Foreign Operations Appropriated Assistance: Bosnia and Herzegovina

BiH: FY 2009 USD Thousands Total Accounts $35,444 Assistance for Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia (AEECA): $29,444 Foreign Military Financing (FMF): $3,600 Non-proliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining and Related Programs (NADR): $1,400 International Military Education and Training (IMET): $1,000
For More Information: SEED Annual Report: http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/rpt/92672.htm USAID Links: http://www.usaid.gov/locations/europe_eurasia/ U.S. Embassy: http://sarajevo.usembassy.gov/

Foreign Operations Appropriated Assistance*
Fiscal Year (FY) 2008: $33.3 Million (M) ($27.8M SEED, $5.5M Other)
FY 2009 Estimate: $35.4M ($29.4M AEECA, $6.0M Other)**
FY 2010 Request: $47.7M ($38.6M AEECA, $9.1M Other)**

Assistance Goals: The overriding United States Government (USG) interest in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains its emergence as a stable, democratic, multiethnic state on the road to Euro-Atlantic integration. To ensure the stability of the region, it is important that Bosnia and Herzegovina develop cooperative relationships with its neighbors, successfully combat crime, consolidate democratic institutions, build a society based on mutual tolerance and understanding, and achieve sustainable economic growth.

Areas of Focus (Foreign Operations Appropriated Assistance):
Peace and Security (PS): FY2008: $10.3M, FY2009 Estimate: $12.7M, FY2010 Request: $20.5M

• Work with Bosnian law enforcement agencies to increase their capacity to combat terrorism and organized crime;
• Bring the Bosnian military into full compliance with NATO standards. Strengthen security institutions, particularly those at the state level which combat terrorism and organized crime, contributing to regional security;
• Further strengthen Bosnia and Herzegovina’s control its borders.

Governing Justly and Democratically (GJD): FY2008: $14.7M, FY2009 Estimate: $13.2M, FY2010 Request: $15.9M

• Improve the efficiency and professionalism of the Bosnian justice system and enhance its capacity to handle serious cases involving terrorism and war crimes;
• Develop the institutional capacity of the Bosnian State Parliament by supporting work on legislative drafting and procedural reforms;
• Provide local NGOs with training, technical assistance and grant funds to expand their capacity to provide research to legislative bodies and impact policy;
• Improve the capacity of local and municipal governments to deliver services effectively to citizens.

Economic Growth (EG): FY2008: $8.3M, FY2009 Estimate: $9.6M, FY2010 Request $11.3M

• Promote an accountable, transparent, and modern tax regime that simplifies compliance with tax laws and regulations;
• Increase employment opportunities by enhancing the profitability and competitiveness of Bosnia’s private sector, particularly in competitive sectors such as wood processing and tourism;
• Encourage the growth of private sector economic activity through reform of Bosnia’s legal, regulatory and fiscal environment.

Recent Successes:

• Begun in 2002, the Model Court Initiative has helped citizens seeking information on their court cases get information within minutes instead of days and reduced the backlog of cases by up to 75 percent;
• With USG assistance, days required to register a business dropped from over 30 to an average of seven. In four pilot municipalities, the new system registered approximately 300 formerly unincorporated businesses;
• A small grant to a citizens’ organization supported an initiative which led to changes to the BiH Federation Law on Health Insurance, resulting in 70,000 previoulsy uninsured children receiving health insurance in 2009;
• USG funds helped to increase compliance with tax laws and regulations resulting in an increase of 4% in tax revenues in the first 6 months of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.

*Division J of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Act: Department of State Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008, including: (SEED), Child Survival and Health (CSH), NADR, IMET and FMF.

**Estimate from FY 2009 Congressional Budget Justification; Website: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/124072.pdf.

Graph Explanations:

• Pie Chart: For estimated Fiscal Year 2009, thirty-seven percent of U.S. assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina went to the objective of Governing Justly and Democratically (GJD), twenty-seven percent went to Economic Growth (EG), and thirty-six percent went to Peace and Security (PS).
  
• The Bar Graph covers U.S. assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1993-2009:
  • In Fiscal Year 1993: 2.6 Million dollars in Support for Eastern European Democracies (SEED) assistance was given to Bosnia and Herzegovina; and 0.0 Million dollars in other United States Government (USG) assistance was given
  • Fiscal Year 1994: SEED: 12.0 Million dollars; other USG: 0.0 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 1995: SEED: 25.15 Million dollars; other USG: 0.0 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 1996: SEED: 249.0 Million dollars; other USG: 0.26 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 1997: SEED: 217.5 Million dollars; other USG: 0.5 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 1998: SEED: 215.0 Million dollars; other USG: 7.6 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 1999: SEED: 180.0 Million dollars; other USG: 16.63 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2000: SEED: 100.0 Million dollars; other USG: 0.6 dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2001: SEED: 79.92 Million dollars; other USG: 7.10 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2002: SEED: 65.16 Million dollars; other USG: 3.05 dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2003: SEED: 50.0 Million dollars; other USG: 5.87Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2004: SEED: 44.67 Million dollars; other USG: 24.22 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2005: SEED: 40.99 Million dollars; other USG: 13.08 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2006: SEED: 40.20 Million dollars; other USG: 14.38 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2007: SEED: 32.10 Million dollars; other USG: 10.74 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2008: SEED: 27.77 Million dollars; other USG: 5.51 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2009: AEECA: 29.44 Million dollars; other USG: 6.0 Million dollars