EU Sends Nobel Laureate to Assess BiH's Needs After Floods!

The European Union has engaged Ricardo Zapata Marti, a world expert and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, to assess BiH's needs after the catastrophic floods, reports the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

The European Union, the United Nations, and the World Bank have joined forces to respond to the request of the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to assess recovery needs in a short period, with the aim of evaluating the consequences of the recent floods on people's lives and basic sectors in the affected areas.

- The European Union has engaged Ricardo Zapata Marti, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 2007 along with other members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to lead the needs assessment. The European Union Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina / EUSR has appointed a team to coordinate the work during the recovery needs assessment. Everything is being done in close coordination with the United Nations, the World Bank, EU member states, and BiH authorities – it was announced today.

On this occasion, the Head of the European Union Delegation / EU Special Representative, Ambassador Peter Sorensen, stated the following:

- The EU is a partner of Bosnia and Herzegovina, committed to helping it cope with the consequences of the catastrophic floods in the medium and long term. We welcome the intensive involvement of the United Nations, the World Bank, EU member states, and the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The result of this activity will be a report and a recovery framework that domestic authorities and the international community can use as a guide for medium- and long-term recovery and reconstruction.

The recovery needs assessment will be completed within three weeks and will result in a report expected to be finalized by June 18.