OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina supports public access to environmental information

SARAJEVO, 18 October 2010 - The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in co-operation with the Regional Environment Centre for Central and Eastern Europe, presented today a new website of the Environment Department of the Foreign Trade and Economy Ministry of BiH, aimed at providing better public access to information on environmental policies. 

The website was developed with funding from the Hungarian Embassy in BiH and assistance from the OSCE Mission to support implementation of the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation and access to justice, which Bosnia and Herzegovina ratified in 2008. The Convention covers not only policies, strategies and plans in the field of environment, but also government accountability, transparency and responsiveness.

"The Aarhus Convention, which recognizes the value of information in protecting civic rights and the environment, and focuses on the relationship between people and government in this regard, is an important tool for strengthening democracy," said Ambassador Vadim Kuznetsov, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH.

"We believe the website created with the OSCE Mission's support will help raise public awareness of environmental matters and contribute to maintaining the dialogue between all stakeholders. We will continue assisting the host Government in implementing the Aarhus Convention as part of a regional project with the OSCE Missions in Serbia, Montenegro and Albania."

The Aarhus Convention forms an integral part of the European Union's environmental legislation and compliance is therefore important for the EU accession process.