Developing institutional capabilities for good governance, accountability, and prevention of corruption in SALW and ammunition life cycle management: Lessons learned from BiH (NATO)

Duration

2022-2025

Beneficiary/ies

Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of Defence, Jurisdictions in the South Eastern Europe

Donor/s

Switzerland (earmarked funding within the NATO BI Trust Fund)

Funding Amount

Estimated EUR 60,000

Funding gaps (if any)

N/A

Objective/s

• Draw upon the lessons learned from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the area of accountability and life cycle management of small arms and light weapons and their ammunition and develop a methodology to analyse good governance risks in this area and possible solutions.
• Produce an actionable and practical intervention toolkit in the form of a handbook for institutionalising good practices of DIB/AC to include inter alia tailored “knowledge materials” on BI, good governance and arms control for the life cycle management of small arms and light weapons and their ammunition as one of the functional area across the DIB/AC spectrum.
• Build national capabilities for strengthening accountability and good governance in the process of life cycle management of small arms and light weapons and their ammunition.

Contributing to the Roadmap goal/s

Contributing to the Roadmap overall targets

Goal 4:

• Exchange good practices with a specific focus on the areas defined in the Roadmap. Increase awareness among licensed private and legal entities about the danger of misuse and illicit proliferation of FAE.
• Develop sustainable partnerships to strengthen advocacy, reinforce outreach and reach messaging multipliers.

Goal 7:

• Build the capacities of relevant state institutions (ministries of defence, armed forces) to recognize risks of poor governance and their negative impact and establish good practices to address those risks in Life Cycle Management of SALW and ammunition (where relevant).

Key activities implemented up to date

• Conducted a series of experts’ meetings to identify expertise and set up the project platform (December 2020 – December 2021).
• First field mission to officially start the project with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of Defence and to validate the research scope of the project with the main national stakeholders, conducted in April 2022.
• Second field mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina to continue research in meetings with main national stakeholders, analyse national experience, and consult the international community, namely EUFOR, OSCE Office to Bosnia and Herzegovina and UNDP in Sarajevo, conducted in June 2022.
• A series of online meetings with the international community, i.e. OSCE Office to Bosnia and Herzegovina, UNDP in Sarajevo, SEESAC/UNDP and the Halo Trust, conducted in August 2022. Validation of findings and analysis of the experience, lessons learned and good practices of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the purposes of developing the handbook (September – November 2022).
• At the end of 2022, the first stage of the project was completed with a summary of the experience of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the development of the outline for the handbook.
• June 2023: Meeting at NATO HQ Brussels with the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ammunitions Management Advisory Team (AMAT) to discuss the development of the handbook.
• Second half of 2023: Setting up the framework for the second stage of the project focused on the Handbook drafting, completion and production.
• First half of 2024: Draft Handbook developed by AMAT.
• Second half of 2024: Review of the draft Handbook.

Main challenges encountered

N/A