180,000 dollars for psychological assistance to flood victims

On behalf of the US Embassy in BiH, the acting director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alexander Bond, and the regional representative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Gianluca Rocco, signed a donation in the amount of 180,000 dollars, through which the IOM, via the NATO Perspective program in BiH, will provide psycho-social assistance to flood victims and demobilized soldiers, reports the Patria News Agency.

This USAID-funded project complements and supports the activities of NATO, Great Britain, and Norway to build the capacities of BiH authorities to reintegrate demobilized military personnel into civilian life. This project is planned to conclude and supplement the activities within the NATO Perspective program 2010-2012, which the IOM implemented with the support of USAID in the amount of over two million US dollars.

The main goal of this phase is the transfer of activities to BiH authorities, which will facilitate the implementation of the program's exit strategy. Training and capacity building of BiH state officials working on transition and recruitment will ensure the full sustainability of activities aimed at psychosocial support for demobilized military personnel. IOM advisors will continue to provide psychosocial assistance to the beneficiaries of the NATO-Perspective program, with an emphasis on beneficiaries living in municipalities affected by recent floods and landslides.

The US government has so far provided more than 1.6 billion dollars in assistance intended for the economic, democratic, and social progress of BiH.