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