17. May 2012.

Assistant Secretary-General for Civilian Capacities visits BiH

The United Nations Special Advisor and Assistant Secretary-General for Civilian Capacities, Sarah Cliffe, visited BiH during the week of May 14th, 2012, at the request of the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The emphasis was on the BiH experiences and lessons learned from the process of security reform, justice and corrections reform and refugee reintegration, which could be valuable to other countries going through post-conflict transitions.

The visit was organized as part of the initiative called Civilian Capacities (CIVCAP) which is an on-line expertise platform currently being developed. Globally, CIVCAP focuses on experiences relating to building national institutions in the areas of political processes, safety and security, rule of law, economic revitalization and core administrative functionality.

During the visit she met with the BiH Government members in BiH and discussed primarily their experiences in security sector, police, justice and corrections reform; and refugee reintegration.

Ms. Sarah Cliffe jointed Mr. Yuri Afanasiev, UN Resident Coordinator in BiH in exchange of views with representatives of the international community in BiH, Mr. Fletcher Burton, OSCE head of Mission, Mr. Stefan Feller, EUPM Head of Mission and Mr. Roderick W. Moore, Principal Deputy High Representative in BiH, focusing particularly on these issues.

Ms. Sarah Cliffe assessed her visit very positively and stated that the experience Bosnia and Herzegovina has accumulated during the post-conflict transition period and institutions building process, particularly, in the areas of security reforms and reintegration of refugees, could be very beneficial to other post-conflict countries and potentially made available through the CIVCAP (Civilian Capacity for Peace Operations) on-line platform.