United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (Women, Peace and Security) in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Civil society experience and lesson learnt, 2009
Prepared by: Maria Theresa Maan-Besic, Programme Manager, Žene Zenama

"Participation of the Public in Human Security and the Implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (Women, Peace and Security) in Bosnia and Herzegovina" is an ongoing project that has been implemented since 2005 with a long-term goal to sensibilize the BiH security sector (army and police), EUFOR and EUPM to issues of women’s human rights and a gender perspective. The intention was to establish cooperation between NGOs and the security sector (national and international) at all levels, from local to national, in order to incorporate gender equality policies into their internal structures.  

The starting point of the project was the 2007 Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (hereinafter, UNSCR 1325), which dealt with the survey of public opinion in four key areas of UNSCR 1325 and resulted in nine specific recommendations submitted to the government, whose obligation is to implement UNSCR 1325, and to representatives of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The full implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina requires the following:

·          Integration of a gender perspective into national policies thorough institutional legal mechanisms for the protection of human rights which are mandatory for Bosnia and Herzegovina and based on international documents and the General Framework Agreement for Peace, and

·          Responsible cooperation between government institutions, international missions and civil society aimed at the implementation of the policy of peace and security for women, and taking into account a gender perspective.

A pilot project conducted in 2009 was focused on the establishment of cooperation between women’s NGOs, police departments, Ministry of Defense, and ESDP missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the consistent implementation of the standards laid down by UN SCR 1325 concerning the promotion and protection of women’s human rights and gender equality. During the 18-month period, the following planned activities were conducted: two seminars for trainers, two forums, thirteen local workshops, and operational meetings between the implementing organization and partners involved in the project.

In the course of the implementation of the project, Žene Ženama organised regular consultative meetings with the donor (UNIFEM), partners who were directly involved in the project (EUFOR, EUPM, NGOs), and longstanding partners (HCA Banja Luka, Horizonti Tuzla, Žene BiH Mostar, and Budućnost Modriča).

Through training of personnel of local, national and international security forces and NGOs, the theoretical and practical knowledge on human rights, gender policies, and institutional and international mechanisms for the protection against various forms of discrimination and violation of women’s human rights was acquired.

The forums or public platforms that were organized in Sarajevo at the beginning and the end of the project activity, were venues for effective participation of all interested parties to discuss all challenges pertaining to (in)security in Bosnia and Herzegovina, their personal  engagement in the protection of human rights and understanding of certain concept, such as equality, gender/sex and implementation thereof in management structures of the security sector (army and police) through the consistent implementation of UNSCR 1325. The forums were also the events at which international actors from European countries and national and international actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina had the opportunity to exchange their experiences pertaining to the integration of gender policies into security policies.

Workshops were the result of the coordinated effort of all actors to bring together citizens, civil initiatives and security forces (national and international) to discuss the main causes of discrimination and violation of human rights in local communities.  

All activities within the project were an integral part of a huge information campaign aimed at raising awareness of the BiH public about the importance of participation of both women and men in the management structures of the security sector, and about the importance of UNSCR 1325 in the protection of women’s human rights. Also, all activities related to UNSCR 1325 that have been and are conducted by Žene Ženama are an integral part of the National Action Plan (NAP) developed at the initiative of the BiH Gender Equality Agency.    


The project titled Participation of the Public in Human Security is a logical continuation of the activities on the promotion and implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina that have been conducted by Žene Ženama since 2005. The 2007 Report on monitoring the implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina concluded that state institutions, international organizations and UN missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina had not paid enough attention to UNSCR 1325 and that there was the apparent lack of a gender perspective within their structures.


This project was implemented through extensive activities involving various participants. The project itself and its implementation were a challenge for the management team. The project intervention was very interesting for EUFOR, EUPM and international missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina as it offered them an opportunity to enhance their capacities for gender policies, on one hand, and to promote, in cooperation with civic initiatives, citizens and local security forces, their activities on ensuring peace and stability, on the other hand.


The project intervention was also supported by BiH Ministry of Defense and entity ministries of the interior. Their openness to all forms of cooperation with civic initiatives and international missions was once again confirmed by their active participation in this project. Our joint work will not end with this project. It will continue through various activities aimed at the incorporation of gender policies into military and police structures, and the implementation of BiH National Action Plan for UNSCR 1325.

Long-term objective: Strengthening of gender equality principles in peace and security policies through advocacy activities aimed at increasing gender sensitivity in state institutions in order to make them capable of responding to women’s security needs.

Objectives:

1.       Provide effective knowledge on human security from the viewpoint of gender equality through training of personnel of local, national and international security forces.

2.       Develop public debate on issues of human security in areas affected by conflict in order to find constructive and creative ideas about various methods for resolution of troubled relations within families and society.

3.       Ensure partnership between women, citizens and local police in prevention of conflicts and violation of human rights, and especially in cases of violence and discrimination.

Purpose of the report:

The comprehensive implementation of UN SCR 1325 and related international documents on human rights requires the integration of a gender perspective into all public policies, and the responsibility of the government, civil society and international agencies for its implementation. UNSCR 1325 was adopted in October 2000. It was the first document emphasizing the importance of a gender perspective and women participation in conflict resolution and peace-building. Civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina is generally familiar with UNSCR 1325 and its importance for women’s participation in every sphere of society. Women’s organizations have hugely contributed to raising public awareness of UNSCR 1325 through numerous promoting activities, formal and informal training events, consultations and cooperation with state institutions, information campaigns, and a wide dissemination of its translated versions in local languages. However, a lot of efforts are yet to be made to ensure its true implementation.  Some of suggestions for better implementation were stated in the Report on the monitoring of the implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina include the following key aspects:

1. Inclusion of women in decision-making processes in all sectors of public life in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in the areas with apparent gender inequality.
2. Incorporation of a gender perspective in the security sector through gender training of police, judges, prosecutors, and health and social care officials.
3. Devoting continuous attention to the human rights of women and girls who are increasingly exposed to domestic violence and human trafficking.
4. International presentation of a gender perspective through UN agencies and offices which should make a significant contribution by incorporating the promotion of a gender perspective into their own activities and structures.
5. International organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina must implement the obligations under UNSCR 1325 by promoting gender awareness or by conducting gender awareness activities.

The project was a specific strategy pursued by Žene Ženama with the aim to involve NGOs, EUPM, EUFOR, and national security forces (army and police) in a joint action on the promotion of gender policies, peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The activities were focused on two components: women’s human rights and integration of gender aspects into the structures of the security sector. That is a direct contribution to the UNIFEM’s project "Women Building Peace and Human Security in the Western Balkans", developed in close cooperation with partner organizations.   

Successful strategies
·        Include efforts on development of a comprehensive peace and security platform in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ensure, through joint efforts, participation of all decision-makers.  

·         Include a gender perspective in public peace and security policies, encourage women to participate in all decision-making processes affecting themselves, including legislation, policies and programs in all areas and at all levels.

·         Assess implications of any planned activity for both women and men, and strongly advocate the networking of national, international and regional partners aimed at women’s empowerment in all areas. All interested parties should work together in a comprehensive and long peace process that will continually face challenges posed by violence and conflicts on the ground.  

·         Mobilization of "human energy" builds confidence, strengthens local social networks and creates "social capital" that can foster peace and development in the future.

·         Training, workshops and forums are events at which international and national actors and local NGOs share their experiences concerning women’s inequality at all levels.

·         The strategy of the project suggested the inclusion of women from NGOs, as an important dimension, in development, implementation, supervision and evaluation of policies and programs in all political, economic and social spheres.

·         Partnerships between international agencies, NGOs, and government institutions, with the assistance from the Gender Equality Agency will ensure the implementation of international documents on the protection of human rights and the National Action Plan for the implementation of UN SCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

·         New approaches and strategies for work with international actors or partners on the integration of gender mainstreaming into public policies.

Challenges

There is an apparent lack of academic literature dealing with the results achieved in the implementation of UN SCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 2005, there have been many reports stating what can be achieved by the implementation of UN SCR 1325, but very little has been said about what was really done. That is why not much is known about the impact of the implementation of UN SCR 1325 on women’s real-life situations. There is also a lack of empirical evidence on the impact of peacekeeping missions and UNSCR 1325 on improving the gender equality at different national, regional and international levels.

UN SCR 1325 envisages responsibilities for governments of UN member countries and for the UN system itself. The first challenge lies in the difficulty of incorporating UN SCR 1325 standards into that system and applying them from the top down. This particularly refers to peacekeeping missions, but also to UN humanitarian relief agencies. Notwithstanding the steps taken by the UN system to ensure that this transfer really happens, the efficient implementation depends on the understanding of gender and security within the UN. As this does not exist in reality, despite efforts to make it happen, disagreements about the importance of UNSCR 1325 still exist.  

In general, a challenge lies in the lack of the full engagement in the implementation of UN SCR 1325 at the state level, in important government agencies, departments, and a certain number of ministries. The responsibility for the implementation is the biggest problem. The awareness of its importance is still on the civil society agenda that involves the women’s movement. However, we believe that once a national action plan for the implementation of UNSCR 1325 is developed, more government agencies, departments and ministries will assume responsibility to establish a platform that will ensure a gender balance and will appoint persons responsible for gender issues, especially in the areas of security, justice, education, and human rights. Some processes that have already been initiated through the implementation of the Gender Action Plan (GAP) gained the strength by the establishment of the working group for drafting a national action plan which will accelerate the implementation of UNSCR 1325 at state level, both horizontally and vertically.

Conclusion and lessons learned
Once Žene Ženama have compiled Report on Monitoring Implementation of UN SCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, various actors at international, regional, state and local level have initiated actions and a more advanced approach to this issue. During this period, we conducted various actions through education, forums and information campaigns, which involved different levels of responsibility of international, national and local actors in the security sector. The interest shown by EUFOR and EUPM in this project was of great importance for the promotion of UNSCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. By participating directly in the implementation of the project, they reaffirmed their commitment to promoting gender mainstreaming policies within military and police missions. Such a stance could be a huge encouragement to national security forces to develop programs which will involve a greater number of women in peacekeeping missions and in top leadership positions. UNSCR 1325 covers a wide area of gender integration into public peace policies, security and protection of human rights, and especially the area of the gender-based violence.   

Civil society is committed to the full implementation of UNSCR 1325 through development of strategies and action plans aimed at establishing a supervisory apparatus and responsible mechanisms, at national and international level, which will ensure full and equal participation of women in all social and political processes.

Based on information from civil society organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we can assert that progress has been made in the implementation of UNSCR 1325, with remarkable moves in gender sensibilization by those responsible to respond in the event of violence against women and girls (police, media, civil society), as well as in reform processes in the security sector pertaining to the punishment of violence perpetrators and greater participation of women in peacekeeping, humanitarian and reconstruction processes.

Also, there has been an apparent increase in the number of BiH female soldiers and police officers participating in peacekeeping missions. Top officials in national police and military forces have become increasingly interested in appointing persons who will integrate gender perspectives into their internal management and decision-making structures. The project itself and the concept of gender perspectives presented therein has contributed to the credibility of international security missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in local communities, where they strengthen social relations and contribute to the develop democracy through daily implementation of their peacekeeping mandates,.

Women’s NGOs have reaffirmed their role as an irreplaceable and reliable partner in building a sustainable peace through advocacy activities, mediation between authorities and citizens, for peace, justice, reconciliation, disarmament, and demobilization. A great problem lies in the lack of security, peace-building and governance processes within state institutions.

Women often organize peace promotion events for wider groups of people, but their access to formal peace-building processes is still limited. This refers to peace agreements and implementation thereof, constitution drafting, security sector, democratic governance, and judicial reforms. Never the les, enhanced cooperation and networking between international actors, organizations, and national structures has been encouraged.  

A very small number of women participate in peace negotiations and political processes, especially in countries affected by conflict and war, and their experiences are not taken into account.  

Peace agreements barely take a gender and human rights perspective into account. Women’s voices and concerns are often excluded from decisions that have an impact on economic and political structures in the post-war reconstruction, legislation, land and property rights, access to education, social and health care, disarmament and reintegration, and issues related to the status of displaced persons within Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Despite all ongoing activities, the implementation of UN SCR 1325 and the gender perspectives promoted therein, women are still excluded from negotiations, agreement-making, temporary and interim governments, humanitarian aid planning and implementing, post-war reconstruction planning, and policy-making. On the whole, peace processes remain an exclusively male endeavor in which they seize power and set the post-conflict agenda. In order that principles of democracy and good governance take root in a post-conflict country, it is of vital importance that both men and women have equal opportunities to participate in ongoing processes.

Efficient and appropriate interventions to support women and girls affected by war and violent conflict are hampered by a general lack of reliable information and analysis of the situation of women and girls in many post-conflict countries, although some progress has been made to overcome this shortcoming. Concerted efforts at international and national level are needed to stimulate research and acquire knowledge that will be used in intervention plans for efficient peace and security building policies based on women’s experiences.

Women’s advocacy groups and national women’s mechanisms in Bosnia and Herzegovina have actively participated in the implementation of UN SCR 1325. They have been active in advocating for greater participation of women in decision-making, and especially in encouraging women to participate in development of programs and policies.   

Supported by international agencies, women’s groups have conducted continuous training of women aimed at integration of human rights and gender equality into everyday life, both public and private.

Even though many institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina have actively supported UNSCR 1325, BiH Gender Equality Agency and Parliamentary Commission for Gender Equality in the first place, the practical implementation of its standards will for a long time remain a huge challenge for political and institutional priorities. Bosnia and Herzegovina still lacks the political will to effectively implement UNSCR 1325. However, quite encouraging is that there are mechanisms to tackle main causes of discrimination and violation of women’s human rights. Those mechanisms are international documents (such as CEDAW, European Convention of Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, etc., which constitute the basis of the institutional and legal framework of the country), and legislation, in particular the Law on Gender Equality which requires women’s participation in sustainable recovery and reconstruction at all levels.  

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there have been very modest, individual attempts to assess the impact of war and post-war reconstruction on women and women rights. UNSC Resolutions 1820, 1888 and 1889 have particularly encouraged women’s groups to devote much more attention to the impact of the war and post-war situation on women and girls in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both the international and domestic public has again shown the interest in war rape. The non-existence of common standards for the supervision of the implementation of the above mentioned resolutions is a big problem as such standards could help the institutions and organizations of civil society to establish a systematic monitoring of the progress achieved in this domain. The reports on the implementation of these resolutions, which were compiled by women’s organizations, could not show a real progress or serious shortcomings. As the elements of these resolutions are mutually interrelated and all of them are dealing with the protection of women and children in armed conflicts, it may be useful to monitor the progress in the implementation thereof altogether.   

By monitoring the implementation of the UN SCR 1325 standards in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we have realized that a continuous advocacy, financial assistance, technical, legal and political expertise, as well as the understanding of gender equality in international, national and local structures is necessary. In recent years, the international attention and funds for women’s human rights and gender issues have not been in the focus of interest.  

The tenth anniversary of the adoption of UN SCR 1325 is a right time to return the issues of women’s rights and gender issues into the political agenda of debates on peace and security in the UN Security Council and the European Parliament in order to ensure a political support, financial assistance and cooperation that would lead to the full and equal participation of women in all peace and security processes.

The consistent implementation of UN SCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina should mean not only a continuous support in the building the state capacity but also a continuous supervision of state mechanisms for gender equality and women’s empowerment. These obligations were defined in the National Action Plan.

"Participation of the Public in Human Security – UN SCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in Bosnia and Herzegovina" is one of many projects conducted by Žene Ženama for and with women in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

See more information: www.zenezenaman.org

  

Gender equality/mainstreaming priorities?

International Aid Management and State Aid Agencies: Policies and Practices towards Gender Mainstreaming in Bosnia and Herzegovina

BY:MARIA THERESA MAAN -  BEŠIĆ

SARAJEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, 2010

 Script summary:

              The effectiveness of foreign aid differs in different times and places.  The aid in Bosnia and Herzegovina channeled through a variety of activities that bring a mix of money and ideas.  However, the timing of assistance is crucial in helping countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina to improve the policies and institutional reform process. Both bilateral and multilateral agencies must transform themselves and cooperate together, in order aid to become more effective. Development means improvement in the lives of hundreds of millions of people, more food on the table, healthier babies, and more children in school. These are things worth fighting for and properly managed foreign aid can make a big contribution.

The availability of grant based and bilateral donors assistance is in decline and it was recognized that government and donor agencies need to work closer together to increase the impact of their reducing contributions. Furthermore, this is very important issue in BiH government into growing maturity of the public administration, which is now able to define its own policy priorities and identify resources in order to achieve effective aid. In spite of the government initiatives and taken concrete steps in adopting a more proactive approach to aid coordination, evidence showed that gender related activities receive a smallest portion of the budget.  This is the indicator that gender equality is not the priority of the most donors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Call for redness is necessary to all donors and gender equality policy makers to re - think what kind of policy and priority agenda to be developed in the future. However, donors, government institutions must indicate each individual aid activity targeting gender equality as one of its policy objectives. Thus, the questions still remain in consideration to overall social context of the international organization in particular to the attitude and influence, were frequently choose to ignore the gender equality issue. As policy recommendation, the international donors and institutions must priority gender as strategic not just an additional and to boost the budget a bit for a small women focused initiative.

 The research evidence showed that the donors must incorporate a greater awareness of gender equality in all dimensions of community development program and initiatives. Programs that will focus on activities designed especially for women and need to incorporate gender analysis into their policy, project design, monitoring and evaluation process. Ensured collected data is always sex-disaggregated, were all the monitoring and evaluation plans must track gender related factors and gender disparate impacts.  On other hand, the donors must dedicate real resources to understand gender within different cultures and societies, to achieve and build solid foundations for gender equality.

 Furthermore, as comparison to other Balkans and transitional countries, women still suffered from large amounts of social exclusion in the areas of political participation, social protection, health care, and education.  Therefore, as an evidence, women's in Bosnia and Herzegovina also experience an enourmous levels of stigma and discrimination. Although, many international institutions continue to ignore the importance of gender equality and gender mainstreaming. The gender equality policy seems to be determined at least partly by the limited political will to introduce a holistic mainstreaming strategy. There has been no explicit refusal by policy makers to handle gender equality issue comprehensively but rather a general indifference towards the issue. Once gender equality reaches the agenda, it is framed in terms of general equal treatment and equal opportunity and not as a gender specific issue. It is conviction that building and maintaining peace and prosperity requires attention to gender roles and relations in the post conflict arena like Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It seems that even when a gender mainstreaming approach is considered, its interpretation is blurred, and the actions considered under its umbrella are nothing more than incidental targeted gender equality projects. When it comes to regional development and national policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is difficult to find any clear idea of what the inclusion of gender equality in this process would mean. The language is most of the time gender blind, with a few limited exceptions. Bosnia and Herzegovina is very far from realizing equal opportunities for women and men. The gender equality machinery, as revealed has limited resources and a weak voice, and lately its distinctiveness within the larger equal opportunity field seems to be weakening. The national policies were there felt an increasing need to relate the contexts based on the European arena. Both in relation to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s persistent way of making itself the best in the European Union, and in relation to dissenting voices that perceive the policies on gender equality produced by the European Union.  Most relevant in this context, that it is also quite evident that the new regional development policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where for example partnership as a form of organization is included and has been greatly influenced by the policies launched from the European Union. At the same time as national characteristics and political cultures still large extents that contribute to the form and content of this policy area.

 Furthermore, it is also appropriate that the effectiveness of the implementation of gender based budgeting will ensure women’s access to all services to achieve gender equality.  The non – governmental organizations must continuously work on the issue to ensure that women were included in all the decision making processes within commissions and delegations levels. The strong and effective implementation of developed countries, multilateral financial development, and security institutions accountability must demonstrate their standards and set for partner countries to instituting gender responsive budgeting.

 Therefore, women organizations derive much of their political legitimacy from their efforts to represent women’s interests in national, regional and international level. It stresses that these are critical role of women’s voice and collective action in driving change.  And it outlines areas for future research to build understanding of the reforms that are most effective in enabling gender responsive in order to apply the principles of good governance and mutual accountability agenda to achieve gender equality. Importantly, these must also be affirmed as top priority in the hierarchy of issues for all policy and decision makers in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

                                                         

The role of civil society in the prevention of armed conflict: Partnership principle towards peace in BiH

By: Maria Theresa Maan-Bešić
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
June 30, 2008

 “By 1991, when Croatia and Slovenia declared independence from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina”[1] was the most politically complicated nation in the former Yugoslavia. By April, “1992 Bosnia & Herzegovina existed independently in three separate parts, Republika Srpska, and the Croatian Community of Herzeg - Bosna.”[2] Because of this unique situation, “in addition to the primary conflict with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a civil war erupted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which most heavily affected the civilian population.”[3] When the “Dayton Peace Accords”[4] were agreed upon and the conflict in BiH came to an end in 1995, it and all of the nations of the former Yugoslavia were left with an incredibly challenging and necessary project dealing or facing the past[5] and working toward reconciliation in order to avoid future conflicts.

The civil society participation whose root cause lies with three inter-connected areas: Firstly, there is growing recognition of the role civil society organizations (CSOs) can play in responding, managing and preventing conflict as well as in post-conflict peace building. CSOs all have played important roles in responding to conflict. What becomes clear is that civil society is far more than public benefit nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Yet NGOs with technical-professional skills play an important role in providing services, promoting change and working with conflict.

Secondly, civil society representatives commented that the lack of public consultation by leaders of BiH's political factions is of concern because the police standards are uneven and the lack of harmonization undermines public confidence in the policing of law and order, especially in gender-related matters. In addition, it was generally noted in the interviews from one of the expert Lynne Alice, that reform is required to fulfill key EU policing principles; state-level legislative and budgetary competencies; ensure that there is no political interference in operational policing; and to enable establishment of police zones based on professional rather than entity criteria. Therefore, security, conflict prevention and peace building issues have primarily been the domain of the state and the military.

 Thirdly, CSOs must develop a potential or co-operation. In order to realize this potential we need to build on the first decade of conflict prevention experience, and develop reliable mechanisms for working together and define the responsibilities and competencies of the different sectors. CSO accountability, legitimacy and transparency have yet to be faced. In my point of view within the conflict prevention community itself, participants saw lack of co-ordination leading to duplication and competition, reducing the effectiveness of everyone’s efforts. Improved networking was seen as a partial solution, but the need for greater discipline cannot be ignored.

Fourthly, the institutional weaknesses and limited capacities of CSOs are well documented. These are often permeated by personality-centric, corporatist and clientelist political cultures, and by serious difficulties to update and to adapt their agendas to changing political environments, which seriously hinder their current ability to influence or implement conflict prevention policies.

 However, I would particularly note the importance of capacity building both for local civil society and for local populations generally. By organizing cross exchange conference can provide important opportunities for civil society, from different part of countries have shared same experience and to identify some concrete areas for dialogue in order to continue worked and identify priority issue.  Indeed, as my personal perspective there are short term solutions that civil society in BiH can work on the prevention of Armed Conflict’s can specifically achieve through :  

1. Strengthen the existing networks, national, regional and international conflict prevention and peace building.  
2. Provide more overview or any documents of the role of civil society in the prevention of armed conflict.
3. Identify different methods for interaction between civil society, the UN, national, regional organisations and governments.
4. Continue in developing national, regional and international action agendas for Conflict Prevention which to be agreed on with the United Nations.
5. Create an intensive research and theory that will help the conflict prevention community and NGOs to play its full part in international debate.

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[1] Hereinafter, may be referred to as BiH. 

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid. pp. 15.

[4] “Summary of the Dayton Peace Agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina.” Fact Sheet. Minnesota:  Office of the Spokesman, University of Minnesota. 30 Nov. 1995.  

< http://www.umn.edu/humanrts/icty/dayton/daytonsum.html>

[5]“Truth Now and Peace Forever.“ Facing the Past. IDC, Sarajevo. Dec. 2004. <http://www.idc.org.ba/project/facing_the_past.html>  

http://www.idc.org.ba/aboutus/books.html

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE MARKET ECONOMY

BY: MARIA THERESA MAAN -  BEŠIĆ

SARAJEVO, BOSNIA ND HERZEGOVINA

SEPTEMBER 06, 2008

This paper offers insights into how the implementation of good corporate citizenship is facilitated by every stakeholders. Meaningful stakeholder engagement should be a genuine process of sharing views between the stakeholders and the management of an organization for the purpose of improving the social, ethical and environmental performance of the organization and for improving its accountability. This paper demonstrates how a good corporate citizen and corporate social responsibility  must reach out to many different stakeholders. It has to listen and respond to the stakeholders that form part of its relationships, networks and interactions and it has particularly to avoid making assumptions. It is becoming dangerous even for experienced managers to make any assumption about what is best for stakeholders.

 

 

We can tell an economically coherent story about CSR, and use financial markets to validate it. The paper suggests that there is a resource allocation role for CSR programmes in cases of market failure through private social cost differentials, and also in cases where distributional disagreements are likely to be strong. In some sectors of the economy private and social costs are roughly in line and distributional debates are unusual, were CSR has little role to play. Such sectors are outnumbered by those where CSR can play a valuable role in ensuring that the invisible hand acts, as intended, to produce the social good. In addition, it seems clear that a CSR programme can be a profitable element of corporate strategy, contributing to risk management and to the maintenance of relationships that are important to long-term profitability.

CSR might be one of the key solutions to resolve our social and global problems. CSR also can play a valuable role in ensuring that the invisible hand acts, as intended, to produce the social good. It can also act to improve corporate profits and guard against reputational risks. Different definitions and views highlighted from different authors like the following:
·         Adam Smith’s remarks, if companies make products that consumers value and price them affordably, making  money in the process, what is the need for corporate social responsibility.
·         Hopkins in an International Labor Organization discussion paper states that CSR is concerned with treating stakeholders of the firm ethically or in a responsible manner.
·         OECD aim is to encourage the positive contributions that multinational enterprises can make to economics, environmental and social progress and to minimize the difficulties to which their various operations may give.
·         Beltratti, A. Viewed CSR is an attempt to escape profit maximization in the recognition that agency problems and incomplete contracts undermine the basic idea of shareholders’ supremacy.
·         Philippine Business for Social Progress, capture the essence of business-led investments by providing access to social services, support the development of communities and protect the environment.
·         The European Union says that companies must integrate a voluntary based and operates a business in a manner consistently that meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations.  

Hence, the impact and factors affecting the market economy and how CSR can be effective in some way. The multi – billion corporations and business like Starbucks, Microsoft are really battling in the global field, that are building global brands, that are trying to take their product to all over the place, they have become extremely sensitive to their issues about their social role. The leading companies not only have a business strategy, how they're going to position their product, how they're going to sell it, they also have a social strategy because brands are built not just around good quality of a product, brands are built also around emotions, around values that people ascribe to those products.

However, CSR is not a fad. In fact, there are structural reasons why this is happening and this is happening so widely. It's actually some very fortunate reasons, at least some very fortunate effects the companies are reacting, and it makes this not only for the well-being of people and societies around the world, but it also makes good business sense in market economy. Corporate citizenship integrates in the market economy were the businesses and consumers decide of their own volition what they will purchase and produce. However, in theory this means that the producer gets to decide what to produce, how much to produce, what to charge customers for those goods, what to pay employees, etc., and not the government. These decisions in a market economy are influenced by the pressures of competition, supply, and demand. As United States there are more market economy traits than in Western European countries.

The earliest conceptualizations of corporate citizenship were developed in the 1950s in the research area of business responsibility. Maignan conceptualization of corporate citizenship comprised of four dimensions: economic; legal; ethical; and discretionary citizenship were serve as baseline for companies aimed to contributes to the well being of the communities in which they operate. The Nike, Mosanto, and Australian Seniors Computer Clubs Association are some evidence of doing CSR doing great things and contribute to business responsibly. While on economic viewpoint from Adam Smith, explained, a better economic performance occurs where capital allocation for production and distribution of wealth operates under conditions of relatively free and competitive markets within minimalist public policy.

However, without any intervention of law, therefore, the private interests and passions of men naturally lead them to divide and distribute the stock of every society among all the different employments carried on in it as nearly as possible in the proportion which is most agreeable to the interest of the whole society.  It also means that corporate social responsibility should look toward relationship in growing market economy.

Corporate culture as social commitment  may guide managers in how they address different issues that their companies are facing. Also, Maignan argued  that market oriented organizations integrate their social  responsibilities into their activities more than less market-oriented organizations.  The impact of corporate citizenship activities on stakeholders’ attitudes and behaviors toward the corporate citizen company are not well developed. Corporate citizenship initiatives may help establish a bond between employees, positive influence on consumers evaluation of product attributes and attitudes toward the firm, corporate reputation, and positive impact of corporate citizenship on customer loyalty. Hence, by encouranging and participation in voluteerism can contribute significant effort of business sector to thier owned community. 

The driving forces of corporate citizenship applied the pressure for better social and environmental performance can then move along the value chain. However, top management orientation managers constitute a particular group of stakeholders with respect to corporate citizenship matters. Managers are then the group of stakeholders likely to have the biggest influence on the degree of a company’s involvement in corporate citizenship.

The values and ideals of managers seem to impact on the extent to which a company adopts a corporate citizenship strategy were managers with different backgrounds hold different values do not attribute the same importance to corporate citizenship as Thomas and Simerly explained. This could be part of the  explanation why companies in the same industry exhibit different „social responsibilities to similar pressures.

Drumwright, highlighted the role of policy entrepreneurs „people who play a key role in bringing issues to the forefront in taking environmental issues as a core criterion in organizational buying decisions. In a specific company, the presence of policy  entrepreneurs who are personally interested in putting social and environmental issues on the corporate agenda may thus influence the degree of corporate citizenship of that company.

The United Nations millennium development goals and NGOs answered and raised issues to solve some of the biggest problems in the world. Hence, none of those can be tackled without participation from the private sector. Most of the solutions are in the hands of the private sector. Now that doesn't explain that companies would actually take the lead. The fact that NGOs expect businesses to do something, that doesn't meant that businesses are going to go ahead and do it.

However, the importance of  activism needs to presure stakeholders to be socially responsible and to really have strong principles of governance. In such situations,  the governments can play a role in implementing and enforcing legislation to support the principles and practices of corporate social responsibility, which involves contributing to local community development in places where businesses operate. This can be encouraged through regulations, penalties and public sector institutions that control business investment or operations. Setting clear policy frameworks to guide business investment in corporate social responsibility and advising on issues such as the disclosure of information, tax incentives and encouraging dialogue with a company's stakeholders, is another way.

WOMEN SURVIVORS OF WARTIME SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE SUD BIH:THE RIGHT TO FAIR TRIAL

AREA: INSTITUTION BUILDING AND HUMAN RIGHTS
BY: MARIA THERESA MAAN -  BEŠIĆ
SARAJEVO, BOSNIA ND HERZEGOVINA
OCTOBER 29, 2008

SCRIPT SUMMARY:   

International legal precedents and local BiH law function together to established guidelines for the Sud BiH to utilize in protecting witness’s rights. However, without the commitment of all of the court’s staff involved in working with witnesses to follow and take advantage of these guidelines, the laws are simply symbolic protections without the potential for practical application. In addition, if the external institutions supposedly working in partnership with the Sud BiH are unaware as to the specific roles intended for them, it is unlikely that a functional network of support systems can be created for survivor witnesses throughout the entire duration of their testifying process. The significant emotional effects of retelling a traumatizing story in a public forum, combined with the larger social and economic concerns of survivor witnesses makes them a particularly vulnerable group of people. The Sud BiH needs to take the first step in recognizing this, and establishing trust between itself and witnesses in order to make the process of testifying mutually beneficial.

The legal precedents set by courts in the international community have the potential to serve survivor witnesses from BiH testifying in the Sud BiH. The decisions set forth in several cases in the ECHR are designed to set important precedents in protecting the rights of witnesses and in particular the rights of survivors of sexual violence who are acting as witnesses in court. The Sud BiH is legally able to refer to these decisions as legitimate foundations for some of its own decisions, and as such should consider some of the more rigorous protections for the witness set forth by the ECHR.

The ICTY has set an important international standard in prosecuting wartime sexual violence. However, it too was once a new institution and as such has made many mistakes and had to learn from them. The Sud BiH should learn from those mistakes as well, in order to prevent making the same mistakes that can destroy trust between local communities and legal institutions, and therefore eliminating the possibility that injured parties will willingly come forward to act as witnesses in the court.

The WSO in the Sud BiH could also benefit from some internal improvements. Judging from the interview with Lucia Dighiero, while the office and its staff are clearly focused on the needs of the witness and his or her psychological well-being before and during the testifying process, their focus is incredibly narrow. The lack of dedication to creating any kind of large scale, court-sponsored witness outreach program, and to working with local NGOs in order to have a presence in local communities and gain the trust of potential witnesses living there is truly limiting the WSO’s effectiveness. Without any apparent interest in the local communities of the Sud BiH, the WSO is restricting its ability to build trust with potential witnesses. The support it provides witnesses before and during the giving of testimony in the courtroom is no doubt incredibly important, and, it seems, generally effective and helpful. However, it is the more long-term concerns of survivor witnesses that have the greatest impact on their lives, and that seem to be the least important to the WSO.

Organizations unaffiliated with the court are all doing important work on their own to improve the experiences of survivor witnesses both in the court itself, pressuring the Sud BiH to engage in more transparent and consistent practices, and outside of the court in broader social, economic, and public health contexts. However, the work of these organizations will never reach its true potential in helping survivor witnesses until coalitions are built between organizations working on different aspects of the witness’s experience. When that happens, the organizations will not only become stronger in their own work, but also will be able to clearly identify their own roles in the process, eliminating extra work that another organization can take on, and eradicating overlap in the work of different organizations. In addition, all of these organizations need to continue an open dialogue with the Sud BiH itself. A significant part of this responsibility lies on the part of the Sud BiH in establishing a dedication and commitment to community outreach, which at the moment is certainly does not have.[1] The Sud BiH and external organizations supporting the court’s work need to establish the roles of each in making the processes of the court as transparent and effective as possible. If this happens, survivor witnesses will certainly begin to benefit from the improved capacity of both the court and NGOs to serve them and directly address their needs.

The Sud BiH is a new institution with great responsibility, and plays important role in the success of transitional justice not only in BiH itself, but also in the region of the former Yugoslavia as a whole.  As a new legal institution, the Sud BiH has handed down unprecedented and absolutely important sentences for war criminals that committed some of the most devastating crimes during the war in BiH in the 1990s. These decisions and the positive effect they have had on the healing of a nation do not absolve the court of improving the more minute aspects of its practices. A legal institution must constantly scrutinize its own practices in order to be sure that it is fairly and equally serving all parties involved in the cases it takes on.

Given the importance of witnesses in prosecuting war crimes cases in the Sud BiH, it is only logical that the court would do everything in its power to protect the rights of the witness and establish trust in communities where potential witnesses live. Using precedents set in international law, its own national laws, and working together with the media, NGOs, and international organizations, the Sud BiH can improve its practices regarding witnesses. Until it does, it is unlikely that survivor witnesses will receive the kind of support and care that they need when going through such a difficult experience.

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[1] Based on interview of Ms. Brett, stated that Nerma Jelaćić indicated the serious lack of any commitment to the community on the part of the Sud BiH when she mentioned that when it was requested of the court to go into the communities in which it handed down a sentence and explain the sentence to locals, it flat out refused and claimed that it was not its responsibility to do so. This and other stories cause me to believe that the Sud BiH has a long way to come in showing its commitment to the communities of BiH.