UMCOR signs agreement with Republika Srpska government
14 January 2004
UMCOR recently signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with the Republika Srpska (RS) Government
Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management.
The Memorandum concerns a forthcoming cooperative
partnership between UMCOR BiH and the Ministry on
activities closely related to the development of the
agricultural sector.
Through this agreement, UMCOR will be
working in closer cooperation with the RS government.
UMCOR will ensure that the agricultural strategy of the
Ministry be taken into consideration during the
development and implementation of future programs and
interventions, while the Ministry has agreed to support
UMCOR's program strategy, increase awareness of UMCOR's
programs within the relevant governmental institutions
and keep UMCOR informed of their program development
strategy. The Ministry will also engage different
educational institutions including the Faculty of
Agriculture and the Agricultural Institute to provide
advisory and technical support services and thus assist
UMCOR in facilitating communication and dialogue between
these institutions and target beneficiaries.
It is hoped that this agreement will be
of benefit to all concerned. By synchronising activities
with institutions at all levels of society from government
to individual, UMCOR BiH can ensure that programs have a
greater impact. UMCOR's integrated approach to program
implementation is designed to facilitate sustained
minority returns with the ultimate goal of creating a
thriving, stable, pluralistic and democratic society in
BiH.
UMCOR works to support returnee and
other vulnerable communities throughout BiH, assisting
them to commence with and further develop economic
activities, thereby ensuring a stable source of income.
Such programs are of vital importance as returnees are
frequently denied access to economic opportunities, often
finding themselves unable to secure jobs and therefore,
unable to generate income and sustain their return.
In the field of agriculture, UMCOR
works with agricultural cooperatives throughout BiH to
assist them to develop market-orientated production in
order to build the economic capacity of rural communities.
As a consequence of the war and the former communist,
centrally-controlled market economy, new markets and
market linkages need to be explored and developed while
many aspects of the agricultural sector need to be
modernised. UMCOR works with the authorities as well as
the producers to secure markets for produce which will
provide economic opportunities and growth.
The key to the success of programs
throughout BiH is the involvement of all concerned. There
is the need to take an integrated approach to development
and the reconstruction process. Through cooperation and
partnership, participants will not only have a stake in
the final result, but will also learn during the process
and become empowered through it.
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