Bosnia & Herzegovina

Though it has been 15 years since the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the devastating effect of this conflict is still obvious. The number of children’s institutions has grown from six before the war, to 15 today.

Of these, six are owned and run by the state (three of which can hold 100 residents), four are run by charities and four by religious organisations.  These institutions are poorly regulated as, as a result, accurate information is not available on how many children they have in their care, how old the children are or even who the children are. In addition to these 15 institutions, there are also seperate institutions for children with special needs.

We started working in war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1994, when our founders Mark and Caroline Cook started rebuilding the devastated Bjelave Dom children’s home in Sarajevo. After speaking with the children, it became clear that this wasn’t the right solution; it was clear that institutions cannot replace the love and care of a family. At this point, we made a bold move and shifted away from caring for children in institutions to preventing families being torn apart in the first place. This included supporting families to have more confidence in caring for their children and finding loving family environments for vulnerable children.

In 2008 we closed the nation’s first institution, the Dom Most institution, which had been ‘home’ to 56 children and 34 young adults. This closure now serves as a national model for closing institutions and will be used to close further institutions across the country.

We are now working in partnership with UNICEF and the Government to reform the country’s childcare system. Within two years we aim to have no more children under the age of five being placed in institutions, fewer school-age children in residential care and to bring the country closer to eradicating institutional care for children altogether.

To achieve this, we are developing long-term programmes to support vulnerable children and their families and creating services to help children move into, or remain in, loving family environments. We are also developed new methods to help young adults leave institutions and live more fulfilling independent lives.

Our work extends to working with the Ministry of Education to help social workers and teachers across Sarajevo identify and support families that at risk of being torn apart.

Visit the HHC Bosnia and Herzegovina website.