BHS 
KOMA Coalition: 6 Public Debates Organised
The Social Inclusion Foundation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SIF in BiH), in cooperation with the Initiative for Better and Humane Inclusion (IBHI), founded the Coalition of Marginalised Group sin BiH – KOMA in November, 2014, and performs the role of KOMA's secretariat. The KOMA Coalition gathers individuals, non-governmental organisations, representatives of public institutions, socially responsible businesses and social enterprises on the mission to help resolve priority issues in the sector of human rights of marginalised groups. KOMA currently has 62 members from all parts of BiH and its goal is to directly influence the public policy-making process in its area through public advocacy. The Executive Board of the KOMA Coalition was named at the founding conference held on 17th November 2014 and has, since then, held two meetings – on 11th February and 6th May 2015.
The Coalition of Marginalised Groups in BiH – KOMA is implementing two public advocacy campaigns in 2015, which are focused on improving the status of marginalised groups and citizens in BiH. The first campaign is focused on establishing minimum social security and equal opportunities, whereas the second campaign deals with regulating non-institutional support to citizens from marginalised groups.
The goal of both campaigns is the adoption of entity-level regulations, such as amendments of relevant laws and other regulations, or the adoption of new regulations to improve the area of the two campaigns.
The media briefing for the campaign „Establishment of minimum social security and equal opportunities” was held on 13th March 2015. Members of the Public Advocacy Body (PAB) for the first campaign gave the media representatives an overview of the current situation in the area of social protection, explained the offered solution and the significance of minimum social security and equal opportunities for the improvement of the status of marginalised citizens.
The media briefing for the campaign „Regulating non-institutional support to citizens from marginalised groups“ was held on 26th March 2015. Members of the PAB for the second campaign presented an overview of the current situation in the area of non-institutional support and gave examples picturing the significance of non-institutional support for all citizens at the local community level for the improvement of the status of marginalised citizens.
With the aim of opening up cross-sectoral dialogue between BiH citizens, non-governmental organisations and representatives of governments and public institutions regarding the concrete steps which need to be undertaken in order to achieve progress in the areas of the two advocacy campaigns, 6 public debates were organised during April and May 2015 –3 within each campaign. The moderator of all 6 public debates was Mr. Ahmed Burić, a renowned Bosnian and Herzegovinian journalist, author and columnist.
Public debates within the campaign „Establishment of minimum social security and equal opportunities“ were held in Mostar (15th April), Sarajevo (6th May) and Banja Luka (27th May). Adopted conclusions from the three debates offer solutions that promote improvement of public policy, which will result in better targeting of needs of marginalised groups and a more just distribution of benefits within the social protection system. Participants: BiH citizens, representatives of non-governmental organisations and public institutions, jointly adopted the conclusions and recommendations focused on the establishment of minimum social security and equal opportunities, uniform across entities, which creates the preconditions for removing the existing territorial discrimination between beneficiaries and coming one step closer to a society of equal opportunities for all citizens. The conclusion will be presented to the relevant line ministries and public institutions with the aim of adopting concrete measures by the end of 2015.
Pictures:
Mostar, 15.4.2015.
Sarajevo, 6.5.2015.
Banja Luka, 27.5.2015.
Three public debates were also organised within the campaign „Regulating non-institutional support to citizens from marginalised groups“, in Sarajevo (22nd April), Banja Luka (13th May) and Trebinje (19th May). The end goal of the campaign is to transfer part of social services onto stakeholders from the local community level, which can be realised partly through transferring public services onto subjects from the non-governmental or private sector, or through the establishment of social enterprises. Participants: BiH citizens, representatives of non-governmental organisations and public institutions, jointly adopted the conclusions and recommendations focused on regulating non-institutional support to citizens from marginalised groups, as a more humane model of social assistance to marginalised groups. Those conclusions will also be presented to the relevant line ministries and public institutions at all levels.
Pictures:
Sarajevo, 22.4.2015.
Banja Luka, 13.5.2015.
Trebinje, 19.5.2015.
The next step of the KOMA Coalition will be more intensifying advocacy activities and applying direct pressure onto relevant line ministries and public institutions with the aim of initiating the process of implementing the adopted conclusions.
For more information on the KOMA Coalition, visit WWW.KOMA.BA