Lagumdžija in New York: Showed Ki-moon amateur video about floods

Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zlatko Lagumdžija met with United Nations leaders in New York, it was announced by the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reports the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

Lagumdžija also met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President of the UN General Assembly John W. Ashe.

To adequately show the extent of the damage suffered by our country in the catastrophic floods last month, Lagumdžija also showed officials an amateur video posted on the YouTube video service about the floods in BiH. As announced, the video was made by volunteers from BiH, and you can watch it here. The author of the video is stated as SDP BiH.

Otherwise, Lagumdžija alsoexpressed his gratitude for the provided emergency assistance in repairing the consequences of the biggest natural disaster that has hit our country in the last 120 years. He particularly emphasized the excellent cooperation of the UN team in BiH, led by Yuri Afanasiev, who reacted promptly and worked and is working with BiH institutions to repair the consequences of the floods.

Lagumdžija pointed out that the assessment of flood damage is underway, which is being carried out jointly by international and BiH experts, and whose report will be ready by June 18. After that, a donor conference will be organized, which should be held in the first half of July this year.

He also pointed out that the emergency humanitarian aid phase in BiH has been completed and that the reconstruction phase is next, with the priority being the repair of housing units, so that people whose homes were damaged or completely destroyed in the floods have a roof over their heads by winter. Special attention will be paid to assisting economic entities that have suffered significant damage in order to preserve jobs, and to create new ones through the process of reconstruction and rebuilding the country.

Priorities in reconstruction also include the repair of bridge and road infrastructure, waste management, water supply, and land rehabilitation.

Secretary-General Ki-moon once again expressed his condolences to the families of those who died in the floods and assessed the reaction of all participants in the urgent phase of citizen rescue as good. He added that the United Nations, together with the European Union, the World Bank, and experts from BiH, are assessing the damage caused by the floods and will actively participate in the reconstruction and rebuilding process.

According to Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations will also actively participate in the donor conference.

Dr. Lagumdžija informed the UN Secretary-General about the initiative to form a monitoring team at the state level, composed of representatives of the domestic authorities, international institutions, donors, the academic community, the non-governmental sector, and the media, which would control the spending of financial aid collected at the donor conference intended for repairing the consequences of the floods, and for the reconstruction and rebuilding of the country, it was announced and reported by NAP.