Bosnia and Herzegovina

Since the European Council decided to initiate accession negotiations in 2024, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has been recognized as a candidate country for EU membership.

The country is composed of two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and the Republika Srpska (RS), along with the Brčko District, which is a self-governing administrative unit. The FBiH is divided into ten cantons, each with its own constitution, and further subdivided into 84 municipalities. The RS is organized into 63 municipalities.

BiH workshop, July 2019

Programme support for Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we focus on supporting public finance management, including financing for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We also promote projects that engage private sector in development cooperation, particularly in energy conservation and the promotion of solar energy usage. Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a programme partner country since 2020. 

The Government of Republika Srpska has initiated the development of the 2024-2030 Sustainable Development Strategy, with a strong emphasis on aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2030 as well as addressing gender and other types of inequalities. This forward-looking initiative has received invaluable support from the Slovak government and the UNDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we are very grateful for it.

Nemanja Kovačević

Assistant Minister for International Cooperation - Bosnia and Herzegovina
PUBLIC FINANCE

Current activities aim at strengthening the capacity of local governments in BiH to manage public finances efficiently and transparently. They are fully aligned with the European Commission 2023 Enlargement Package recommendations and are divided into three intervention areas: 

  1. Asset management: We help local governments establish a system for the strategic management of public assets held by municipal authorities. This includes creating clear lines of responsibility within each institution, establishing and regularly updating a transparent register of assets, and developing a digital solution and asset management plans.
  2. Revenue, expenditures, and internal controls: We support partner local governments to review their revenues and expenditures practices to identify areas for revenues increase. We are also working on the establishment of an effective framework for internal control within the administrations in order to limit the mismanagement of public funding.
  3. Green and gender responsive public procurement: We introduce and promote green and gender responsive procurement practices at the local level, in line with the 2024-2028 Public Procurement Strategy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These activities support implementation of the new Law on Public Procurement planned to be adopted by the end of 2025.

Key achievements

Our recent activities have triggered important policy changes and contributed to systemic implementation of Agenda 2030 in the country. More specifically, we have managed to: 

  • Assess the financing of sustainable development goals (SDGs) by examining public expenditure on sustainable development across all administrative levels in BiH and identifying SDG financing instruments suitable for implementation in country context. The findings of these reviews contributed to the development of the SDG financing framework in BiH, which identifies green and digital transformation, as well as research and development, as key policy areas. 
  • Enhance the linkages between development strategies/policies and budgets at the sub-national level. Initially, we focused on the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the procedures and lessons learned were also applied in the Republic of Srpska, where we contributed to the preparation of the Sustainable Development Strategy for 2030. Simultaneously, we supported the Republic of Srpska in developing its medium-term and annual work plans, which serve as tools for implementing development strategies. 
  • Support the establishment of practitioner network platform at the entity and local levels in Republika Srpska. This network facilitates the exchange of practices and knowledge among government employees in the areas of planning, financing, and the implementation of the SDGs. 
  • Strengthen internal controls at local governments and cantons to reduce inefficient public finance management. Following a thorough assessment of internal controls, a training program for civil servants was developed. To assist local governments in building their internal control systems, a Manual for the Application of Financial Management and Control – Practical steps was created as part of the project. 
PRIVATE SECTOR ENGAGEMENT

In the area of private sector engagement, several projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been supported through the Resource Mobilization Facility (RMF). This fund was created to assist with pre-investment studies, including feasibility studies, sector analyses, financing models, and other preparatory work for future investment projects under the UNDP national offices. Details of the projects are provided below.

Projects funded by RMF
UNDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina website