As part of the project ‘integrating concepts of migration and development in relevant policies, plans and activities in B&H’, a working group was formed for migration and development that is made up of representatives of state and entity ministries, local governments and nonprofit organizations.
The first meeting of the working group was held at the end of March in Sarajevo, and the aim was to do a road map to agree on a set of recommendations that would enable greater involvement of B&H migrants in the development of B&H and utilizing their significant potential.
The working group for migration and development operates under the guidance of the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees B&H, and the entire project is done in cooperation with the Office for Cooperation of the Embassy of Switzerland in B&H and UNDP.
The project manager of UNDP Željko Blagojević told Agency Fena that the primary task is to agree on recommendations about how the potential of our people abroad, which is enormous, could be used in the development trends of B&H, through including migration in certain policy and institutional and legal frameworks.
‘’Most of those people are highly educated, they have will and are ready to help in the development of B&H. Unfortunately, due to the distance it is difficult for them to assess how they could offer concrete help.
This is why this project is important, to give institutional help to these people who have a desire to help B&H’s development, and to be actively included in its development’’, he said.
The meeting of the working group in Sarajevo was the first in a series of meetings planned in the next ten months. After this set of recommendations is finalized, it would be presented to the B&H Council of Ministers. Blagojević said that it is planned to be finished by the end of this calendar year.
‘’Speaking about the current contribution of citizens to who live abroad to B&H’s development, they said that there are a number of examples for that. He said that it is wrong that the support of immigrants is seen primarily through the money they send to B&H, and this amount is really high, around two and a half billion BAM every year.
‘’We have many companies that were launched by expatriates. We will, as part of this project, identify such businesses and present them to the wider public’’.
It is important for the majority the support given by immigrants in B&H is not institutionalized enough, and our goal is for that cooperation to continue through institutions at all levels’’, he said.
He specified that the development ‘lies’ in local communities, but at the same time higher levels of government should, through certain strategic documents and policies, support the development of local communities.
The next meeting of the working group for migration and development is planned in around two months, and the place of the meeting is still not known because the intention is for cities throughout B&H to be represented.
It is assessed that throughout the world there are around one million and a half B&H citizens, and this data includes those who were born abroad.
Studies have shown that the majority of the people are highly educated, and around half of them wish to return and help in B&H’s development.
(Source: radiosarajevo.ba)
