EkoMrezaBiH, the environmental NGO network, organized signing of the petition for the occasion of the World Environmental Day, the 5th June.
We are satisfied with the number of signatures. This is an important step towards proper representation of the civil society with significant participation and influence in decision making process, policy and environmental management in B&H? ? said Viktor Bjelic, project manager of EkoMrezaBiH.
By signing the petition the citizens of Banjaluka, Sarajevo, Livno, Tuzla, Jablanica, Mostar and Zenica expressed their wish to participate in environmental decision-making process, to have access to environmental information and to access justice if these rights are not respected.
The convention, signed on 4th of June 1998 during the “Environment for Europe? Ministerial Conference held in Danish city of Aarhus, represents the international agreement which guarantees the protection of these rights.
By signing the petition, the citizens also had the opportunity to fill out the postcard, already addressed to the Ministry of foreign affairs of B?H. The postcard states their demands towards the Council of Ministers to complete their administrative process and to forward it to the Parliament of B&H for final ratification.
Although the B&H representatives were participating in the Aarhus Conference they did not have the authority to sign the Convention.
The possibility of singing the Arhus convention is no longer offered and that it can be only directly ratified. Therefore, the initiative for ratification procedure was passed on to the Council of Ministers last year by the B&H entity governments.
Although the process came to its final stages before going to the state-level parliament approval, the procedure is stuck in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for over a year.
This bureoucratic obstacle inspired the EkoMrezaBiH to coordinate its 2nd country-whide action (The ?Earth Day? was the first one) in order to mobilize the maximum of its members towards the same cause.
The petition is only a begging of the action with numerous other activities which will last with increased intensity before the September local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Part of the activities in this large campaign, including these electronic updates are supported by and performed within the framework of Milieukontakt Oost-Europa programme ?ICT and Implementation of Aarhus Convention? involving environmental NGOs and electronic networks from the SEE region.