Bosnia and Herzegovina: the priority reconstruction program: from emergency to sustainability.

Abstract

One year after the signature of the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement, taking stock of the reconstruction program and its start-up is both timely and appropriate. There is significant progress to report: improvements in living conditions have been noticeable throughout the country. Roads, railways and airports have been re-opened, energy supply has become more regular, running water has reappeared in many municipalities, and housing reconstruction activities flourish in most areas. Such results have been made possible by the combination of a strong commitment of the populations to returning to normal life and of a significant level of assistance, both advisory and financial, from the donor community. Donor support has generally met the needs as assessed last year and has made Bosnia and Herzegovina's recovery program --by any international standard of comparison --one of the more successful attempts in the last decades to reconstruct a war-torn country.