The overall goal of the Human Resource Management (HRM) project is to strengthen the capacities in BiH Ministry of Defence in order to build a professional and competent workforce capable of supporting the defence system both at policy level as well as executive level.
The defence and security sector are areas of high priority for Norwegian support in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as Norway’s Ambassador Ms. Vibeke Lilloe pointed out in her opening speech. The project will be supported by the Norwegian Government for three years and the Norwegian Agency for public management and e-Government (Difi) will take an active role in the implementation of the project.
The HRM project is particularly important by virtue of its civilian component, as opposed to the traditional military focus of defence sector projects, and Ambassador Lilloe put particular emphasis on the importance of professional human resource management of civil servants for the democratic control of armed forces.
Also dr. Selmo Cikotic, the Minister of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brigadier General Gary E. Huffman, Commander of the NATO Headquarter Sarajevo and Mr. Morten Ringheim, the Representative of the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, emphasized the importance of modern defence systems to be under the control of a democratic and professional civilian staff.