POO Brochure A recommendation from our year report.

You can download the complete year report of 1999 on this page

Recommendation 2;
This year POO only got supported by Peace Office Eindhoven for it's organization costs. Other donations were completely used by the projects that genarated the donations.
However, in case POO does not get it's funds for organization costs directly, these funds must be earned by work or obtained through budgets of the different projects POO initiates or supports (as often suggested by funders), and POO will then come in an entire different situation. Or POO will not be able to focus and concentrate on it's aims in the target area's (because it's out in the world working to earn money for it's organization) or POO has to use preremptory sentences to every organization or group it is cooperating with, in order to receive enough income for the overall organization.


In our point of view both solutions are expressions of feebleness. Such a way of working supports confusion inside the situation POO has to work, which is already instable. With taking a note about the modest budget POO is able to work with, it seems to us that it is most important that implementing organization with extreme low overhead costs and great experience on the ground, like POO and others, must get support from bigger donators and funds, so they can continue their work with full spirit and attention.
It must be mentioned that many organizations are leaving BiH. There are other problems in former Yugoslavia and other parts of the world. The effect of the departure of many organizations will be very big in BiH. Therefor it is very important that supporting organizations who's aim is self-initiative and selfdeployment, will get the possibility to continue. In case this will not be possible, only a very small and egocentric minded part of the population will be able to profit from the efforts and investments the international community has done in the past four years in BiH. Another conclusion is that POO, and other supporting organizations, should have the time to focus on other parts than Sarajevo. This town has 'came over the war'. Only local politicians, designated as 'frustrating' by the spokesman of the chief of the OHR, still remind on the war of four years ago.
The rest of the country is still in a very bad condition. Ordinary people speak less and less about nationalism and problems that match wih it. They all are dramatically looking for posibilities to build up their life, they look for work and for respect for the work they do. Only that can give a vision of the future for which they would like to work. POO has the intention to work on this task since het roots are grown deeply inside the society. Wa ask direct, practical and strong support from the world among us.

The recommendation to funds and donors is to actively stimulate developments as mentioned above and support the small organization that use a little imput while creating a big output in cooperation with the local community. POO works with two employees and two free lance employees and uses a budget over the year equal to a three month salary of a low paid international employee of a humanitairian (or polotical) organization.
It reminds me a little to a spokeswoman of UN who was speaking about the gap in the yearbudget of the reconstruction of Kosovo of 150 million (78% of the complete budget). An amount that equals one and a half day of bombing.
Such a differences must be taken out whatever the rules are, made before these enormous differences occurred.
So the work of humanitairian organisations will have the same impact on the local situation as it has to have on the home situation of the donors (or bombers).

With friendly regards and carefully pointing our finger, we have asked attention for the above mentioned.

Thank you.