Online platform for reviewing concrete results of donations to flooded areas entitled “Brana” was presented today in Sarajevo.
“Brana” Network presents a new civil society initiative dedicated to a radical transparency in spending funds for recovery of flooded areas. It includes activities of 22 non-governmetal organisations that will create a database presented on a special interactive web-platform that will display projects realised with donations. The Network operates in 78 municipalities/cities in BiH and there are currently 68 of its representatives who have visited 257 locations in which funds were invested (49 households, 77 economic objects, 99 institutions and 32 other locations). There are currently 864 donations entered in the database for concrete projects from 26 international and local donors in total value of 70,016,409 US dollars. In gathering data other instruments will be used as well such as a free telephone line for citizens to report misuse of funds or sucess renovation stories.
The Network was established with the support of the Mission of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in BiH.
The Director of Mission in BiH David Barth emphasized today that it is a very significant project that will, in addition to everything else, present the accurate expenditure of funds to all those interested.
– For example, the US Government donated $15 million to improve the situation in locations that were most devastated by floods. We simply tried to present how the funds were spent, up to the last dollar, through an interactive map – said Barth.
The Head of Department for Cooperation of Delegation of EU to BiH Melvin Asin also emphasized the significance of the project.
He reminded that the last year’s floods negatively affected the already weak BiH economy.
– As for us, the next stage is to build a defense system, that was mentioned at the donors’ conference, and to prevent floods by using hydraulic maps and by mapping disaster risks – stated Asin.
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