YMCA Bosnia Herzegovina

Who we are?

Association for Youth and Family Development "IMKA" ,Bosnian chapter of YMCA is a local NGO that through its program activities works to overcome all prejudices, boundaries between people, poverty, improve the quality of social life and focus on the needs of especially vulnerable groups of population, families, youth, women, elderly throughas well as consistent construction of common identity and pro-European awareness in Bosnia and Herzegovina community. IMKA aims to support, educate, and motivate vulnerable groups, primarily young, women, old to achieve financial stability and personal goals, encouraging their personal efforts to independently build a community that creates a systematic, positive change for all people in BiH ,authorities and the state ultimately leading to coexistence and common Bosnian identity. IMKA program activities are planned so to provide and create additional recreational, cultural, educational activities and develop compasion, volunteerism, fellowship, leadership of the majority, as well as increase the welfare of the individual, enabling members to in greater numbers become active citizens of the society in which they live.

What can you find here?

The core mission of the Bosnian YMCA in Sarajevo is to provde better life standard for Bosnian youth and families. At the YMCA we teach people about healthy lifestyle and leisure time and how to productively use resources at hand to improve standard of living and overal life quality free from depression,coruption,substance abuse,violence. We use mentoring,training and peer to peer education in the delivery of our services as we consider that only combination of all tree previously mentioned approaches brings quality results. For the moment we have 4 programs particularly aimed at youth and families ,that we use to enrich their lives through leisure activities, while avoiding the hazards of negative recreation such as drug abuse and crime.

What we do?

The main activities are designed for young people, teenagers and are focused on international youth exchanges, personal development trainings, social services, camps and outdoor, workshops, community and youth centres activities, foreign language courses.

For more details visit http://ymca-bih.tumblr.com/

Bosnia and Herzegovina

According to the last population census there were 4,354,911 inhabitants in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1991.

Policy makers estimate that the country's population is now around 3.8 million people and steadily growing, and that over one million Bosnians live abroad.

The ethnic composition remains similar to the pre-war percentages: Bosniaks (Muslims) 44%, Serbs (Christian Orthodox) 32%, and Croats (Catholics) 17%. The remaining 7% of the population is composed of Yugoslavs, Albanians, Roma, Jews, and several other minority groups.

Sarajevo

It is the capital of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity, as well as the center of the Sarajevo Canton. Sarajevo is located in the Sarajevo valley of Bosnia proper, surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated around the Miljacka river. The city was famous for its traditional religious diversity, with adherents of Islam, Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Judaism coexisting there for centuries. Due to this long and rich history of religious diversity and coexistence Sarajevo has often been called the "Jerusalem of Europe". Although settlement in the area stretches back to prehistoric times, the modern city arose as an Ottoman stronghold in the 15th century. Sarajevo has attracted international attention several times throughout its history: In 1914 it was the site of the assassination that sparked World War I, while seventy years later it became the host city of the 1984 Winter Olympics. More recently, Sarajevo underwent the longest siege in modern military history during the Bosnian War. Today the city is recovering and adjusting to a post-war reality, as a major center of culture and economic development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sarajevo was also the first city in Europe and the second city in the world to have a full-time operational electric tram network running through the city, the first being San Francisco. The city of Sarajevo is unit of local self-governance, which consists of four city municipalities: Old City, Center, New City and New Sarajevo. Sarajevo population is 304,065 people in the four municipalities and an estimated urban area population of 419,030 people in the Sarajevo Canton.

Banja Luka

is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the largest and most developed city in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and has traditionally been the center of the Bosanska Krajina region located in the northwestern part of the country. It is home to the University of Banja Luka, as well as numerous state and entity institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska entity, respectively. The city lies on the Vrbas river and is well-known in Bosnia and the countries of the Former Yugoslavia for being full of tree-lined avenues, boulevards, gardens, and parks

Statistics :

• BiH is first country on coruption in region - Transparency International reserach 2008 
• Young people make up 23% of the total population of BiH
• 77% of youth want to leave BiH Between 45% and 60% of youth are unemployed
• 80% of youth are unsatisfied with educational system,
• Only 1% of youth believe they can make an impact in the society and affect their future
• Less then 25% attend elections and vote
• Only limited number of people perceive themselves as able to be a catalyst of positive change
• Underdeveloped volunteer work