Article
This Action project focused on Bosnian citizens who refused to stay abroad after acquiring knowledge and skills on some of the most prominent international universities, and returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina with the aim to contribute to the progress of their homeland. Panel discussion was organized and it gathered students, NGO activist and government officials who had the opportunity to debate with the panelists who have completed their postgraduate studies in Europe and USA and are currently living in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The panelists Jasmin Hasić (University of Brussels), Selma Mezetović Međić (University of Oxford), Nevena Javremović (University of Pittsburg), Anida Sokol (Sapienza University of Rome), Armin Alijagić (University of Amsterdam), and Gorčin Dizdar (University of Toronto), shared their personal and professional experiences with the audience.
The panel aimed to actualize several issues:
- the policy of the public authority in BiH towards BiH citizens who have studied abroad and acquired certain scientific titles there
- whether the method of recruitment, especially in public administration, recognizes the particularity of such candidates
- whether work in the NGO sector is the fate of people who returned to BiH after their studies
- should society recognize qualifications earned abroad as added value and
- if there is a need for organizing association of this kind of people through which they would lobby for their interests.
After a very fruitful discussion, it was concluded that there is a need for a strategy and special policy that would lead to greater involvement of this population in government institutions where their contribution could be much greater then in NGO sector. Finally, the brain gain population should lobby for their interests and goals through an association.
