SOS Social Centres in Bosnia & Herzegovina

In Bosnia and Herzegovina there are currently seven Social Centres for children and the local community, including those in: Sarajevo, Mostar and Goradze.  Many SOS Social Centres operate via Family Strengthening Programmes, that aim to support the wider community.  Below is some information about one of the Social Centres that SOS Children runs in Bosnia and Herzegovina:

SOS Social Centres around Bosnia and Herzegovina: In-Depth

Sarajevo

Description of SOS Social Centre/FSP:

The SOS Social Centre comprises a nursery, a youth club, a library, and rooms for workshops (foreign languages, fine and performing arts, computers), and has been very well accepted by the neighbouring population. The Play-Mobile-Project is part of the SOS Social Centre and focuses on keeping children off the streets. Up to 800 children and youngsters can be reached out to through the SOS Social Centre. The SOS Nursery has initiated a programme to prevent child abandonment: Children from poor families get the opportunity of receiving pre-school education and, at the same time, counselling is offered to their parents

Work and Achievements:

During 2009, a significant amount of time was spent searching for new possibilities for donations, partners, etc. The year 2009 was one of success. The main achievements were:

• The SOS Social Centre achieved accreditation for the European Voluntary Service/EVS, giving a lot more opportunities in the field of Youth work. The Centre has been accredited as a Sending-Hosting-Coordinating organization for conducting activities in the Youth in Action Program, financed by the European Commission. Also, this accreditation gives new opportunities to apply for projects related to our existing programs. Apart from that, the sending activities resulted in many new contacts, partners in the European region, activism among the youths in the programmes and interested volunteers from European countries to work in The SOS Social Centre.

• The quality of the SOS Social Centre has been recognized by the Municipality of Novi Grad Sarajevo government, to become a partner in the implementation of the ‘Introduction of The Referral Model of Social Inclusion in Society’ project.

Feedback from SOS Social Centre participants:

”SOS has changed my life, my husband is taking medicines regularly, and he is really taking a husband and father role now. I found a temporary job; my children are in Children’s Club and enjoy the time with their peers. Thank you!”

“I will always remember this week at summer camp with scouts, it past away quickly, even though I missed my parents and friends at home. I made a lot of new friendships, we laughed so much…”