The complex administrative structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina makes it impossible to fully comprehend the overall situation in any field, including civil society or, more specifically, associations and foundations. The exact number of registered associations and foundations is impossible to estimate because they can be founded at different administrative levels and entered in separate registers (eighteen of them) in line with the three applicable laws. As of September 1, 2021, there are 27,4321 registered legal entities (associations or foundations) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the Collective Register of Associations and Foundations of BiH.
A major issue continues to be the lack of a unified framework for the distribution of public budget funds to organisations and foundations, as well as the lack of a centralised data monitoring system, i.e., the process of allocating, distributing and spending/implementing projects with clear outcomes in the community and target groups. This situation allows public budget funds to be allocated non-transparently every year, without adequate rules and procedures, allowing funds to be distributed in a way that benefits organisations that are favourable or well connected with the ruling parties, while neglecting organisations’ competencies and relevance.
In this paper, authors Aida Daguda and Dajana Cvjetković analyze current regulation the financing of civil society organisations from public budgets in FBiH.
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