Open parliament: Civil dialogue for better recognition of women's and children's rights in BIH
Association Vesta from Tuzla organized an Open Parliament in the Bosnian Cultural Centre of Tuzla for the representatives of civil society organizations from the area of the Tuzla Canton active in the protection of women’s and children’s rights, and the representatives of governmental institutions which are competent to improve their status in the society.
“The goal of this meeting was to initiate constructive dialogue between the representatives of the civil sector and the government officials, in order to collect recommendations for the introduction of consultation standards between the governmental sector and the civil society, and to generate ideas, suggestions and conclusions which will be sent to relevant institutions for their consideration,” Ms. Selma Hukić, project coordinator from Association Vesta, informed us.
The Parliament tried to establish an efficient consultation mechanism through the discussion of current topics that reflect the situation of women and children in BIH, such as: the creation and adoption of the State Strategy for Combating Violence Against Children 2011-2014; amendments of the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence; amendments of the Law on Basic Social Welfare, the Welfare of Civil War Victims and the Welfare of Families with Children of the Tuzla Canton in the part related to the ability assessment and ensuring support for children and youth with special needs.
“I am very glad that we have an opportunity to discuss proposals for the amendment of the Book of regulations on ability assessment and ensuring support for children and youth with special needs, because it is a burning issue in the area of the Tuzla Canton,” Ms. Selma Hodžić, on behalf of the Institute for the Education of the Mentally and Physically Disabled, pointed out.
For the purpose of contributing to the process of strengthening the capacities of the civil society and governmental institutions for the establishment of civil dialogue for improving women’s and children’s rights in BIH, Association Vesta from Tuzla, in partnership with the One World Foundation – Platform for SEE (OWPSEE), is realizing the project Civil dialogue for children’s and women’s rights in BIH. The project is being implemented on the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the financial support of the European Union through the EIDHR programme.
Since civil society should be based on the exploitation of potential for achieving common interest, and bearing in mind the weaknesses revealed in the previously established dialogue with the governmental sector, through this project we wish to improve the cooperation between civil society organizations and governmental institutions for the purpose of the better preparation and implementation of strategic documents and programmes aimed at improving the status of women and children in BIH, which will reflect the consistent implementation of the Cooperation Agreement between the BIH Council of Ministers and the non-governmental organizations in BIH.
During the Open Parliament, the partner organization OWPSEE from Sarajevo presented a unique Internet portal which was created for the purpose of focused planned action towards the governmental institutions with the aim to improve the position of women and children in BIH. Each organization/institution/individual who/which becomes a member of the portal will have the opportunity to update the contents and launch activities directed towards improving the situation of women and children in cooperation with other interest groups. In addition, the governmental institutions will be able to use this portal in order to consult with the civil society and promote new legal documents.
