Achievements and Impact – UNHCR South Eastern Europe

In 2018, as a co-leader of the United Nations Country Team response to the refugee and migrant situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, UNHCR and its implementing partners Vaša Prava BiH (VP BiH), BiH Women’s Initiative (BHWI), and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) assisted the BiH authorities and institutions or provided direct assistance to thousands of newly arrived people, mainly in Sarajevo, Hercegovina-Neretva and Una-Sana cantons.

Since the increase of mixed movement arrivals in 2018, UNHCR has worked to strengthen the asylum system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. UNHCR, together with its partners, has been conducting capacity-building trainings for the authorities, advocating for the rights of asylum-seekers and refugees, directly implementing programmes contributing to an improved asylum system, and providing necessary referrals and services in line with the needs of people on the move.

UNHCR works together with its partner Vaša Prava BiH to strengthen access to free legal aid for asylum-seekers, internally displaced people, and individuals at risk of statelessness. Moreover, work is done with the authorities to strengthen the legal framework on asylum, reception, and integration and to address gaps in the implementation of existing laws.

To support the authorities in addressing statelessness, since 2014, UNHCR and its free legal aid partner VP BiH, together with Roma community representatives, have conducted over 130 focus group sessions throughout the country providing information on birth and citizenship registration. Furthermore, UNHCR supported trainings to over 700 cantonal and municipal officials, social workers at centres for social welfare, and members of Roma NGOs to help them to better identify people at risk, provide assistance, and end the cycle of systemic neglect. These activities led to over 640 individuals obtaining a legal identity in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 2017, UNHCR and UNICEF developed a Joint Strategy for Addressing Childhood Statelessness, with the aim to, in close collaboration with relevant authorities, Roma representatives, and other stakeholders in BiH, eradicate the risk of statelessness among Roma children and to ensure their full access to the rights of citizenship in BiH.

Based on the processes initiated with the regional Sarajevo declaration of 2005 (Sarajevo process) and subsequent donor conference in 2012, UNHCR and OSCE assist four partner countries in implementing the Regional Housing Programme.