Foundation Humanity in Action Bosnia and Herzegovina

National Network
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Address

Skenderija 33
Sarajevo
Bosnia & Herzegovina

Telephone
+387 33 218 281
Fax
+387 33 557 996
E-Mail
j.hasic@humanityinaction.org
E-Mail (2)
m.omercehajic@humanityinaction.org
E-Mail (3)
s.foric@humanityinaction.org
Organisation Type
Non-Governmental Organization
Year of Establishment
2011
Fields of Activity
  1. Democracy and community development
  2. Human rights
  3. Youth and education
General Information
Humanity in Action (HIA) was founded in 1997 in the US and HIA BiH was established in 2011. HIA BiH mostly works on projects, e.g. the regional MICC Western Balkans (Model International Criminal Court) project and the BiH „Advancing Democratic Values and Active Citizenship among Youth“ project. It offers scholarships for BiH students for its one-month Summer Fellowship programs abroad. HIA BiH also organises study trips, conferences and seminars (e.g. the 2010 BiH Seminar trip and the 2012 HIA Annual Conference). Its 2013 annual budget was approx. 57,000 € and its budgetary resources include donor resources (e.g. National Endowment for Democracy, Schueler Helfen Leben) and funding by its founding member, the US-based HIA Inc. Currently, it has 3 staff members in BiH (Executive Director, Project Coordinator and Development Coordinator + volunteers). Main partners involved in its activities are: Youth Initiative for Human Rigths (BiH), HERMES (Croatia) and Open Communication (Serbia).
Mission and Objectives

Humanity in Action (HIA)'s mission is to educate, inspire and connect a global community of young leaders who are committed to promoting human rights, diversity and active citizenship. HIA BIH advances this mission in BiH with a particular concern for contemporary issues in BiH. These issues include (ethnic) tolerance, (anti-)discrimination of minorities and democratic values. Since 2005, Humanity in Action has been building a multiethnic network of young Bosnian leaders committed to breaking down barriers and strengthening civil society in their communities. 
To date, Humanity in Action invited more than 50 outstanding BiH students (representing all of BiH’s ethnic communities) to participate in its international fellowship programs. Humanity in Action developed an active alumni association (Senior Fellows Association) in Bosnia and Herzegovina that is committed to developing on-the-ground initiatives that promote reconciliation and contribute to building civil society.

Main Projects / Activities

Even though Humanity in Action has a fairly recent presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it has managed to organize numerous outstanding events and projects:

Pilot program was organized in 2010 under the name “Bosnia and Herzegovina: Challenges of a Post-Conflict Society” (May 10-16, 2010) that brought together 35 local and international aspiring young leaders who learned about the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the roots of the recent conflicts and the current social and political challenges in the country.

Third Annual HIA International Conference, held in Sarajevo in 2012. Bringing together more than 250 international young human rights leaders, the conference featured interdisciplinary lectures, workshops and interactive discussion groups. The conference was honored by a special live welcome address by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Model International Criminal Court Western Balkans: Humanity in Action Bosnia and Herzegovina and two partner organizations (Open Communications Serbia and Hermes Croatia) have recently been awarded the annual Schueler Helfen Leben grant of over 150,000 Euros for a 18-month long program with high-schools students and history teachers from the above-mentioned three countries called “Model International Criminal Court Western Balkans”. Participants will be simulating the work of the International Criminal Court and war crime cases from Rwanda, WWII and the recent war in the Balkans.

The program “Encouraging Democratic Values and Active Citizenship among Youth” has been supported for four years now by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The overall objective of the project is to encourage active citizenship among young people in the country and to enable them to play a more significant role in promoting democratic values, human rights and diversity among their peers. With the program, Humanity in Action BiH (HIA BIH) decided to target specifically students who have no or little experience in non-formal education, volunteer work or NGO engagement and to foster their critical thinking, learning about democracy and human rights, and improve their communication and research skills.
"Historija, Istorija, Povijest - Lessons for Today", which aims to share the Anne Frank House successful educational methods, in order to create teaching materials and products that will involve a wider population, change the paradigm of thinking and communicating about the last 60 years of history in the Western Balkans, and contribute to regional reconciliation and fostering democratic values. The project is implemented by the Anne Frank House in joint cooperation with local partner organizations MOF (Macedonia), HERMES (Croatia) and OK (Serbia).
Humanity in Action BiH has been partner of the Forum ZfD (Ziviler Friedensdienst) in BiH on two projects: Memory in Motion (Training on using pedagogical tools to deal with historic events from former Yugoslavia through the analysis of monuments) and a youth event in Tuzla in August 2015 (250 youth gathered to discuss civil resistance)

How can you contribute to the Network in your country?

HIA BiH could contribute to the BiH network by getting involved in the activities of the current members and including them in HIA BiH's activities. We believe that, by becoming an ALF member, we could share good practices and be inspired for joint actions of projects among network members. Although HIA BiH is fairly young in BiH, we are working very actively on our mission and objectives and we are passionate about the ideals we promote.
In addition, we could bring a new, transatlantic perspective, since Humanity in Action consists of a network of organizations in the following countries: U.S.A., Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, through our annual Summer Fellowship programs around Europe, we engage students from the above mentioned countries, as well as from Ukraine, Turkey and Greece. Therefore, we are currently in the process of expanding our network to other Mediterranean countries and hopefully these new HIA branches will subsequently join the ALF network.

Why do you want to join the ALF Network?

HIA BiH firmly believes and stands for the ideals promoted by the Anna Lindh Foundation, which coincide with its own ideas and objectives. HIA BiH works in the fields of human rights education, eliminating stereotypes and discrimination, promoting democracy, human rights, diversity and coexistence, as well as reconciliation and multi-ethnic societies. Through joinging the ALF Network, we could reach a wider audience for our message and, along with other ALF network members in BiH, contribute to building a stronger civil society in the country and the region.

We also wish to join the ALF network to connect with the current network members, primarily in BiH, but also in other countries, in order to work on joint actions and projects. We wish to expand out current network of partners and projects and to include other (especially BiH members) in the project we are working on. In particular, since we already have a one-month HIA Summer Fellowship program abroad, we would also like to organize a one-month Summer Fellowship program in BiH, the first of its kind in the country. For that, we would like to include the current BiH ALF network members in the planning and activities of the BiH Summer Fellowship. It would also be beneficial to be granted the financial means for executing such a task from the ALF through its annual grants.

Contact (1) Full Name
Jasmin Hasic
Job Title
Executive Director
Head of the organisation
Jasmin Hasic
Contact (2) Full Name
Maida Omercehajic
Job Title (2)
Project Coordinator