Annual Report on Divorces Reference Metadata in Euro SDMX Metadata Structure Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina
	1. Contact
	2. Metadata update
	3. Statistical presentation
	4. Unit of measure
	5. Reference period
	6. Institutional mandate
	7. Confidentiality
	8. Release policy
	9.  Frequency of dissemination
	10. Accessibility and clarity
	11. Quality management
	12. Relevance
	13. Accuracy and reliability
	14. Timeliness and punctuality
	15. Coherence and comparability
	16. Cost and burden
	17. Data revision
	18. Statistical processing
	19. Comment
	1. Contact
	1.1. Contact organisation	Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina
	1.2. Contact organisation unit	Sector for Demography and Social statistics - Department of Population Statistics and Registers
	1.3. Contact name	Radoslav Ćorović
	1.4. Contact person function	Assistant Director in the Sector for Demography and Social Statistics
	1.5. Contact mail address	Zelenih beretki 26, 71 000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
	1.6. Contact email address	radoslav.corovic@bhas.gov.ba
	1.7. Contact phone number	+387 33 911 983
	1.8. Contact fax number	+387 (33) 220 622
	2. Metadata update
	2.1. Metadata last certified	03/12/2025
	2.2. Metadata last posted	03/12/2025
	2.3. Metadata last update	03/12/2025
	3. Statistical presentation
	3.1. Data description	The annual survey on divorces collects data on registered cases of divorces in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
	3.2. Classification system	Survey on divorces is conducted according to a methodology that is in line with UN recommendations (UN Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System Revision 2).
	3.3. Sector coverage	Data are collected on registered cases of divorces in courts competent for divorce in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
	3.4. Statistical concepts and definitons	Divorced  refers  to  persons  whose  marriage  has  been  divorced by a binding judgement of a court having jurisdiction thereof. Divorce  rate  is  the  relation  between  the  number  of  divorces in one year period and the estimated number of inhabitants per 1000 population.
	3.5. Statistical unit	Statistical observation units are registered cases of divorces in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
	3.6. Statistical population	The target statistical population consists of all registered divorces. Divorced  refers  to  persons  whose  marriage  has  been  divorced by a binding judgement of a court having jurisdiction thereof.
	3.7. Reference area	Data refer to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
	3.8 Time coverage	1996-2024
	3.9. Base period	Not applicable.
	4. Unit of measure	Number of  divorces.
	5. Reference period	The reference period is a calendar year.
	6. Institutional mandate
	6.1. Legal acts and other agreements	• Law on Statistics of BiH (Official Gazette of BiH 26/04 and 42/04) • Multi-annual statistical programs and annual work plans of BiH
	6.2. Data sharing	1. Federal Institute for Statistics of FBiH 2. Republic of Srpska Institute of Statistics ,  3. Branch office Brčko District,  4. Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH, 5. EUROSTAT, 6. UNSD.
	7. Confidentiality
	7.1. Confidentiality-policy	Confidentiality of statistical data is regulated by law and the personnel conducting statistical surveys has the legal obligation to protect confidentiality. Law on Statistics of BiH (Off. Gazette of BiH 26/04 and 42/04 - Chapter XI - Article 23.-29.) establishes the principle of confidentiality as one of the main principles. Agency for statistics of BiH distributes statistics in line with statistical principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice and in particular with the principle of statistical confidentiality.
	7.2. Confidentiality-data treatment	The document "Rules on the Protection of Statistical Data in the Agency for Statistics" lists procedures for ensuring confidentiality during collection, processing and dissemination - including protocols for securing individual data being accessed, rules for defining confidential cells in output tables and procedures for the detection and prevention of subsequent disclosures as well as access to microdata for research purposes.By signing the Memorandum of Understanding with Agency for statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, data users having access to individual data are obliged to:treat individual anonymized data as confidential in accordance with the rules, regulations and procedures,ensure adequate protection of individual data in accordance with the rules, regulations and procedures,protect the transfer of microdata and destroy the media where the data are, as well as the accompanying documentation, five days after the publication of the results.
	8. Release policy
	8.1. Release calendar	At the end of December every year, BHAS announces the Release Calendar with the precise date and time of publication of the statistics for the following year.
	8.2. Release calendar access	The Calendar placed on:
		https://bhas.gov.ba/Calendar/
	8.3. User access	The data is disseminated to all users through the official web site of Agency for statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
		https://bhas.gov.ba
	9.  Frequency of dissemination	Statistics on divorces in BiH are published on a quarterly (preliminary results) and annual basis (final results).
	10. Accessibility and clarity
	10.1. News release	1. Regular annual releases 2. Regular quarterly releases https://bhas.gov.ba/Calendar/Category/14
	10.2. Publications	Thematic Bulletin “Demography” Publication “Bosnia and Herzegovina in Figures” Publication “Women and Men” On the website of the Agency for Statistics of BiH, tables containing time series of basic indicators of divorce statistics are available.
		https://bhas.gov.ba/Calendar/Category/14?lang=en
		https://bhas.gov.ba/Calendar/Category/30?lang=en
		https://bhas.gov.ba/Calendar/Category/32?lang=en
	10.3. On-line database	Data on divorces are not available in the BHAS online database.
	10.4. Micro-data access	No microdata available.
	10.5. Other	There are no other means of publication.
	10.6. Documentation on methodology	UN recommendations (UN Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System Revision 2).
		https://unstats.un.org/unsd/publication/SeriesM/SeriesM_19rev2E.pdf
	10.7. Quality documentation	Not available.
	11. Quality management
	11.1. Quality assurance	Agency for statistics of BiH is committed to quality assurance in the production of official statistics based on the Article 19, Paragraph (1) “Law of Statistics BIH, Official Gazette of BiH 26/04; 42/04”. Quality Management Policy as an element of the system of quality management generally is related to following components: product quality of process as well as other elements of system for quality management, such as planning and controls. To assure the quality of processes and products, Agency for statistics is in implementation of Quality management model (TQM) done using CAF tool. The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a total quality management tool developed by the public sector for the public sector, inspired by the Excellence Model of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). Process of self-assessment identifies and monitors all organization results, provides feedback on organizational capacity and results of policy and planning processes. Scoring tool for self-assessment has 9 key indicators and 28 criteria based on which it is possible to measure management level achieved and determine which are the critical points for improvements in future. It looks at the organization from different angles at the same time: the holistic approach to organization performance analysis. BHAS use „The CAF guidelines for implementation“ and 10-step implementation plan therefore developed to help organizations to use it in the most efficient and effective way. Process of self-assessment identifies and monitors all-important organizational results and provides feedback on organizational capacities and results of policy and planning processes. This model of quality monitoring requires development of standardized questionnaire that includes all principles in model. In order to ensure the quality of statistics Agency developed a document Policy and programme of the quality management which is available on web site:           http://bhas.gov.ba/data/Dokumenti/Kvalitet/QM_Politika_i_Program_BHAS.pdf
	11.2. Quality assessments	Quality of official statistics’ products (main indicators/statistics) are regularly assessed in quality reports through calculation of quality indicators. On other hand, processes included in statistical production are assessed by specific process quality indicators in quality reports and additionally trough GSBPM documentation.
	12. Relevance
	12.1. User needs	The key users of data from the statistical survey are: 1. State and other public administration institutions such as: Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH, Directorate for European Integration at the Council of Ministers of BiH, Directorate for Economic Planning of BiH at the Council of Ministers of BiH, 2. Academic and business community, 3. General public, 4. Foreign users: Eurostat, UNSD, 5. Media.
	12.2. User satisfaction	One of the key elements in securing the quality of statistical data is monitoring user’s satisfaction. There is no specific user satisfaction survey for this survey. The results of User Satisfaction Survey are available on:
		https://bhas.gov.ba
	12.3. Completeness	The data completeness rate is 100%.
	13. Accuracy and reliability
	13.1. Overall accuracy	Not applicable.
	13.2. Sampling error	The survey is not conducted on a sample basis.
	13.3. Non -sampling error	Not applicable.
	14. Timeliness and punctuality
	14.1. Timeliness	The Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina publishes preliminary data for divorces in March, and final detailed data in November. Data refer to the previous year.
	14.2. Punctuality	Publishing is on time.
	15. Coherence and comparability
	15.1. Comparability-geographical	Data for the level of Republic of Srpska, Federation of FBiH and District Brčko are collected in the same way and according to the same methodology. The data are comparable both within BiH and with other EU countries.
	15.2. Comparability-over time	Comparable by years.
	15.3. Coherence-cross domain	There is no relevant surveys conducted by another organization.
	15.4. Coherence-internal	No similar surveys are conducted to compare the data.
	16. Cost and burden	The annual operating costs for carrying out the research are reflected in the material costs and the number of hours worked by the employees of the Agency and the branches of the Brčko District Agency. The data are taken over from administrative sources and therefore there is no direct burden on respondents.
	17. Data revision
	17.1. Data revision-policy	The Agency for statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have an official revision policy document.
	17.2. Data revision-practice	No audit was planned or conducted.
	18. Statistical processing
	18.1. Source data	The selection of reporting units is done according to methodological recommendations. The data sources for this survey are the registers of divorce in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
	18.2. Frequency of data collection	Data are collected monthly using RB-1 forms.
	18.3. Data collection	Data for the statistical survey on divorces are collected through forms that reporting units fill out and submit to statistical institutions. Data obtained from the entity statistical institutes and branches of the Agency in the Brčko District, the Agency for Statistics of BiH publishes in aggregate form.
	18.4. Data validation	Data validity and reliability checks are performed. Data authentication involves checking the accuracy of the data and estimating all possible errors related to the data. Logical controls are done after data entry. The data are compared with the data from previous years and if there are certain discrepancies, the reporting unit is contacted by phone to resolve the discrepancies.
	18.5. Data compilation	No procedures are performed on data used to derive new information in accordance with a given set of rules.
	18.6. Adjustment	Data on divorces are not subject to seasonal adjustment.
	19. Comment	-