Project details
INTER CAMPUS BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA
Inter Campus Bosnia Herzegovina has been active since 1999, having been set up immediately after the Balkan conflict. In collaboration with the SK Bubamara sporting association and its president Predrag Pasic – a former captain of the Yugoslav national team – the programme initially involved 700 children. The aim was to promote inter-ethnic integration and psychological well-being by healing post-war trauma.
Promoting ethnic and religious integration and training local instructors
Strong social tensions and ethnic divisions remain in the country today. The programme’s efforts towards integration therefore continue, together with the Sprofondo Bezdan Association in Sarajevo and Domanovici, near Mostar. The objective is to promote ethnic and religious integration, as well as to train local instructors through periodic refresher visits.
In Sarajevo, children of between six and 12 of various nationalities and ethnicities who come from socially and economically vulnerable households are involved in the project.
In Domanovici, the initiative was launched in the only school in the country where the Muslim children go to school on the ground floor whilst the Christians study on the first floor, so that they never come into contact with one another. Six further schools have joined the project – three Muslim and three Christian – making a total of 100 children. One Catholic and one Muslim instructor lead all activities with the children, thus promoting integration both on and off the pitch.