Between the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Swiss Confederation, an Agreement was signed today regarding the transfer of knowledge, called “Diaspora Knowledge Mobility Project”.
The project will be implemented in the next four years, and the majority of funds in the amount of 1.9 million BAM will be provided by Switzerland.
The agreement was signed by Sevlid Hurtić, Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Siroco Messerli, Director of Cooperation at the Embassy of Switzerland in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“According to the data of the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees, the diaspora from BiH worldwide numbers about 2 million people in more than 50 countries. They are mostly well integrated, with great potential and willingness to contribute to the development of BiH. Given the enormous importance of BiH diaspora, we are strongly committed to strengthening their ties with the homeland”, Minister Hurtić pointed out.
The diaspora of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Switzerland made its immeasurable contribution to the additional strengthening of ties between our two countries.
“At the beginning of my mandate, I said that strengthening cooperation with the diaspora would be one of my priorities in my future work. By signing this Agreement, we confirm that today. All project efforts will be aimed at building solid foundations for efficient and sustainable cooperation with the diaspora, especially the highly qualified diaspora and young people, but we will also strive to strengthen institutional capacities at all levels,” said Minister Hurtić, according to a statement from his Cabinet.
The Director of Cooperation at the Embassy of Switzerland in BiH, Siroco Messerli, expressed his satisfaction that the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina took over the management of this project, and added that he would like to see more such initiatives from other ministries in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina has a large diaspora in as many as 50 countries around the world. There are about 60,000 of them in Switzerland alone. These are well-educated people and integrated into Swiss society. Especially businessmen have very good ties with their homeland. It is quite certain that their knowledge and skills can speed up the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, added Messerli.
The Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees drafted the Rules on the Transfer of Knowledge. An amount of 60,000 BAM was approved by the annual budget of the Ministry of Education and Culture to support diaspora knowledge transfer activities. Also, the Ministry has a database that contains hundreds of BiH experts. of origin in the diaspora. All conducted research, including the Mapping of the BiH Diaspora from 2017, confirm the strong interest of the diaspora to contribute to the development of BiH, especially through the transfer of knowledge, announced the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
