BOSNIA: APPLICATION FOR 2006 PRM AMBASSADOR'S FUND

UNCLAS SARAJEVO 001064

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR D (SMITH),P (BAME),EUR (DICARLO),EUR/SCE
(ENGLISH, FOOKS, MITCHELL, SAINZ),PRM/ECA FOR OLSON, NSC
FOR BRAUN, OSD FOR FLORY, USNIC FOR WEBER AND GREGORIAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: APPLICATION FOR 2006 PRM AMBASSADOR'S FUND

REF: SECSTATE 41367


1. The following is Post's proposal for the 2006 PRM
Ambassador's Fund. This proposal was developed in
coordination with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH),the state
Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, the municipal
government of Bratunac and local implementing NGO Mercy Corps
Tuzla. Post has authority and capacity to award the grant to
the intended recipient (Mercy Corps Tuzla) by the end of the
fiscal year. Mercy Corps is a reputable NGO with a code of
conduct consistent with the six UN Inter-Agency Standing
Committee (IASC) recommendations.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION


2. Post is seeking an Ambassador's Fund allocation of $10,000
to provide electricity to 13 returnee families in the village
of Glogova, Bratunac municipality, eastern Bosnia. In 2000,
BPRM and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA)
reconstructed a number of houses in Glogova; USAID rebuilt
electric connections to the village through its Minority
Reintegration and Development Office. All the reconstructed
homes in Glogova are currently occupied. However, there are
13 families (six of them living in houses reconstructed by
BPRM) who returned to Glogova after USAID completed its
electrification project, and who have been living without
electricity for the last two to three years. This critical
gap in assistance to these families is not likely to be
filled by other international donors or by Bosnian
authorities.


3. Before the 1992-1995 war, Glogova had a population of
about 500 families (roughly 2,000 people). Glogova is a
Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) village in Serb-majority Republika
Srpska. Because of its proximity to Bratunac and Srebrenica,
where two major massacres took place in 1992 and 1995
respectively, more than 350 men from Glogova were killed.
Glogova was the site of two major mass graves exhumed by the
International Commission for Missing Persons; efforts to
identify the human remains are ongoing. Because of this
terrible loss, many of the 250 families who returned are now
female-headed households. Providing electricity to the 13
families who do not have it would put them on an equal
footing with their neighbors and would complete the earlier
investments made by BPRM, SIDA and USAID. Clearly, these 13
families are sincere in their commitment to return as they
have lived in Glogova for two to three years without
electricity.

PROJECT BUDGET


4. Post has secured commitments for cofunding for this
project. We are particularly pleased that the public utility
company Electroprivreda has agreed to provide the labor for
the project at no cost, and that the municipal government
will be making a small contribution, which has important
symbolic value for making the returnees feel welcome in the
community. Local NGO Mercy Corps Tuzla will implement the
project, manage project funds and submit a final report upon
completion of the project. Post will then report to PRM as
required. (Note: The exchange rate is approximately $1 = 1.6
convertible marks (KM)).

PRM Ambassador's Fund: $10,000 or 16,000 KM
UNHCR Tuzla field office: $4,687.50 or 7,500 KM
Municipality of Bratunac:$937.50 or 1,500 KM
Electroprivreda of Republika Srpska: Free labor; value:
$7,500 or 12,000 KM

Total cost: $23,125 or 37,000 KM
KAIDANOW