Presentation of policy analysis “SDGs in BiH: Reform Processes – Leaving No one Behind”
Foreign Policy Initiative BH, in cooperation with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung BiH and University of Sarajevo Faculty of Political Science organized today, 20th February 2017 public presentation of policy analysis : “SDGs in BiH: Reform Processes – Leaving No one Behind” by Igor Kosić.
At the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, the 2015-2030 Agenda was adopted by all members of the UN, including BiH. All countries obliged to implement the Agenda, which contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as an “universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity“. SDGs are built upon their predecessors, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were recognized as a success and a useful tool in focusing achievement of specific development targets. During the period of the implementation of MDG policies, Bosnia and Herzegovina has signed the Stabilization and Association agreement with the European Union which came into force in 2015.
New challenges for BiH lay ahead on the path towards EU integration, and the “Reform Agenda” stands out among the policy frameworks to deal with these challenges. While the short-term “Reform Agenda” (2015-2018) is the most prominent policy-framework for progress and development as of now, the implementation of a far wider-ranging “Reform Agenda”, the Sustainable Development Goals, has started. The Policy Analysis shall shed some light on this important long-term policy framework in a political environment that is mostly preoccupied with day-to-day politics.
Commentators of the analysis, Mr Miloš Prica, national coordinator BiH for Central European Initiative (CEI) with the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mrs Envesa Hodžić-Kovač with the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in BiH, highlighted the importance of the educational and informative dimension of this analysis, which offers an overview of the past development policies in BiH and an evaluation of the progress made. The author wanted to analyze the level to which SDGs are in line with current development strategies of BiH and present the priority areas for BiH through the comparison. The commentators agreed that the implementation of SDGs are a global agenda will bring to better results in peace and security and that no country can to that by itself, but rather that the exchange of information and practices will help in more efficient implementation of the Goals.
The presentation was attended by representatives of media in BiH, expert in the field of sustainable and economic development, civil society organizations, international organizations and academic community. During the discussion which followed after the presentation were questions and dilemmas regarding the efficient coordination and implementation of SDGs and to which level will the fulfillment of obligations from the Reform Agenda help in BiH’s development. Even though every transition is filled with challenged and difficult tasks, SDGs should serve as a good and comprehensive framework in which current and future sustainable development strategies should adequately be implemented. The participants agreed that cooperation between institutions, civil society and BiH is citizen is needed in order to raise awareness on the importance of SDGs in BiH and to find efficient solutions which can ensure sustainable socio-economic growth and prosperity in BiH.
Analysis “SDGs in BiH: Reform Processes – Leaving no One Behind” is available at this link
