

- Present feasible policy recommendations for a better institutional and policy framework that could:

 

a) ensure a better organization of sub-municipal governance,

 

b) improve the functioning of local communities through quality engagement of citizens in municipal affairs and enhance delivery of local services;

 

- Present and disseminate the knowledge and recommendations widely to key decision-makers at different levels of government, local government associations, local communities, international organizations, academics, NGOs, media and other stakeholders, thus creating a constructive expert debate on the role and functioning of local communities in the country.

 

The project will focus on obtaining comprehensive data on the extent of participation of local communities in local decision-making processes, their organization and financing, the functions they perform, as well as on identifying factors that contribute to the effective sub-municipal governance.

 

The project will involve a number of research activities, including analysis of secondary resources on local communities; analysis of the legal framework, including local acts; municipal-level data-gathering; local community-level data-gathering; and in-depth case studies in a select number of local communities. 

 

This project is financed by the Swiss Embassy in Sarajevo.

 

The duration of the project is eight months.