Cooperation of Social Protection and Civil Protection Services on Disaster Risk Reduction in Canton Sarajevo

Abstract

Social protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not the responsibility of the state but of entities, districts, cantons, municipalities and Brčko District of BiH. Additional complication in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina takes place at the level of ten cantons, so that in this entity alone there are 11 almost separate social protection systems with a low degree of cooperation and coordination. This prevents unique access to the resources and possibilities of the social protection system, so that the differences in the realization of the social rights of citizens are evident. Civil protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina is also not organized at the state level, but at the level of entities, districts, cantons and municipalities. The specificity of civil protection activities in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is reflected in the fact that, in addition to the management structure, there is also a leadership structure for the implementation of protection and rescue measures and activities. The management structure is presented through civil protection administrations at the entity and canton level and civil protection services at the municipal level; and the leadership structure that works to implement the decisions of the management structure is represented through the civil protection headquarters at the entity, canton and municipal levels. Given that the social protection and civil protection services work with vulnerable categories of the population by nature of their regular activities, much greater cooperation is necessary at all levels, especially in Sarajevo Canton, which is economically the strongest, in order to provide assistance and reduce the risk of disasters.