The mission is to secure legal and social recognition and respect for children born due to war, through activism, public advocacy, research, networking, and the arts. The association aims to contribute to eliminating the stigma and discrimination faced by this social group.
Sarajevo
Zaboravljena djeca rata, Radnička 19b,Sarajevo 71 000, BiH
Email
info@zdr.ba
Radnička 19b, Sarajevo 71 000, BiH
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During and immediately after armed conflicts, alongside the increasing militarization, the phenomenon of “children born due to war” emerged and continues to emerge globally. These are children who would have had a lesser chance of being born if there had not been a war in a specific region, where their fathers were deployed or stationed due to official or military duties.
In the context of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this category includes children whose fathers were:
- a) Soldiers from opposing armies, i.e., from different ethno-national groups than the mother’s group (parents from previously warring, so-called “enemy” sides);
b) Members of peacekeeping forces (UNPROFOR, IFOR, SFOR, etc.); or
c) Employees of foreign humanitarian missions, with local women as their mothers.
The “Forgotten Children of War” Association was founded in 2015 by a group of human rights activists and children born due to war from Bosnia and Herzegovina. These children remained in the shadows during and after the war, invisible and unrecognized as a vulnerable category both in the country of their mothers’ origin and/or the country of their biological fathers’ origin.
The “Forgotten Children of War” Association is the first and currently the only organization in the world that is founded and led by children born due to war. It approaches the issue from a completely different perspective, working to achieve both the legal and social visibility of these children. It is the first to advocate for their recognition and gather members from the categories mentioned above.
The Forgotten Children of War (FCW) is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian global organization advocating for the legal and social recognition of children born due to war, based on best practices from Bosnia and Herzegovina. We strive for a society free of violence, where the rule of law is respected, and where solidarity and inclusiveness are foundational principles.
The “Forgotten Children of War” Association is a non-partisan, non-governmental, and non-profit organization operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina. FCW is recognized as a “human rights” organization and plays a key role in addressing a topic that has long been excluded from legal and social discourse. As the first association in the world to tackle this issue using the mechanisms mentioned above, it considers itself the “driver of visibility for the invisible,” providing a voice to groups that have been systematically silenced.
FCW’s core values include:
We welcome collaboration with individuals, groups, institutions, and civil society organizations whose primary goal is to protect human rights and work toward building a world and future free from violence.
The key principles of the Association are volunteerism, openness, diversity, tolerance, and democracy. Furthermore, the association emphasizes: solidarity among marginalized groups, empowering women, empowering children born due to war, innovation in work and approach, transparency within the team and toward others, integrity, a user-focused orientation, activism as a form of influence, creating safe spaces for women, survivors, children born due to war, and other marginalized groups, consistency in work and dedication to achieving results.
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