The EU Delegation/EUSR Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Bosnia and Herzegovina organised a brown-bag meeting* on the subject of the EU accession process and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the EU House in Sarajevo today.

Head of EU Delegation/EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, and UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in BiH, Sezin Sinanoglu, welcomed participants, comprised of EU and UN staff, as well as Ambassadors and representatives of Member States.

In the local context, Ambassador Wigemark emphasised the importance of SDG 16 on promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development. Ambassador Wigemark further reminded of best practice examples of EU-UN cooperation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in particular through the 2014 Floods Recovery Project.

Resident Coordinator Sezin Sinanoglu emphasised that the 2030 Agenda offers a joint platform for cooperation, including in relation to the Reform Agenda in BiH. Resident Coordinator Sinanoglu also noted that the SDGs are an opportunity to generate a shared unifying vision of peace and development for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EU Enlargement Policy and the renewed approach to reform efforts already contribute to addressing several SDGs. Today’s meeting was held with a view to starting a discussion on how to achieve cooperation in the EU integration process and promoting work on the SDGs/2030 Agenda in BiH. The EU and Member States participating in the meeting highlighted their commitment to helping implementing SDGs in BiH.

The event further sets a pioneering example at the local level in the efforts to mainstream the SDGs in the European policy framework and current Commission priorities, particularly in the context of the EU Global Strategy.

*A brown bag meeting is a casual meeting that occurs during a lunch period. This type of meeting is referred to as a brown bag meeting because participants bring their own lunches, typically a sandwich in a brown bag.