Ombudsmen confirm: Controversial way of allocating funds for start-up self-employment programs

The public call was open on the website of the Federal Employment Agency (FZZZ) for only one minute, which caused outrage in the public, especially among applicants whose applications were rejected only because they were not among the fastest.

Banja Luka, 31. August 2018 – In their recommendation, following a complaint by Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH), the Ombudsmen confirmed that the Public Call for Co-financing of Self-Employment Start-up 2018 was not conducted in accordance with the principles of good public administration and was not equally accessible to all citizens. The public call was open on the website of the Federal Employment Agency (FZZZ) for only one minute, which caused outrage in the public, especially among applicants whose applications were rejected only because they were not among the fastest. Applications were sent by electronic application to the FZZZ website, and were accepted according to the due date. The call was closed as soon as the total amount of allocated funds was reached. A similar situation happened with the last call when the competition was open for eight minutes.

In its complaint to the Ombudsmen, TI BiH pointed out that in this way objective and fair selection is prevented, as well as that the speed of submitting the application, instead of its quality, turns out to be the only criterion. In addition, applications could only be submitted electronically, discriminating against all non-computer literate persons. In its response, the FZZZ claims that it wanted to avoid administrative costs through electronic communication, and that the process is transparent in all its phases.

The ombudsmen instructed the FZZZ to consider the possibility of personal and postal applications, as well as the investment of a legal remedy in order to reconsider the decision on the allocated funds. This is just another in a series of examples of how public funds are spent irresponsibly and non-transparently, even when they are distributed to vulnerable groups for self-employment.

Press rls – 31_08_2018

Recommendation of the Ombudsman of BiH Start-up