A Voice For the Voiceless

The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.

The Impact of Service



"Speaking with locals and living in a country is the best way to learn about the real lives of citizens, not just the stories in the mainstream media. I will be more critical of what I read as a result of this experience. I also feel even more grateful for my education, and I feel a stronger responsibility to assist others who do not have resources or access to opportunities in their communities."

Maria Skouras (New York University) volunteered in 2011 as a Peace Fellow for eHomemakers in Malaysia.

For more 2011 feedback click here.

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Partner Campaigns > Survivors of the ... > Challenge > Reconstruction

Reconstruction

The four-year war in Bosnia brought severe economic devastation, suspending the country’s production and causing drastic unemployment. More than a decade after the war, Bosnia has not fully recovered: approximately 40% of the country’s population remains unemployed and 25% lives below the poverty line.

Srebrenica bears the deepest scars. Before the war, there were mines, plants, and engineering companies in the area that employed thousands. With all the industry and much of the infrastructure destroyed and no plans to rebuild, there is hardly any job to be found. Many displaced persons are unable to return to Srebrenica partially because of lack of employment opportunities. The Dayton Agreement mandated that jobs be returned to the people who held them prior to the war, but this requirement is still to be realized.

In Bosnia, pensions are granted based on the number of years the employer paid money into the national pension system. Because
     The challenge that lies ahead: one of many mosques destroyed
     during the war

  End of the road: Srebrenica holds out few attractions for its
  population		 some companies could not make these payments during the war, many people are simply denied a pension. Lack of health care exacerbates the plight of the survivors.

Traditionally, Bosnian men carry financial responsibility for the family. Having lost their husbands during the war, many women in Srebrenica and the surrounding areas faced special economic hardships when they became head of households, often with many young children. BOSFAM seeks to support these women through the weaving of traditional Bosnian carpets. For many weavers, the money generated by the sale of BOSFAM items is the only source of income.

The world showed little interest in rebuilding Srebrenica until 2000. Even since then, international efforts have been relatively half-hearted. The UNDP has launched a multilateral program of reconstruction, but this has not yet attracted as much support as its sponsors hoped. Overall, donors are disengaging from Bosnia.
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