Center for education of the BiH CEC officially opened
Sarajevo, October 09, 2017 – The Center for Education of the Central Election Commission of BiH has been officially opened today in Sarajevo, with the presence of a large number of officials.
The Central Election Commission of BiH had at its session held on 19.12.2013 adopted the Decision on the Establishment of the Center for Education of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the period 2014-2017 activities were carried out on the rehabilitation and adaptation of the premises for the accommodation of the Center using the budget funds and donation of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey.
The Education Center was established in order to educate the election authorities and all electoral stakeholders in the field of election and financing of political parties, both at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and at regional and international level.
Today's ceremony marked the beginning of the Center's work. Speakers at the ceremony were Dr. Irena Hadžiabdić, President of the Central Election Commission of BiH, Mr. Šefik Džaferović, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the BiH PA, H.E. Haldun Koc, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to BiH and H.E. Drahoslav Štefanek, Ambassador of the Council of Europe in BiH. The ceremony was attended by Mr. Bariša Čolak, Speaker of the House of Peoples of the BiH PA, delegation of the State Election Commission of the Republic of Croatia, representatives of non-governmental organizations, as well as representatives of municipal / municipal election commissions.
Within its electoral assistance program for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Council of Europe supported the development of the Center for Education of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina and entrusted the European Election Support Center (ECES) to implement a series of workshops called “Leadership and Conflict Management for Electoral Stakeholders” (LEAD). The LEAD training that has started today and will last until October 28, 2017, is the inaugural activity of the newly opened Center for Education of the Central Election Commission of BiH in Sarajevo.