BILD
97 Hasana Brkica
Tuzla 75000
Bosnia and Herzegovina

ph: 00387-35/286-777
fax: 00387-35/286-777
email: info@bildbosnia.org










































































Security Solutions – creative solutions
for minority populations

project funded by

South East Europe Development Solutions

When working in the field, especially in eastern Bosnia from Zvornik south to Srebrenica, BILD staff have learned of threats to the security and well-being of members of the minority population.

Often times, BILD is able to help address the immediate issue and create practical solutions. The examples below show solutions that require relatively small material donations combined with effective use of staff time.

This graffiti called for killing Muslims in the same manner one slaughters a farm animal, the graffiti appearing in one of the few areas of Zvornik still inhabited by Muslims after a almost all were forced to leave Zvornik during the war and most never returned. After speaking with neighbors who were too afraid to cover it up, BILD staff secured assurances from EUFOR peacekeepers that if someone attacked BILD staff it would be in their mandate to provide protection. BILD staff then covered the graffiti and were happy to see that afterwards neighbors then repainted their homes.

When visiting Nova Kasaba, BILD staff learned that a woman, her mother, and her baby were being threatened at night because they are part of the minority population. She did not want her identity shown, but wanted a picture taken of her baby, so that people understood that an innocent baby's life was being threatened. It was not possible to have pe stationed outside of her home each night, but BILD found a way to get the harassment to stop. BILD staff worked with local volunteers to have a street light installed next to her home such that the entire area was fully illuminated at night. The harassment stopped.

When BILD learned that women in the village of Divič were in a threatening situation that was defused by the presence of a woman on a balcony with a video camera, we asked private donors to provide older cameras. Donors responded and we then brought the cameras to the women of Divič.

The violence that these extremists indulge in happens in darkness. These cameras combined with visible friendships with internationals including soldiers from the international peacekeeping force shine a light on the situation and help civil society prevail.