Bob Deacon and Paul Stubbs came to Sarajevo in autumn of 1996, to participate in one of the training programmes intended for the capacity building project UNHCR set up to empower local, regional and national authorities, as well as non-governmental organisations. The ideas they shared with us, concepts and theories they introduced, were a motivation to many future well-received and still ongoing projects in the field of social protection and employment policies. They insisted that the “old” systems of social protection must not be disregarded but that used as building-blocks for future systems, that social protection experts are a social capital that needs to be tapped on, most importantly that the reconstruction of a post-war country is not only buildings and factories, but also the lives and well-being of the people. We learnt of the interdependency of economic growth with the quality of education, social and health protection. Perhaps these issues are taken for granted today, but twenty years ago they were innovative and significant messages for those who were to participate in the rebuilding of a war torn country. Many people who participated in the trainings are still working in the government offices throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina today. I remember Bob as a great man, in a way that all great persons behave and communicate - avid listener, warm and emphatic, clear and simple expression of most complex ideas. I am grateful and humbled for having had the opportunity to learn from him. I wish I had the opportunity to hear him more often, but his work and his students and friends remain to carry his torch. May his memory be blessed for ever!
Lejla Somun independent researcher Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina