Speeches Shim
![Participants in USAID's Fair Play, Fair Childhood project to bring Bosnian young people together through sports. Participants in USAID's Fair Play, Fair Childhood project to bring Bosnian young people together through sports.](https://2017-2020.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_thumbnail/public/FS_Fair_Play_teen_girls_1.jpg?itok=w5iOyOZ4)
Young people are important for developing and maintaining peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and having shared goals and values decreases the social distance between them. This USAID program brings together young people of different ethnicities and from divided communities to play on the same sports teams, leagues, and tournaments throughout the year. The Youth Sports and Recreation Association implements this $500,000 three-year project for USAID.
![](https://2017-2020.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_thumbnail/public/news/02-12-2019/ss20196imageregencrowdproperphoto.jpg?itok=L-sB-4hh)
When we talk about our work with IRI here in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we usually discuss election monitoring or roundtable events with government or civil society leaders – not a film being shown in the Balkans, New York, and Washington DC. But this past year and a half, our work has crossed paths with the likes of, dare we say it, Hollywood.
This USAID program promotes a system to contain and prevent the spread of radicalism and violent extremist beliefs in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) prisons and rehabilitate and reintegrate previously radicalized prisoners into society upon their release. The Council of Europe implements this comprehensive two-year $1 million project, which is co-funded equally by USAID and the UK government.
USAID’s STaR project works to increase empathy and tolerance among members of the multiple ethnoreligious groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina by catalyzing religious leaders, religion teachers, youth, and municipal leaders in community reconciliation efforts. USAID’s implementing partner in this two-year $1.5 million program is the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding.
![FACT SHEET: BE THE INSPIRATION: MOBILIZING YOUTH FOR RECONCILIATION IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA FACT SHEET: BE THE INSPIRATION: MOBILIZING YOUTH FOR RECONCILIATION IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA](https://2017-2020.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_thumbnail/public/FS_Be_the_Inspiration_Mobilizing_Youth_Dec_2018_ENG_0.jpg?itok=OtOgCjCu)
Through this project, USAID works to build cooperation among youth of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and empowers young citizens and political leaders to take decisive action against threats to reconciliation. USAID’s implementing partner for this 1½-year, $1.5 million project is the National Democratic Institute, with core local partners Youth Initiative for Human Rights and Infohouse Association.
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