Hi, I’m Courtney Chubb, USAID’s Mission Director in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and this month, I will be retiring after a 25 year career with USAID. Fortunately, I saved the best for last, and I am tremendously grateful for having had the opportunity to live and work in this incredible and beautiful country for the past three years and get to know so many courageous, caring, and dedicated citizens who work hard every day to contribute to a more prosperous, equitable, and secure future for everyone. So today, I am saying a very bittersweet goodbye to this beautiful country and all of the amazing, fabulous people I have met.
I arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina at a time of great uncertainty. As the world emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, we were just beginning to take stock of the ways our lives had been changed by this crisis and the deep scars it would leave in its wake.
I was immediately struck by the determination and resilience of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And today, I am so proud of what we have been able to accomplish together in the face of this hardship and other challenges, in just three short years.
First, we have created hundreds of private sector jobs in key industries like tourism, manufacturing, IT, and others. Our support for the tourism sector is driving record numbers of visitors that bring with them new revenue and investment in communities in every corner of this country.
Since 2022 we have harnessed nearly $10 million in investments into diaspora-linked companies all over the country, which sold close to $100 million worth of goods and services in 2023 alone, mainly as exports.
We have also taken important steps in bolstering the country’s energy security. With USAID support, the Federation in 2023 passed three energy laws that will help BiH transition toward renewable energy sources, give consumers choice, and reduce costs for businesses.
We have tackled corruption on many fronts. Through our support to the judicial sector, for example, we trained more than a thousand judges and prosecutors, cut down the length of court proceedings, and have seen a steady increase in indictments of high-level corruption cases.
Last year, we also supported independent media outlets to produce 463 investigative journalism stories that helped uncover corruption and hold political leaders accountable.
We continued our steadfast work in memorializing victims of war, rebuilding trust within and between communities, and building up the foundations of sustainable peace. As part of these efforts, I am very proud that this year, USAID and the Srebrenica Memorial Center opened a facility that will provide a dignified resting place for the remains of unidentified victims of genocide.
Together, we’ve taken strides in protecting human rights, including important progress in combating human trafficking, advocating for the LGBTQI community, and supporting children with disabilities and their families.
And we doubled down on our support to local communities, launching partnerships with 29 municipalities all over the country and continuing our work to build up local civil society organizations that are doing incredible work to improve the quality of life in their communities.
I may be saying farewell, but the USAID BiH team remains as strong and committed as ever to the success and prosperity of this country. USAID will continue to partner with you to advance a secure, prosperous, democratic and European Bosnia and Herzegovina where all citizens have opportunities to build better lives for themselves and their families.