Initiative name of one parent

As part of the “Stronger Together” program, organized by the Trag Foundation, the ZDR Association worked on the “Name of one Parent” initiative.

The basic need for the implementation of the “Name of one parent” initiative arises due to the discrimination experienced by children born of war, but also due to the reduction of the role of the mother in the legislative system. The fact that BH official documents give primacy to the father’s name without the option of choosing the other parent’s name is evidence of the discrimination to which the category of children born of war is exposed. Most of them do not know their father’s name due to the very fact that their mothers survived rape or multiple rapes during the war, after which they gave birth to children as a result of such a crime.

Just by amending the law, which adequately and equally emphasizes the role of the mother, above all women, significantly reduces discrimination of children born of war, then strengthens the privacy of survivors (we are talking about the fact that children are forced to explain every day in front of groups of unknown people why they do not have information about their biological father in such a way that they have to declare that the mothers are survivors of rape, which directly harms the privacy of the survivor).

The long-term impact of the project is also reflected in the very choice of “parents’ names” that children or individuals state in their documents, which improves the implementation of the right to choose. Also, children born of war are not the only children who can enjoy the positive outcomes of this project, there is a general benefit for all children who, due to various circumstances, do not know their full identity.

Of course, through the implementation of the project, the rights of the child established by the Convention on the Rights of the Child were emphasized, the first paragraph of which states that children have the right to know their full identity and that the signatory state of the Convention must do everything it can to provide this to the child.