Bosnia-Herzegovina

YBI has a history of consulting in the Balkans. Since 1999, YBI has consulted to the Open Society Institute, Ministry of Youth and Sports and the NGO sector. Through partnerships with the Institute for Sustainable Communities and Civic Initiatives YBI has provided training and technical assistance in youth program development, conflict management, youth civic engagement, and NGO management. With support from the Minister of Youth and Sport and the German Marshall Fund/Balkan Trust for Democracy, and C.S. Mott Foundation plans are currently in motion to launch a pan-Balkan network of adapted YouthBuild programs. YBI is the Prime Contractor on two USAID initiatives in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

As young men during the fighting of the 1990s, Edin Mujacic and Jasmin Jasarevic fled their homes in the Brčko District of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Today, as leaders of local Bosnia-Herzegovina NGOs—Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) and PRONI Youth Center—Mujacic and Jasarevic have committed themselves to improving the lives of young people who are unemployed, discouraged, and distrustful of civic leaders. In July 2011, 70 young women and men entered the “Youth Building Futures in the Brčko District” program through the combined efforts of Mujacic and Jasarevic, YouthBuild International, and USAID.  Youth Building Futures students will gain livelihood skills while working to improve their municipality through activities such as repairing public buildings and playgrounds, and helping vulnerable citizens in a region that is still recovering from war and ethnic strife.

Later this year, CSD and PRONI, YouthBuild International, and USAID will launch a second project, the “Youth Eco Leadership Corps,” which will engage young adults in a network of eco-action teams focused on promoting environmental stewardship.

Operating from a former army barrack that USAID helped rehabilitate into a municipal youth center, the programs will focus on hands-on skill development, and on cultivating young leaders who promote a vision of stability, productivity, and peace for all citizens of North East Bosnia-Herzegovina.