Giving Children Hope-Bosnia

GCH opens a local NGO in Bosnia

The ravages of war remain visible in much of Bosnia-Herzegovina following four years of ethnic cleansing and civil strife that ended in 1995. Despite reaching an agreement, the country still remains fragmented, with ethnic tensions, economic instability, and a lack of natural resources contributing to an uncertain future. Much of the infrastructure in Bosnia, including schools, hospitals, and homes, is in desperate need of rehabilitation. The nation’s economy continues to recover slowly – there is still almost no foreign investment in the country and unemployment rates hover around 33% in Bosnia and 47% in Serbia. As is typical in times of conflict or disaster, women and children are the most negatively affected, and the same has proven true in Bosnia.

Giving Children Hope (GCH) made its first trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1996, establishing several partnerships with local NGOs. A year later, in 1997, GCH had appointed a regional director headquartered in Vienna, Austria and was sending teams, including medical professionals, psychologists, and GCH staff approximately every two months. Recently, GCH has further expanded its presence in Bosnia, establishing a local NGO under the name of Giving Children Hope-Bosnia (GCH-B) to provide on the ground support for humanitarian relief and development programs.

The majority of GCH-B’s programs are centered on orphan care, medical care for underserved populations, and food and product distributions.

This past year Giving Children Hope-Bosnia has:

Supplied the main hospital in Zenica with hundreds of brand new blankets
Distributed Christmas presents to the children of Ju Dom-Porodica orphanage
Distributed 3,130 warm winter coats and 14,698 winter jackets and winter pants in Sarajevo and Zenica.

Currently, GCH-B is raising funds to ship 5,000 new soccer uniforms to Bosnia to distribute to children in soccer clubs and schools.