PRESS BRIEFING ON SREBRENICA REGIONAL RECOVERY INITIATIVE

PRESS BRIEFING ON SREBRENICA REGIONAL RECOVERY INITIATIVE

Bosnia and Herzegovina deserved the help and support of international donors to reconstruct its ruined economy, strengthen its human and physical infrastructures and assist in the repatriation of refugees, Jacques Paul Klein, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kalman Mizseil, Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), told a Headquarters press briefing today. 

Speaking only hours before a Headquarters pledging conference to support the “Srebrenica Regional Recovery Initiative” -– a $12.5 million effort to revitalize that region over a three-year period -- the two officials said, although the challenge was daunting, there were positive signs that the required $12.5 million would be realized.  Mr. Klein and UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown will host the pledging conference.

“The genesis of the donors conference is very simple”, Mr. Klein said.  “Srebrenica has been a festering sore, which we have tried to treat over the past five years in a seriatim fashion, but which we have never tried to cure.  And, indeed, it was under sanctions.  People were even afraid to speak of it.”  Now it was time to actually try to heal the wounds rather than just treat it.  With the support of the Secretary-General, a UNDP survey team was brought in last November to do an initial survey of the region.

Based on that analysis, it was felt that a full study was required, and towards that goal, one was done this past March, he said.  The plan was comprehensive, involving refugee return, both ways, collective housing for mothers without families, and economic reconstruction.  It was hoped that most of the money would be raised by the end of the year, and early next year the three-year programme could begin.  “I think the region deserves our help and support”, he added.  “We need to find a way to help these women rebuild their shattered lives.  I think they deserve no less.”

Mr. Mizsei paid tribute to Mr. Klein for initiating and spearheading the effort to try and finally “heal the wounds”, not just treat them.  The international community had poured an enormous amount of money into Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the reality was that the recovery of the country, as well as its economic transition, had been insufficient.  The money had basically helped to alleviate a crisis, but had not really put Bosnia on a sustainable path.

He added that the most painful part of transition ahead was that privatization had been moving slowly, because of unsolved legal issues over the last few years.  But, it was moving ahead.  The poverty figures were staggering.  Forty per cent of the federation was living under poverty, and 68 per cent of the population in the area of Srebrenica was also living in poverty.  But, on a more positive note, the tide was starting to turn, and more and more families were actually returning to Srebrenica .

Continuing, he said that, although the challenge was daunting, there were also positive signs, and the UNDP study identified 40 areas that needed an

accelerated economic recovery.  In some cases there was need to deal with the state of the infrastructure, although the expected project was not concentrating on infrastructure.  “We are concentrating on the human infrastructure around it”, he said.  But, in some very specific cases, such as accommodating doctors, schools and the police, the project would actually contribute to infrastructure rehabilitation.

In the economic recovery, he continued, one of the key areas was the agro-business.  In the last 10 years or so there had not been any fertilizer supplied in the surrounding areas, which made it a very good target for organic food production.  However, investor interest in the trading, storage and other infrastructure must be found.  There were already signs of a growing organic agro-business, but “we have to facilitate and accelerate the growth of it”.

Asked by a correspondent how much foreign investment was in Bosnia today, Mr. Mizseil responded that commercial investment was “absolutely minimal”.  The perceived risk was so great that investors were not yet willing to put their money there.  But, they were very eager to explore opportunities, as the consolidation of the country proceeded.  “And that, again, is a very important tenet of what we’re trying to do”, he said.  “To achieve the consolidation of the country, we also want to bring in investors.”

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