Back Bosnia and Herzegovina adopts LGBTI Action Plan developed with the support of European Union and Council of Europe

photo: Shutterstock

photo: Shutterstock

The Council of Ministers adopted last week the LGBTI Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2021 - 2024 aiming to improve the situation with human rights and freedoms of LGBTI persons in the country. This is the first Action Plan of the kind; it was developed with the support of the European Union and Council of Europe.

The Plan includes three strategic objectives: 1) to ensure the existence of efficient mechanisms for the protection of LGBTI persons from discrimination and hatred; 2) to ensure equality for LGBTI persons in all areas of public and private life; and 3) to fight prejudices and stereotypes regarding LGBTI persons.

Bojana Urumova, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Sarajevo stated on this occasion: “We are glad to have contributed to the development of the Action Plan. It is of vital importance to protect human rights of all members of the society, including LGBTI persons, to promote tolerance and to combat discrimination. We trust that the Plan will help to achieve this goal and will contribute to the implementation of the earlier recommendations provided by the Council of Europe bodies, and to the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights”.

The latest report on Bosnia and Herzegovina, by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), and the EU Opinion on the BiH application for membership, highlighted the need to ensure a consistent strategic framework on human rights which, inter alia, includes the adoption of a strategic framework for the protection of LGBTI persons, based on relevant European standards, notably stemming from article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ekaterina Dorodnova, Deputy Head of Delegation of European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina said that respecting human rights, human dignity, non-discrimination and privacy are core EU values.

We believe that the adoption of this Action plan will mark a new phase in our joint efforts to promote equality and help lift the voices of LGBTI people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

The Action Plan will also contribute to the implementation of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, the Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)5 to member states on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, and the most recent EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025.

This Plan was developed by a working group of 25 representatives of relevant administrative bodies of the entities, Brčko District, Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and civil society, co-ordinated by the Agency for Gender Equality/Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its development was supported under the action “Promotion of diversity and equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, which is part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”, and by the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Unit of the Council of Europe.

Sarajevo 2 August 2022
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