Promotion of diversity and equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Action builds upon the work of the Horizontal Facility I project on strengthening protection and promotion of national minorities in Bosnia, while introducing two additional thematic components related to addressing discrimination on sexual orientation and/or gender identity grounds and combating hate speech.
The Action is implemented in close partnership with institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees, Institution of Ombudsman for human rights, Agency for Gender equality, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate for European Integration), from Republika Srpska (Ministry for European Integration and International Cooperation, Ministry of Justice), from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Ministry of Justice, Government) and from Government of Brcko District as well as with the local European Union delegation, civil society organisations, local authorities and other relevant stakeholders.
- Strengthening the capacity of national and local stakeholders to better address issues related to anti-discrimination, combating hate-speech and protecting rights of national minorities and LGBTI persons in line with the standards and recommendations set by the Council of Europe – especially those of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM), European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) and European Commission on Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)
- Supporting Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European path in the field of fundamental rights
- Legal and strategic support to institutions
- Capacity building activities
- Peer-to-peer exchanges with regional and European partners
- Awareness raising campaigns and public discussions on selected anti-discrimination topics
- Support to civil society organisations and/or local authorities by small grant schemes, to enhance their capacities to tackle discrimination and reach out to the people
- The dialogue and co-operation between institutions and civil society organisations in promoting and protecting human rights is enhanced
- The knowledge and awareness of general public about the existence and rights of national minorities is increased, about the rights of LGBTI persons and the dangers posed by hate speech, offering means to develop counter-narrativeson their rights and mechanisms to defend them
- Better protection of human rights of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and build a more diverse, equal and tolerant society is achieved
- Support initiatives to harmonise the anti-discrimination framework across the country and to develop and implement the respective action plans/strategies in relation to national minorities, LGBTI rights and hate speech
"When we are fewer"
Duration: 43 months (May 2019 to December 2022)
Beneficiaries :
► Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina
► Public authorities
► Councils of national minorities at all levels and other stakeholders working on national minority issues
► Civil society organisations engaged in promoting and protecting human rights
Funding: The European Union and the Council of Europe
Budget: 650,000.00 Euros
