A draft study on the efficiency of the Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman (IHRO) of Bosnia and Herzegovina was discussed on 21 May 2018 in Sarajevo in the presence of the two Ombudspersons, the IHRO’s staff members and the Council of Europe consultants. The draft report contains a set of recommendations concerning the IHRO’s internal structure, its human resources policy and training of staff members, its capacity to handle individual complaints and to deal with the backlog of cases, quality of recommendations and special reports. The results of the discussion will be considered in the finalisation of the report. The final report will aim at strengthening the Institution and improving its capacity to play its major role – prevention of human rights violations.

The draft report was presented within the framework of the action implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina: “Strengthening the Human Rights Ombudsman to Fight Discrimination” – which is a part of the joint programme between the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey”, as a three-year programme (May 2016 – May 2019), focusing on three themes: ensuring justice, fighting corruption, economic crime and organised crime, as well as combating discrimination and protecting the rights of vulnerable groups.