The Ambassador of the United States of America to Bosnia and Herzegovina Maureen Cormack stressed today at the lecture “Policy Dialogue with Future Leaders” which was held at the University of Sarajevo’s Ceremonial Hall that the United States showed that it is a true friend to BiH and that it want to help achieve progress which is necessary to the citizens of this country.
She reminded that one of the questions that are always posed is the desire to get a better insight into the situation in BiH as to “who comprises the new generation of leaders”. She says that many representatives of government do not know the answer to that question, but when she asked young people they responded “you are looking at them”.
She presented five strategic priorities for the future activities of the US Embassy in BiH and said that they represent common challenges for all in BiH and that they imply common solutions.
“The fundamental political reforms are crucial,” said Cormack, adding that citizens must realize that the reform process is not the sole responsibility of politicians and diplomats, but that they themselves have to tell elected representatives what they want and require their responsibility.
One of the priorities of the economic reforms and many of which are a more important thing for citizens, is addressing the issue of salaries and benefits in the public sector, clarifying procedures and regulations that will ensure that leaders are doing the job they were paid and to identify areas in which there is abundant spending and abuse of funds.
Cormack has also highlighted the problem of corruption that requires a lot of work and stressed that the culture of impunity in BiH must stop in order to move forward because, as she said, she “heard terrible stories about corruption.”
No matter how important all listed issues, Cormack considers the issue of education reform more important.
“This is an issues of political will to modernize teaching methods, provide the necessary means, to incorporate technology and ensure that every student has access to quality education,” said Cormack.
The fifth priority area, which should be worked on, in her opinion, is to preserve the natural beauty and historical heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this regard, she pointed out, that in January they launched the project “Izaberi zadatak, budi promjena – Choose the Cause, Be the Solution” which aims to encourage 20,000 volunteers to find a way to improve their local community.
During the lecture, she said that they hoped that the young people and citizens of BiH will choose the task, no matter if you are talking about cleaning local communities, creating new businesses, dealing with politics or Education and that BiH needs all talents it has “to become a country good opportunities.”
Rector of the University of Sarajevo Professor Dr. Muharem Avdispahić stressed that students in BiH are educated in the direction of becoming a part of Europe, which respects human dignity and different identities.
As future leaders, he said, they face the challenge of finding appropriate solutions in terms of the global impact of economy based on knowledge.
He concluded that the American way of life created by view that the investment in education is considered an essential investment in a better future for our children, because it will continue this tradition and do the same in the future.
(Source: Fena)
