Bosnia Research Articles

Disability Weights and Years Lived with Disability of Depression with and Without Suicidality.

Globally, depression is a silent epidemic, and more than 350 million people suffer from depression. For a long time, the belief prevailed that children and young people cannot suffer from depressive disorders, and depression is slowly becoming one of the leading health problems among the young population. This research aims to determine the mental health disorders burden attributed to depression, anxiousness, and fear with and without suicidal ideation among youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A prospective cross-sectional study was performed as screening of depression by Hamilton standardized screening instrument from May 3, 2018, to April 4, 2019, among young people, students in secondary schools, and the Faculty of Pharmacy and Medical Faculty of the University of Tuzla in the most populous Tuzla Canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In achieving the research goals, we expressed the burden attributed to depression with and without suicidality, anxiousness, and fear as Disability Weight (DW) and Years Lived with Disability (YLD). For the population level, YLD was calculated by multiplying DW by the prevalence rate of depression, anxiousness, and fear per thousand of the population (YLD= DW x prevalence/1000), and DW was adjusted for suicidality. The participants' ages ranged from 16 to 24 years, with a mean of 20,6 ± 1,9 years. The Body mass index (BMI) of 21,9 ± 2,7 is the recommended reference value of 18.5-24.9 kg/m2. The depression score of all participants ranged from 0 to 32 with a mean of 7.4± 6.3, which for our population of respondents at the sample level implies entry into the zone of presence of depressive symptoms. Descriptive statistics and differences per gender in sociodemographic variables (age, education state, and secure monthly existence); and modified factors attributed to satisfaction needs (life satisfaction, hope for the future, support from person of influence). Most participants belong to the age group 19-21 years, 71,44% (n=180), and the same 14,28% (n=36) other age groups (16-18 and 22-24 years), and sixty-two percent of participants are university students, and twenty percent are university failures. Based on our findings, the very high burden of depression in Bosnia and Herzegovina was found greatly not recognized and unsolved problem among the young population aged 16-24 years. Recognizing and screening depression in young people is the first step to prevention.

GENERAL ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

This article discusses the regular general election hold in Bosnia and Herzegovina (02.10.2022), the course of their electioneering, and the voting results. The analysis reveals the same main actors flashed on the political scene, the same principle collisions repeated, and even the methods of winning victory with the help of nationalist rhetoric remaining unchanged. However, the realignment of political forces has led to a new formula of power both in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and at the national level. The loser was the leading Islamist-nationalist Party of Democratic Action of the Bosniaks, which already bored its Western patrons with its destructive activity. Keeping up with these developments, an assessment of the prospects of the coalition government of Bosnia and Herzegovina formed by 21 political actors is suggested. Among them are the Croatian Democratic Union and the parties blocking with it, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats with their partners from Republika Srpska and also eight secular Bosnian parties. A significant factor in maintaining the cabinet cohesion is the need to demonstrate to the EU its «cooperation», a sine qua non for Western support and funding. The Federation theoretically could face problems with the losers being able to block the process of authorities formation. However, according to the common understanding, Christian Schmidt, the High Representative of the international community in the country, will not allow this. It can be assumed that under the current international climate (when the Russian Federation is absorbed by the conflict in Ukraine, and Serbia is barely able to withstand Western pressure and the aggravation of the situation in Kosovo), even the allegedly pro-Russian President of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik will be forced to take into account new political realities. If Brussels and Washington are smart enough to not push the Serbs «to the limit», the new Bosnia and Herzegovina government will finally have a chance to get down to business and do something useful for their citizens.

Representation of Course Subjects and Curriculums in the Initial Education of Pedagogues Aimed at the Development of Competencies for Partnerships with Parents

The aim of this paper is to determine to what extent course curriculums of the pedagogy studies develop competencies in students for partnerships with parents. In order to achieve this aim, course curriculums of the pedagogy studies have been collected and analyzed at public universities in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this research the following curriculums are analyzed: study curriculum of pedagogy at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo, the Faculty of Philosophy in Tuzla, and the Teaching Faculty in Mostar. The conducted analysis, which included pedagogy study curriculums in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, showed that there are no explicit and closely related courses with the aim of acquiring competencies for the partnership with parents. The results, also, point to the conclusion that there is a connection between the aims, contents, and learning outcomes within the course subjects aimed at the study of family upbringing, and that the scope of contents related to the development of competencies for partnership with parents, and which is included in the listed course curriculums, is insufficient, as well as intended obligatory and additional literature at those courses which refer to the area of partnerships between pedagogues and parents. The listed results indicate the need for the improvement of pedagogy course curriculums in the area that refers to the representation of course subjects primarily oriented towards the development of pedagogue’s competencies for partnerships with parents, and in the area of representation of the scope of course contents related to this domain.

Policy(s) of Reconciliation of Family and Professional Obligations in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The paper analyzes the policy(s) of harmonizing family and professional obligations in the context of the legal regulations of both domestic and international documents that are applied in B&H. The subject of the research is based on the analysis of family policy measures that are directly aimed at harmonizing family and professional obligations in B&H, by reviewing the existing policies and practices of social and labor legislation at the level of three administrative units: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Srpska and The Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As part of the research, current measures and activities that are regulated by laws in B&H, such as maternity/parental leave (time), maternity benefits (money), and childcare services (services of preschool institutions) were analyzed as important factors when harmonizing family and professional obligations. The policies of harmonizing family and professional obligations in B&H are harmonized with EU standards, but they are not sufficiently developed, which means that parents must make additional efforts to meet the demands of the workplace and the family. To achieve a balance between the demands of the labor market, the level of monetary benefits and the length of payment, the possibility of taking leave and the use of childcare services, taking into account the circumstances first in the economic sense, it is necessary to work on improving the measures in this area, respecting and the choice of the parents themselves.

O ulozi akademske zajednice u obrazovanju jezičkog kadra specijaliziranog za oblast evropskih integracija / On the Role of Academia in Educating Language Experts Specialised in European Integration

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has been involved in the process of European integration for many years with the goal of obtaining full EU membership. This paper seeks to answer whether the process of European integration has resulted in launching specialised EU study programmes in translation, interpretation, terminology, language&law at the university level in BiH. For the purpose of this paper, curricula of eight English Departments (academic year 2021/2022) were examined: Sarajevo, Mostar (Univerzitet “Džemal Bijedić”/”Sveučilište u Mostaru”), Tuzla, Zenica, Bihać, Banja Luka, Istočno Novo Sarajevo. Private universities were disregarded. The analysis findings revealed that the departments mentioned do not offer any specialised programmes of this kind, as well as that, becoming a “lawyer-linguist” and/or a “terminologist” is not possible via the regular education system. It has been concluded that BiH universities should start promoting the importance of such study programmes as soon as possible and that academia should start opening up towards the creation of new interdisciplinary study programmes thus strengthening the language capacity of individuals willing to specialise in this field, as well as the attractiveness of higher education in BiH.

Epidemiology and risk factors of trichinellosis in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1961 to 2021

This study is a retrospective analysis of social, economic, political, and cultural events on the annual incidence of trichinellosis in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). It highlights the importance of specific regulations, which have been incorporated into developing preventive protection against this human disease for the last 61years since it has been monitored by law. In the period, 1961-2021, 3828 people became infected. The first outbreak of trichinellosis was documented in 1965, and the incidence peaked during the war and post-war period at the end of the twentieth century. At that time, outbreaks with hundreds of cases and five deaths were recorded. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, the incidence decreased, and at the end of the second decade, two consecutive years without trichinellosis cases were finally registered. The analysis shows that a significantly higher incidence rate was recorded between the two political entities of BiH, the Republic of Srpska (4.97% 000) versus the Federation of BiH (0.9% 000) and that the occurrence of trichinellosis in humans in BiH is related to the presence of Trichinella spp. in animals, of a degree of biosecurity on pig farms, population's awareness of safe food, the impact of tradition and religion on eating habits, doctors' awareness of the symptomatology, and the Trichinella spp. larva detection method in muscle samples. The spread risk of trichinellosis requires meat inspection for Trichinella spp. larvae to be mandatory in BiH.

Pedigree analysis of the Lipizzan horse populations from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia: Structure, inbreeding and genetic variability

The aim of this study was to evaluate population parameters and to describe the genetic variability in the Lipizzan horse populations from stud farms in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) and Serbia (SRB), reported for the first time in the literature. Pedigree data were collected from the national studbooks. Pedigree data for 2 521 horses were used in the analysis, for a reference population covering live animals in the current population. The average generation interval was 10.78 ± 0.36 (BH) and 12.12 ± 0.59 (SRB) years. The equivalent complete generations ranged from 5.49 (BH) to 14.86 (SRB). The average inbreeding values were 3.96 (BH) and 2.12 (SRB), whereas the average relatedness values were 9.24 (BH) and 4.13 (SRB). Values for f<sub>e</sub>, f<sub>a</sub>, f<sub>g</sub><sub> </sub>and the f<sub>e</sub>/f<sub>a</sub><sub> </sub>ratio were 21, 12, 6.031 and 1.75 in BH Lipizzan horses, and 79, 20, 9.766 and 3.95 in SRB Lipizzan horses. The number of ancestors explaining 50% of genetic diversity in the BH and SRB reference populations was five and eight, respectively. The effective population sizes obtained from regression on the birth dates were 43.67 (BH) and 211.78 (SRB). The investigated genetic variability parameters were higher in the SRB Lipizzan population than in the BH population. The results of pedigree and genetic structure research indicate the need for a comprehensive approach to monitoring to improve future breeding and genetic diversity in the BH and SRB Lipizzan populations.

PROBLEM GERRYMANDERINGA U BOSNI I HERCEGOVINI I MOGUĆA ZAKONODAVNA RJEŠENJA

The problem of gerrymandering is one of the most pressing problems of democracy in the 21st century. In this paper, the authors discuss how the problem of gerrymandering affects the electoral process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also, the authors discuss how gerrymandering affects the constitutional principles of democracy and the rule of law. The text analyzes how the current way of defining constituencies in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is an example of gerrymandering. Finally, the authors provide possible solutions to the problem of gerrymandering, primarily in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Medical Biography of Isak Samokovlija: The Famous Bosnian-Herzegovinian Writer.

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the biographical, professional, and health-educational works of Dr. Isak Samakovlija, who was better known as a writer than a doctor in the country where he was born. He was born in 1889 in Goražde, the easternmost province in the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy, into a modest Jewish merchant family. He attended high school in Sarajevo and completed his studies in medicine in Vienna in 1917. During the First World War, he served twice in the Austro- Hungarian army. After the end of the First World War in 1918, he completed a medical internship at the National Hospital in Sarajevo. He began his service as a doctor, first in Goražde and then in Fojnica and Sarajevo. After the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia in May 1941, he was dismissed from his duties in the service without the right to pension or support, and without the right to appeal. In the Independent State of Croatia, he was twice mobilized into the Home Guard and was manager of the clinic in the Alipašin Most refugee camp. After World War II, he was the head of the Health Education Department of the Ministry of Public Health of the People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo. Together with a group of enthusiastic doctors, he founded and edited the first Bosnian medical journal Život i Zdravlje (Life and Health). In that journal, Dr. Samokovlija published 29 articles of health and educational content. In 1949, Dr. Samokovlija left the Ministry of Public Health and continued to edit the literature and art journal Brazda, but he still had a private practice until the end of his life. He died in Sarajevo on January 15, 1955. He was buried with the highest state honors at the Jewish cemetery in Sarajevo. CONCLUSION: Isak Samakovlija (1889-1955) was one of the first medical doctors born in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He made a significant contribution to the improvement of people's health after the First and Second World Wars in the places where he worked. His special contribution are his articles on health education.

Mathematics, Gender and the Meaning in Life: The Results of PISA testing in Bosnia and Herzegovina

<p style="text-align:justify">The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) was developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to measure students’ knowledge and skills needed for today’s society. PISA is a large-scale assessment of 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics, and science. In this analysis of PISA data from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), we examined the relationship between gender, mathematics achievement, and perceived meaning in life in BIH students. The sample for this analysis comprised 6480 students (3148 females and 3332 males). The results of the analysis revealed a small but statistically significant, negative relationship between mathematics and the student’s perception of the meaning in life. Boys achieved higher scores in mathematics than girls, but the difference was relatively small. In addition, boys’ rating of meaning in life was higher than that of girls. Knowing what factors influence mathematical achievement might help educators create better intervention programs. In conclusion, we provided some possible explanations for these data.</p>

Background and chronology of the crimes committed by the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the village of Trusina on April 16, 1993

The authors analyze events that have occurred in the municipality of Konjic throughout the March and April of 1993. Special emphasis was placed on crimes committed against the Croatian population of that municipality. In the early morning of April 16, 1993, Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) committed a war crime in the northern Herzegovinian village of Trusina, where 22 Croatian civilians and captured Croatian Defence Council (HVO) soldiers were killed. This crime was the result of a previously planned attack by the Army of BiH on the Croatian population and the HVO in the Konjic municipality, which began on April 14, 1993. The main attacking forces of the Army of BiH on the village Trusina on April 16, 1993, were members of the Zulfikar Special Purposes Detachment . They were under the direct command of the Supreme Command Staff (SVC) (i.e., General Staff of the Army of BiH) from their formation to just a few days before the crime in Trusina was committed. They have then become an integral part of the 1st Corps of the Army of BiH based in Sarajevo. As an integral part of the 1st Corps, members of the Zulfikar Special Purposes Detachment became the main perpetrators of a previously planned attack and war crime against the Croatian population of Trusina.

Rethinking Migrant Figures and Solidarity from the Peripheral Borderland of Bosnia and Herzegovina

ABSTRACT Following the post-2015 migration crisis, forced migrants from the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia (MENASEA) have been stranded in the Western Balkans (WB) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). While WB and BiH citizens have been emigrating in large numbers to the EU to become new labor force, Bosnia’s new immigrants, also in search of livelihood opportunities in the EU, have ended up being stranded in BiH with slim chance of crossing the border into the EU via neighboring Croatia. From the vantage point of this new European borderland, the paper invites us to think these migrant figures together. It raises the issues of entangled inequalities and solidarity amidst border struggles and migration regimes allowing for convergences in postcolonial and postsocialist scholarship.

Environmental Issues in Post-Conflict States and the Multiple Streams Model

In post-conflict states, environmental problems are often neglected regardless of their severity. According to UN data, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is one of the countries with the worst air pollution in the world, which has serious consequences for people's health and the economy. Given the importance of this issue, the paper investigates why it is not on the agenda of policymakers, by applying Kingdon's multiple streams model. The analysis leads to the conclusion that of the three streams (problem, policy, and politics), the politics stream remains the most problematic one. However, the author argues that Kingdon's original model is deficient in explaining why this problem is off the agenda, since it only includes domestic actors, while in the case of post-conflict BiH, as well as some other post-conflict countries, international actors play a significant role. In order to overcome this shortcoming, the model itself is enhanced by an insight into the role that international actors played in relation to this problem. It is concluded that the problems of environmental protection were largely ignored by international actors as well, primarily due to the nature of the liberal model of peacebuilding, that predominantly focused on building democratic institutions.

Dex-Based Evaluation of Sustainable Rural Tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The research objectives presented in this paper are to assess the current state of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s rural tourism offer and to recommend a course of action for its development based on the model’s data that was gathered from subject-matter experts. In this paper, the multicriteria analysis method DEX (Decision EXpert) was utilized to assess the capacity of rural tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) and to obtain the results. All establishments were rated “very good”, seeing that they made use of the natural beauty that BIH has to offer. The outcomes of using this model were used to generate suggestions for the long-term development of rural tourism in BIH. The contribution of the employed model is in the developed starting points for the advancements of rural tourism in BIH, and the proposed model presents a novel method for evaluating a nation’s tourism potential that could be used in future studies in other tourism-related fields as well. The limitations of this paper stem from the fact that not all tourist establishments were considered due to the lack of unified records for all of these establishments. The model used in this research, on the other hand, is applicable to all tourist capacities, which is an advantage.

Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth: The Case Of The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether or not fiscal policy can stimulate the economic activity in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. For this purpose, the time-series data are collected in the period 2008-2014. The results suggest that a unit increase in revenue leads to a reduction in the gross domestic product in the long-run. Budgetary expenditures are found to stimulate gross domestic product only in initial period. However, results in the long-run are found to be negligible. Moreover, impulse-response function indicates there are many other determinants of gross domestic product in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina besides budgetary expenditures. Therefore, the impact of fiscal policy on economic growth is just partial. Hence, development policy based on budgetary expenditures will lead to only small increase in economic output.

The Effects of Democratization On Economy: The Case Study of the Western Balkans

The present study aims at tracing the correlations between the foreign direct investments (FDIs) and the key interest rates (KIRs) broken through the prism of the democratization processes in the Western Balkans. The paper represents the extension of the previous author’s works dedicated on the region, and its challenges nowadays (Mancheva, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021; Mancheva, Simeonova, 2019). The interest on the issue is driven by the ongoing European Union enlargement processes. It is trying to contribute by investigating economic growth via FDIs and KIRs trends in the context of the democratization of the region. Pearson’s bivariate correlation is used to track whether: (1) there is a statistically significant linear relationship between three continuous random variables – foreign direct investments, key interest rate and democratic rating, (2) the strength of the linear relationship between these variables and (3) the direction of this connection. The study includes the following countries: The Republic of Albania, the Republic of Serbia, the Republic of Northern Macedonia, the Republic of Montenegro and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Republic of Kosovo and Republic of Slovenia are excluded from the study as Kosovo is still partially recognized and Slovenia is an EU member since 2004. A 10-year data period is covered, namely between 2010 and 2019. After the analysis, it was found that the democratization processes of the countries included in the study do not affect their economic growth, represented by FDIs and KIRs.

Grasping Local Participation: The Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in the Western Balkans and North Africa

ABSTRACT This article focuses on those “points of fracture” (Kirby and Shepherd 2020, 12) that have manifested in the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda in the Mediterranean region by examining National Action Plans (NAPs) in two distinct sub-regions – the Western Balkans and North Africa. We develop a comparative framework to shed light on the dimension of participation of these plans in four countries where the debate on WPS has reached different stages: Bosnia–Herzegovina, Kosovo, Tunisia and Morocco. By empirically investigating participation as both modality and focus of WPS debate and practice in these countries, we show that NAPs are unable to produce “meaningful local ownership” (Basini and Ryan 2016, 390) and that the international discourse on WPS should be re-thought to resonate with women’s needs, experiences and perspectives in post-conflict and post-revolutionary settings.

'Madness' after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina - challenging dominant understandings of distress.

This article reports on the findings from a small-scale co-produced qualitative study on experiences of distress caused by the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Inspired by the emerging interdisciplinary field of Mad Studies, the study is novel and unique in two ways. First, it prioritises social understanding and interpretation of madness and distress. Second, an emphasis is placed on experiential knowledge. Beyond interviews with 20 people who experienced distress due to political conflict, this included contextualisation of the study in the knowledge generated through survivor research and within the field of Mad Studies. Study findings highlight the social causes and consequences of distress caused by conflict, such as war-related violence, gender-based violence, experiences of poverty and corruption. Participants stressed the importance of safety and support within their own home, mutual and supportive relationships with their families, friends, other people who experienced distress, the broader community and opportunities to do everyday activities they enjoy. In terms of professional support, the findings suggest that poverty alleviation and protection of people's right to self-determination through access to human rights advocacy and representation may be as relevant as non-coercive community-based services. This indicates that support for distress caused by political conflict need not be different from any other support for people who experience distress. Emphasis should be placed on survivor-run initiatives and non-coercive, community-based support which addresses social causes of distress and enables people to exercise self-determination.

Population Perspectives on Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Essential Health Services-Behavioral Insights from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patterns of use of essential health services (EHS), health-seeking behaviors, and population health and wellbeing in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) from the perspective of its adult population. A population-based survey was implemented in the FBiH in December 2020 on a sample of 1068 adults. Overall, 64% of respondents received care, significantly more being women (67% vs. 61%, p = 0.046), those with a chronic disease (CD) (75% vs. 65%, p < 0.001), and of an older age (58% in 18-34 vs. 67% in older, p = 0.031). These groups also postponed care more often (39% in 55+ vs. 31% in 18-34 years old, p = 0.01; 55% with CD vs. 31% without, p < 0.001; and 43% in females vs. 32% males, p < 0.001). Main reasons for postponing care were lack of available appointments and fear of infection. The presence of a CD was the strongest predictor of need, access, and disruptions of health care. Respondents reported increased expenses for medicines (40%) and health services (30%). The findings of the survey add user insights into EHS disruptions to existing health statistics and other data and may be used to inform strategies for mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on the disruption of health care services, strengthening health system preparedness and building resilience for future emergencies.

Predicting Auditor’s Opinion on Financial Statements of Public Enterprises Based on Indicators of the Beneish M-score Model

Abstract Considering the burning problem of corruption and non-transparency of public enterprises in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), the paper aims to investigate whether the Beneish M-score model can be used to predict inaccurate financial statements. Where, the cause of inaccurate financial statements are intentional or unintentional errors. On a sample of 200 financial statements of public enterprises and related audit reports issued by the Audit Office of the Institutions in FBiH, we made a link between the Beneish M score model with its partial indicators (DSRI, GMI, AQI, SGI, DEPI, SGAI, LVGI, TATA) and four types of opinions: positive, opinion with distraction, negative and refraining from giving opinions. The research was conducted using descriptive statistics and an artificial neural network with the “scaled conjugate gradient backpropagation (trainscg)” algorithm for pattern recognition and classification. The research results show that it is possible on the basis of 8 partial indicators (DSRI, GMI, AQI, SGI, DEPI, SGAI, LVGI, TATA) i.e. 24 balance sheet position for their calculation, predict the auditor’s opinion on the quality of financial statements of public companies with an accuracy ranging between 98 and 100% in repeated procedures. The results of the research have their practical usefulness and can serve to researchers, creditors, customers, suppliers and state auditors in planning resources and priorities for performing financial audits at public companies in the FBiH.