Establishment of a network of NGOs, which will subsequently increase active participation of citizens in reforms of the rural development sector in BiH, is the aim of the two-year project ACoRD – Alliance for Common Rural Development. The project implementation began with a conference “Rural Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. This project is one of 16 projects funded by the European Union from pre-accession programmes in the sector for support to civil society development. The EU co-finances the project ACoRD in the amount of approximately 200,000 Euro.
“Rural development has great potential to support the overall economic development of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as to reduce unemployment, which is an acute problem in the country. We expect that after this project is implemented, organizations dealing with the issue will be able to speak in a stronger voice to government institutions, so they implement reforms yielding a greater impetus to rural development”, said the Task Manager for Civil Society projects at the European Union Delegation to BiH, Dzemal Hodzic.
The project is implemented by the Agency for Cooperation, Education and Development (ACED) as leading organization in cooperation with local partners REDAH, Nesto Vise, LAG Una-Sana and European partner ELARD – European LEADER Association for Rural Development.
“If the state wants to achieve certain benefits on its road of joining the EU it must meet certain conditions which are in this case establishment of a network. All countries in the region have a network, and there is no reason that BiH in the future should not establish it as well”, said Rural Development Network Coordinator in ACED Snjezana Janjetovic.
