Family policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s entities (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic Srpska) is incoherent, with its different elements being scattered across different ...ministries and levels of government. The system is found to be inapt to respond to the needs of families, thus enhancing gender inequalities in the labour market and within families. As a country aspiring to join the European Union, Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with other countries of the Western Balkans region, participates in regular policy dialogue with the European Union institutions. The latest European Commission assessment of the country’s Economic Reform Programme identifies low employment of women as one of the key challenges and implicitly calls for the country to develop an employment-oriented family policy. By analysing the system of family policy and its recent policy developments, the article assesses the country’s capacity to respond to the recommendation and create conditions for greater participation of women in the labour market. The question is whether the European Union’s conditionality and recommendations have the potential to transform the current family policy arrangements in the entities. Key words: work-family policy, female employment, gender inequalities, maternity leave, parental leave, early childhood education and care services, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Obiteljska politika u entitetima Bosne i Hercegovine (Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine i Republike Srpske) je nedosljedna, s različitim elementima raspršenim diljem različitih ministarstava i razina ...vlasti. Sustav nije sposoban odgovoriti na potrebe obitelji čime se povećavaju rodne nejednakosti na tražištu rada i unutar obitelji. Kao država koja stremi pridruživanju Europskoj uniji, Bosna i Hercegovina, zajedno s drugim državama regije Zapadnog Balkana, sudjeluje u redovnim dijalozima o politikama s institucijama Europske unije. Posljednja procjena Europske komisije u pogledu Programa gospodarske reforme države identificirala je nisku zasposlenost žena kao jedan od glavnih izazova i neizravno zatražila da država razvije obiteljsku politiku usmjerenu na zapošljavanje. Analizirajući sustav obiteljske politike i nedavni razvoj mjera unutar njega, ovaj rad procjenjuje kapacitet države da reagira na preporuke i stvori uvjete za veću participaciju žena na tržištu rada. Pitanje je imaju li uvjetovanost i preporuke Europske unije potencijal za transformaciju sadašnjih mehanizama obiteljske politike u entitetima.
The paper addresses the implications of war veteran benefits on social policy and fiscal sustainability in one of the two B&H entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The author attempts ...to address changes over time and relate these to the process of demilitarisation, as well as the influence and pressures exerted by war veteran associations, which resulted in policies favourable to certain war veteran groups, often at the expense of other beneficiaries and the system's long term sustainability. Social policy and war veteran legislation in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is status based, which provides scope for considerable discretion by government officials in deciding where to allocate funds. This, in turn, is destabilising public finances, while little is being done to address poverty alleviation.
The article explores the shifts in (women's) social citizenship in Bosnia-Herzegovina and its effect on the development of childcare policy in the 1945-2019 period. Gendered, selective childcare ...policy, which was inherent in the socialist notion of social citizenship and aimed to emancipate women as 'worker-mothers', deteriorated in the transition period when ethnicity became prioritized over gender and class. Exclusionary citizenship practices increased with the post-1990 reforms as gender and social inequalities incorporated into childcare policy design become intertwined with inequalities based on ethnicity and/or locality. The post-1990 period is characterized by discontinuity, retrenchment and weak implementation of childcare-related rights.
U radu se razmatraju implikacije braniteljskih naknada na socijalnu politiku i fiskalnu održivost u jednom od dva entiteta Bosne i Hercegovine, Federaciji Bosne i Hercegovine. Autor nastoji ...obuhvatiti promjene tijekom vremena i povezati ih s procesom demilitarizacije, kao i s utjecajem i pritiskom braniteljskih udruga, što je rezultiralo mjerama koje pogoduju određenim grupama branitelja, često nauštrb drugih korisnika i dugoročne održivosti sustava. Socijalna politika i zakonodavstvo koje regulira status branitelja u Federaciji Bosne i Hercegovine temelji se na statusu, što vladinim dužnosnicima daje prostor za značajne diskrecijske odluke o dodjeli sredstava. Time se destabiliziraju javne financije, dok se malo toga poduzima u borni protiv siromaštva.
Rad se bavi analizom utjecaja međunarodnih institucija na socijalnu politiku u Bosni i Hercegovini od početka ekonomske krize 2008. godine. U prvom se dijelu rada daje pregled relevantne literature, ...zatim se prezentiraju socio-ekonomski čimbenici koji su doveli do sklapanja međunarodnog kreditnog aranžmana, reformski ciljevi i način implementacije reformi sustava socijalne zaštite. Kroz analizu proklamiranih ciljeva reforme socijalne zaštite te njihovu implementaciju od strane lokalnih institucija u Federaciji Bosne i Hercegovine analiziraju se stvarni učinci s aspekta ostvarenih ušteda i bolje ciljanosti socijalnih transfera. Rad ukazuje na nedosljednost politike kako međunarodnih institucija u Bosni i Hercegovini tako i vladinih aktera. Unatoč proklamiranim ciljevima reforme, sustav socijalne zaštite temeljen na statusnim pravima fiskalno je neodrživ te loše ciljan prema siromašnima, ali i dalje ostaje nepromijenjen.
The paper is analysing the influence of international institutions on social policy creation in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008. The first section gives an ...overview of the relevant literature, followed by a presentation of socio--economic factors that led to international credit agreement, reform agenda and actual implementation of social protection reforms. Through the analysis of proclaimed social protection objectives and their implementation by local institutions in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an assessment of the achieved results is done in the light of realised savings and better targeting of social transfers. The paper sheds some light on inconsistent policy of both international institutions and government actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hence, despite the proclaimed reform objectives, the system of social protection based on status rights which is fiscally unsustainable, and poorly targeted towards the poor still remains largely unchanged. Key words: economic crisis and social protection, internationally financed reforms, non-contributory social transfers. Rad se bavi analizom utjecaja medunarodnih institucija na socijalnu politiku u Bosni i Hercegovini od pocetka ekonomske krize 2008. godine. U prvom se dijelu rada daje pregled relevantne literature, zatim se prezentiraju socio-ekonomski cimbenici koji su doveli do sklapanja medunarodnog kreditnog aranzmana, reformski ciljevi i nacin implementacije reformi sustava socijalne zastite. Kroz analizu proklamiranih ciljeva reforme socijalne zastite te njihovu implementaciju od strane lokalnih institucija u Federaciji Bosne i Hercegovine analiziraju se stvarni ucinci s aspekta ostvarenih usteda i bolje ciljanosti socijalnih transfera. Rad ukazuje na nedosljednost politike kako medunarodnih institucija u Bosni i Hercegovini tako i vladinih aktera. Unatoc proklamiranim ciljevima reforme, sustav socijalne zastite temeljen na statusnim pravima fiskalno je neodrziv te lose ciljan prema siromasnima, ali i dalje ostaje nepromijenjen. Kljucne rijeci: ekonomska kriza i socijalna zastita, medunarodno kreditirane reforme, nekontributivni socijalni transferi.
The paper is analysing the influence of international institutions on social policy creation in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008. The first section gives an ...overview of the relevant literature, followed by a presentation of socio - economic factors that led to international credit agreement, reform agenda and actual implementation of social protection reforms. Through the analysis of proclaimed social protection objectives and their implementation by local institutions in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an assessment of the achieved results is done in the light of realised savings and better targeting of social transfers. The paper sheds some light on inconsistent policy of both international institutions and government actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hence, despite the proclaimed reform objectives, the system of social protection based on status rights which is fiscally unsustainable, and poorly targeted towards the poor still remains largely unchanged.
The emerging literature on migration and security is predominantly focused on the threats that migration movements may have to the security in destination countries. This article shifts the focus to ...a migrant's sending country and explores different socio-economic factors that could be associated with the process of radicalisation and the development of violent extremism among youth there. We use survey data collected from a sample of 4,500 young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B.i.H.) by USAID MEASURE-B.i.H. An index of radicalisation is constructed and used as a dependent variable. It is based on Bhui et al. and measures sympathies for violent protest and terrorism. It is regressed on a set of demographic characteristics, migration experience and social behaviour. The model was estimated by ordinary least squares (O.L.S.) with the index as a continuous dependent variable. The findings suggest that a range of factors including demographic characteristics, location, employment status, income, practicing of religion, and civic and political activism are associated with a degree of sympathy for violent extremism among youth in B.i.H. These results should provide useful insights into the relationship between the drivers and extremism, which then should help institutions to design more effective preventative and countering measures.
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