On Thursday, May 20, 2021, the Network for Building Peace, within the project Snaga lokalnog, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), organized the Networking conference “SYNERGY OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – Strengthening cooperation between associations, foundations, media and trade unions”.
The conference was held online. in addition to 10 presenters/speakers, it gathered more than 60 participants, representatives of civil society organizations, trade unions, media and academia. The aim of the conference, as pointed out at the beginning, is to exchange opinions in accordance with the mission and vision of the Network for Building Peace.
The key thing highlighted at the conference is that the situation would be even worse if there was no civil society, and some organizations and networks must be recognized, such as the Coalition for the Fight against Hate Speech and Hate Crimes, the Network for Building Peace, the Women’s Network BiH, the Eko-BiH Network, but also that it can and must do and improve a lot more. This requires networking of organizations, educating citizens and spreading knowledge, commitment to important topics, help for those who need it. Cooperation between CSOs, trade unions, the media is necessary, because everyone’s goal is to change the social and political situation.
It was also pointed out that greater and wider cooperation is necessary, especially today during the pandemic, which is used by politicians to enact emergency decisions, and that civil society organizations, such as activists for human and labor rights, activists that fight against discrimination in practice must show this, must be an example and show it in practice as well.
Regarding the media and civil society organizations, the importance of communication and cooperation between journalists and specific groups was emphasized because the media are not enemies of civil society and that journalists from large newsrooms, who work on one hundred topics a day, must be given the opportunity to get to know the topic. It was pointed out that the civil sector must have contact with journalists, that informal contact is a valuable input, and that the civil sector should go to the media, because it is not enough just to send announcements.
In the end, it was pointed out that nothing prevents civil society from creating policies outside projects and that it is possible for the civil society to act and do its job without money, as shown by the Network for Building Peace through long-term volunteer work, and that an evaluation system must be established, governmental and non-governmental agreements must be analyzed and use the Advisory body to the BiH Council of Ministers for cooperation with the NGO sector, established last year, and share information.
