On 18 November 2020, the Congress organised an online meeting to introduce the project “Building democratic participation in the City of Mostar” to civil society organisations and media, and to discuss ways in which local stakeholders can be involved in various stages of the deliberative process in Mostar.

Stewart Dickson (ILDG, United Kingdom), Congress Spokesperson on the Observation of Local and Regional Elections, encouraged all participants to take up an active role in Mostar’s journey towards deliberative democracy. He stressed that “One of the key elements that makes deliberative processes successful is the full engagement of all local stakeholders, because such a process is about letting citizens build up their own solutions and contribute to local policy making”. “We are glad to see the interest shown, in particular ahead of the long-awaited elections in Mostar scheduled for 20 December”, he added.

The meeting was attended by 13 civil society organisations, including representatives of a religious community and the Association of Municipalities and Cities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The event was organised in the framework of the project “Building democratic participation in the City of Mostar” implemented by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities within the Council of Europe Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2018-2021. The aim of the project is to create opportunities for citizens to engage in deliberative process and increase their input in local decision-making. In turn, this process will foster dialogue at local level and contribute to the revitalisation of democratic processes in the City of Mostar.