NGOs must coordinate their work on protecting the rights of victims of wartime rape

According to UN statistics, around 50,000 women and girls, as well as an unknown number of men, live in Bosnia and Herzegovina who were raped during the war, reports the Patria News Agency.  

It has been almost 20 years since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, and the question remains what about this category of the population, have they realized their rights and received the protection they are entitled to?

And do the funds intended for them reach those who need them, the end-users, and to what extent? Medica Zenica has brought together more than 30 non-governmental organizations working with these sensitive categories of the population for the first time in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During two days, November 2nd and 3rd, representatives of these organizations will discuss their resources in providing support and protection to survivors of war crimes, sexual violence, and other criminal offenses, and how to best coordinate their work on protecting the rights of survivors. 

A press conference will be held on November 3rd, at 11:30 AM, at the premises of Medica Zenica, Krivače 40, Zenica. Sabiha Husić, director of Medica Zenica, and Nada Golubović, president of the Management Board of Udružene žene, will address the journalists.

The aim of this meeting is to inform the NGO community about the achievements to date in the work of already established institutional support networks, as well as to present the process of establishing new networks. Special attention will be paid to presenting the achievements and available resources by all participating NGOs, and to topics on how to improve cooperation between the non-governmental and governmental sectors, and what steps should be taken to ensure that available resources reach the end-users.

The meeting is organized as part of the Project “Comprehensive Approach to a Dignified Life for Survivors of Wartime Rape and Sexual Violence in BiH“. This project is aimed at protecting and fulfilling the goals of the International Protocol on Documenting and Investigating Sexual Violence in Conflicts, to which Bosnia and Herzegovina is a signatory. The ultimate goal is to help these categories of the population realize their rights, which include, among others, housing solutions, healthcare, and the prosecution of perpetrators of these crimes.