Safeguarding Rights in the Digital Age: Joint Efforts to Guide Responsible AI Use in Bosnia and Herzegovina

November 26, 2025

Speaker at podium presenting to a seated audience in a conference hall, slide projected on left.

Digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), are already shaping how decisions are made, how people in Bosnia and Herzegovina access public services, and more broadly, how some of their rights are exercised. While AI offers opportunities, including for more efficient governance and service delivery, without clear regulations, it can undermine human rights, deepen patterns of discrimination and exclusion, and violate the right to privacy.

This is why the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), with the support of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), are organizing a two-day conference to reflect on the impact of digital technologies, including AI, on human rights, and to identify ways to ensure a human rights based approach to the regulation, design, deployment, use and management of AI.

“Protecting personal data is not a technical detail, it is a mandatory requirement for any digital system per Personal Data Protection Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As public institutions, businesses, and other organizations embrace artificial intelligence, every digital system we design must start with the question: how will this protect the data privacy and dignity of every citizen? Only then can digital and AI transition truly serve the public interest.”

Dragoljub Reljić, PhD, Director of Personal Data Protection Agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina

More than 60 representatives of ministries and other government institutions at the state, entity, and cantonal levels, civil society organisations, media, public companies, the IT sector, and academia are participating in the conference opened today, confirming the broad interest in establishing a human rights–based approach to the development and use of AI and other digital technologies.

UNDP Resident Representative Renaud Meyer highlighted that responsible AI can become a key accelerator of development and competitiveness:

Photograph of a smiling man in a suit at a podium, UN emblem on wall, audience in foreground. — Renaud Meyer

“Artificial intelligence can be a powerful accelerator of human development, but only if it is used responsibly, fairly, and with clear rules. The latest UNDP Human Development Report shows that countries that fail to build capacities for AI governance will fall behind. If we want AI to improve public services, the economy, and quality of life, we must ensure transparent algorithms, human oversight, data protection, and institutional accountability. UNDP will continue supporting Bosnia and Herzegovina in strengthening legal and institutional frameworks, as well as the skills needed to ensure that digital technologies work for people, not against them.”

Renaud Meyer, UNDP Resident Representative

The OHCHR Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Agnès Picod, stressed that international human rights standards clearly require safeguards to prevent, mitigate and address the possible negative impact of AI on human rights:

“In September 2024, United Nations Member States, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, agreed on the Global Digital Compact, committing to governing AI for the good of humanity and that such efforts must be anchored in international human rights law. A human-rights approach to AI is not just about content. International human rights standards require that the design, deployment, use and management of AI systems be transparent and inclusive. Any AI system must also be subjected to ongoing human rights impact assessments and to independent oversight to allow constant monitoring of their impact on human rights as well as necessary remedies. Bosnia and Herzegovina has an opportunity to embed such safeguards early on and build a digital future that respects human rights. OHCHR stands ready to support all relevant stakeholders to develop and ensure a right-based approach to AI in the country.”

Agnès Picod, OHCHR Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The conference focuses on human rights–based approaches to digital technologies and AI. Over two days, participants will analyse challenges and opportunities, exchange practical experiences, unpack relevant international human rights standards, and identify concrete steps to foster a human rights-based approach to AI and other digital technologies, both by the public and private sectors. The second day will be dedicated to discussing Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) methodology as a tool for institutions and companies developing AI technologies in the coming years.