Economic
Development and Social Protection sector
The
Economic Development and Social Protection Sector is made up of four
sub-sectors, namely, Macroeconomic
Policy Support, Support to SMEs and Improvement of the Business Climate, Direct
Capital Support, and Social Protection. The greatest share of funding was
allocated to the Support to SMEs and Improvement of the Business Climate
sub-sector.
Donor
Activities in 2007
Currently
the donors in the Economic Development and Social Protection sector are Austria/ADA,
Germany/GTZ/KFW, Italy/IC, Japan/JICA, the Netherlands,
Norway,
Spain/AECID, Sweden/SIDA, Switzerland/SDC/SECO, UK/DFID, USA/USAID, EBRD, the EC,
EIB, UNICEF, UNDP, and the World Bank. Together, in 2007, these donors allocated a total of
€ 153.47 million to the sector, of which € 109.9 million was in the form of loans and € 43.57 million was in the form of grants.
Economic Development and Social Protection sector loans vs. grants split in 2007
Grant allocations to the Economic Development and Social Protection sector in 2007
Loan allocations to the Economic Development and Social Protection sector in 2007
Donor composition in the Macroeconomic Policy Support sub-sector in 2007
Loan allocations to the Support to SMEs and Improvement of the Business Climate sub-sector in 2007
Grant allocations to the Support to SMEs and Improvement of the Business Climate sub-sector in 2007
Donor composition in the Direct Capital Support sub-sector in 2007
Donor composition in the Social Protection sub-sector in 2007
Sector
Strategies
No
state-level economic strategy governs the Macroeconomic Policy Support
sub-sector, although the revised Medium-Term Development Strategy 2004-2007
(MTDS) was the primary strategy document covering this area. The MTDS expired at the end of 2007 and will be replaced
by two state-level strategies: the
Country Development Strategy and the Social Inclusion Strategy – guiding
activities for the period 2008-2013. The initial development of these documents
should be completed in 2008.
In
terms of the Support to SMEs and Improvement of the Business Climate sub-sector,
the RS has an SME strategy and each Regional Development Association has its
own strategy (Regional Economic Development strategies). The Federation of BiH (FBiH) SME strategy is under development.
In the Direct Capital Support sub-sector, there is no state-level strategy. The
Entities are largely moving in parallel toward a market-based approach, but
there is room for strengthening the state-level coordination mechanisms.
There
is also no state-level strategy in the Social Protection sub-sector. There are
Pension Reform Commissions in both Entities to present recommendations for
legislative changes in the near future. The social protection and inclusion
systems for children are currently being strengthened.
Donor
Coordination
The
donor map of the field of Macroeconomic Policy Support sub-sector consists of a
relatively small number of actors. With the emergence of the EC as the primary
source of donor funding, BiH’s EU accession agenda, and hints of donor fatigue,
the number of international agencies engaged in this area is not expected to
increase. Thus, formal donor coordination has not been organized. International
agencies generally work well together and communication lines are considered
open and well used.
In
the Support to SMEs and Improvement of the Business Climate sub-sector, while
there is an adequate amount of donor coordination during the project
formulation stage, during implementation, coordination is generally ad hoc and
organized bilaterally rather than on a broad scale.
As
for the Direct Capital Support sub-sector, coordination among relevant donors
has been very good. There are no formal coordination mechanisms, as there are
relatively few donors, and bilateral meetings have sufficed. Steering groups
include all major donors, and information sharing has been of high quality. Thus,
the streamlining of activities has been generally successful.
Finally, there
are no formal coordination mechanisms in Social Protection sub-sector. Dialogue
is generally considered to be positive; parties are informed of each other’s
activities and are invited to participate where appropriate.
For
a complete overview of donor support to the Economic Development and Social
Protection sector, click here.
