Project Snapshot

Total Funding:  $2.3 million

Project Duration:  September 2017 - September 2019

Implementing Partner:  Consortium for Elections and Political Processes (CEPPS)

The Challenge

Failure to implement the required economic reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has impeded the country’s progress toward and prospects for Euro-Atlantic integration. The lack of progress stems from years of political stalemate and standoffs, exacerbated by serious socio-economic challenges and trends, such as corruption at all levels of government and increasingly hardline separatist rhetoric that further divides this fragile postwar society.

Our Program

USAID’s Catalyzing Cross-Party Initiatives project improves BiH’s overall reform prospects by engaging political parties in both BiH entities in cross-party discourse and policy development that focuses on pressing social and economic problems. Reinforcing cross-party and cross-ethnic groups around social and economic issues of concern to citizens will help ease ethnic tensions and facilitate reforms. The project also provides opportunities for young political actors to engage in political life more effectively, by deepening their understanding of policymaking and creating linkages between their parties.

Implementation and Expected Results

Project activities help cross-party groups develop and advocate for joint policies on issues of common concern. The project builds the leadership skills of younger politicians through a highly selective, long-term training program. This program element brings together young politicians from different ethnic backgrounds and across party lines and helps them find commonalities for policy development. Group participants learn to apply analytic research in policy development, collaborate in decision-making processes, and communicate effectively on policy topics. USAID anticipates the following project results:

• Cross-party groups base policy development on analytic research on voter preferences.
• Cross-party groups use increasingly savvy communication methods and improve communication with voters.
• Longer-term cross-party coordination mechanisms are developed, including issue-based caucuses in the multiple parliaments in BiH.
• Increased number of cross-party policy reform initiatives, formulated with strong civil society input and support, are introduced into legislative processes.
• Parties introduce policies that include measures to prevent corruption, and they conduct constituency outreach to promote and gain public support for them.
• Young political leaders from various parties form productive long-term relationships.
• Young political leaders develop policy initiatives that shift the political discourse toward issues relevant to the country’s progress toward EU integration.