The Regional Forum “Keeping up the momentum with important processes for civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Western Balkans and Turkey- Open Forum for Dialogue” was opened on 11 December in Sarajevo.

The Forum was attended by officials of civil society organizations from Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia and BiH, as well as by officials of the EU Delegation to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the EU Delegation to BiH, the BiH Directorate for EU Integration and the BiH Council of Ministers.

Zeljko Bogut, Advisor in the Office of the BiH Minister of Justice Barisa Colak addressed attendees and presented information on the dynamics in the establishment of the Strategy for Development of Civil Society in BiH. Work on completion of the Strategy is still ongoing, after the Working Group adopted the Framework Strategy Document. Bogut expressed gratitude to UNDP and TACSO (Technical Assistance to Civil Society Organizations). Project for their support on establishment of the Strategy, expressing expectation that the dialogue will be useful as guideline for further work on Strategy completion.

Head of the Operations Section for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross-Border Cooperation in the EU Delegation to BiH Natalia Dianiskova stressed that the European Commission has allocated to date 13 million EUR for TACSO since 2009, as a regional project with the purpose of strengthening civil organizations. “Ready made solutions from the EU Member States cannot be directly applied in countries in the region, but you have to find the model of development aligned with needs and situation in the region. It is necessary to support the values which will contribute to development of civil society, but also to improve cooperation between civil society and the Government”, said Dianiskova.