Deputy Minister represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at meeting of Parties to Water Convention

25-27 November 2013, Oslo, Norway – Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, upon the invitation of the Norwegian Government, attended a meeting of the Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes. The organisers of this event were UNECE and the World Health Organisation – Regional Office for Europe (WHO).

Bosnia and Herzegovina ratified the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses on 3 September 2009, and it entered into force on 3 March 2010 as a binding framework for the protection of international surface and groundwater through prevention, control and ecologically sustainable water management.

Deputy Minister addressed the participants during the High Level segment - Special Session on Equitable Access to Drinking Water and Sanitation, and she emphasized that “Water, even though a very simple chemical substance, is a key element of human existence as well as of all other life on Earth. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country rich in water resources. According to the World Bank (WB), Bosnia and Herzegovina is the country with the largest quantities of drinking water in the region and seventh in Europe, and by water resources it is richer than many countries in the world. Aware that these resources are not limitless, we are firmly committed to working towards protection and sustainable use, as well as the establishment of access to drinking water for everyone in accordance with the provisions of the Protocol. Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a potential candidate for EU membership, assumed partially or completely all of the key objectives of the EU legislation in terms of water management, and incorporated them into its legal and strategic documents. Main challenges of BiH water management policies are related to proper implementation and achievement of the objectives of the Water Framework Directive, Directive on Drinking Water, Directive on the Treatment of Urban Waste Water and other Directives which allow integrated management of water resources. Through achieving and implementing the objectives of the mentioned directives, we will also achieve a large part of the main objectives of the Protocol itself.

Ms Jelena Vićanović, the BiH Focal Point for the Protocol on Water and Health, addressed the meeting on the status of the implementation process of this Protocol during the second day of the event.

The aim of this meeting was to review the support mechanisms for the implementation and compliance of the Convention and to discuss ways to improve compliance in the coming years.