Member of the House of Representatives and member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rejhana Dervišević, met with representatives of the IPU Secretariat and rapporteurs for Bosnia and Herzegovina

Member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina and member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rejhana Dervišević, who is participating in the presentation of the Universal Periodic Review (fourth cycle) on the human rights situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, met in Geneva with representatives of the Secretariat of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) working on human rights issues—Rogier Huizenga, Programme Manager for Human Rights, and Ilija Novikov, Human Rights Officer at the IPU.

The meeting was organised at the IPU headquarters in Geneva at the invitation of IPU representatives, following the successful presentation of the Universal Periodic Review on the human rights situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina before the United Nations Human Rights Council. The purpose of the meeting was to familiarise IPU representatives with the role of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the process of drafting and presenting the UPR, as well as the steps the Joint Committee and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina can take based on the received recommendations. 

During the discussion, the participation of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the UPR drafting process was commended, and the need for its involvement in all activities conducted by the specialised committees of the United Nations was particularly emphasised. Considering the role of parliaments in parliamentary oversight and their legislative competencies, this involvement was deemed essential. The meeting also resulted in agreements on potential forms of further cooperation between the IPU and the Joint Committee on Human Rights, particularly in the areas of freedom of speech and women's rights.

Prior to this, a meeting was held at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva with representatives of Germany, Malawi, and South Korea, the rapporteurs tasked with ensuring an interactive dialogue between the country undergoing the UPR—in this case, Bosnia and Herzegovina—and the member states of the Human Rights Council. The discussion focused on the next steps for Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the moment of the UPR presentation to the adoption of recommendations, as well as subsequent processes concerning responses to the questions posed to Bosnia and Herzegovina. (End)