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USAID support to IFES and AEOBiH
Benjamin Feit, USAID Adviser
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Dear Conference Participants,
First, I would like to thank IFES and the Association
of Election Officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina (AEOBiH) for asking
me to speak today to talk about USAID's assistance program in BiH.
The United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) is an independent US Government agency that carries out
the large bulk of US foreign assistance programs. USAID set up a
permanent office in BiH in late 1995 and since that time it has
focused on supporting the full implementation of the Dayton Peace
Accords, which was and remains our guiding principle. To date, USAID
has invested significant sums to repair roads, bridges, schools,
power and water systems and health clinics around the country. This
effort has restored power to 25% of the population and enabled 19,000
children to attend school in a safe and healthy environment.
USAID has coupled the economic rebuilding and
infrastructure repair with intense democratization assistance. The
USAID democratization program has included: strengthening political
parties so they are more internally democratic; parliamentary training
for elected officials and staff to improve legislative functioning
and citizen representation; voter and civic education to encourage
active citizen participation in the political process; judicial
reform and strengthening to better protect citizens' rights; and
supporting a growing and increasingly viable independent media.
Key among this support to building democracy
in BiH has been to ensure the conduct of free and fair elections.
At first, USAID supported the election process by providing key
international elections experts and technical assistance directly
to the OSCE. During the past couple of elections, USAID shifted
priorities to providing technical assistance and capacity training
directly to Bosnian institutions and professionals.
Since I arrived in May 1999, I have seen the
AEOBiH develop into a viable professional association. First, I
saw it graduate from being an internal OSCE body to one with its
own office, staff and structure. It has since registered in both
entities of BiH making it a truly multiethnic organization. It has
built its membership, which includes an impressive array of current
and former municipal election commissioners and other election professionals.
And most recently, it has established a capacity to train other
Bosnian election professionals at low cost so they may administer
future elections competently and properly. I want to commend you
all in the Association and in IFES for these significant achievements.
As the OSCE elections unit hands over the entire
responsibility for the conduct of elections to Bosnian institutions
and professionals, the role and responsibility of the Association
should and will increase. In the future, one of key challenges for
the Association is to assert itself as a key actor in the election
process. Obviously, one of the first responsibilities for BiH with
regard to elections is to pass the election law. The AEOBiH should
position itself to be a key player in this process. By providing
its knowledge of the election system, as well as the success and
failures of the past, it can help to push the draft law forward
and get it passed.
Perhaps the greatest challenge for the Association
in the future is for it to become sustainable and independent of
direct international training and support whether from the OSCE
or IFES. It seems to me that negotiations with new governmental
authorities on election budgeting and ensuring that sufficient funds
are set aside for the Association's operating costs is a worthy
and necessary initiative. You can be sure that you will have USAID's
unrelenting support in this future endeavor.
Thank you
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