About partners

People in Need (PIN) – is the largest non-governmental organization for the protection of human rights in Central and Eastern Europe. It currently has active missions in more than 30 countries around the world. The activities of the People in Need organization have a 30-year tradition in the Western Balkans with offices in Belgrade, Mostar, Pristina, Sarajevo, and Skopje. It supports projects of good management, waste management, deinstitutionalization and inclusion of persons with disabilities, and inclusive education in the region. The permanent work of PIN in Bosnia and Herzegovina is based on its global expertise in the development of civil society and the creation of social cohesion. As the leader of the Mostar Project, PIN will support the activities of local partners and include PIN’s expert advisors in order to achieve good results and contribute to the positive examples of Mostar.

Everyday Peace Indicators (EPI – Svakodnevni pokazatelji mira) vrši participatorno istraživanje i procjenu u partnerstvu sa zajednicama pogođenim konfliktom i gradi mostove među različitim akterima koji se bave pitanjima konflikta i rade na izgradnji mira, pružajući informacije o procesu izgradnje mira, pravcima djelovanja i stipendijama. EPI sarađuje sa zajednicama s ciljem generisanja njihovih vlastitih indikatora o kompleksnim idejama i konceptima koji se odnose na mir.  Zajednice sarađuju s nama s ciljem određivanja indikatora  koji su njima važni, uz građenje značenja odozdo prema gore. Djelujemo što je moguće više lokalno, gradeći partnerstva sa selima i naseljima koja su iskusila ili nastala iz konflikta diljem svijeta. Svijet vidimo kao mjesto u kojem donosioci odluka i članovi zajednice djeluju zajedno na transformisanju grubih konflikata i izgradnji mirnog, pravednog i pravičnog društva oslonjenog na svakodnevna životna iskustva ljudi i zajednica.

OKC Abrasevic is the only youth cultural center in Mostar, and it inherits a tradition of more than 90 years old. Abrasevic was established in 1926, as a worker’s cultural association. The center is in the central zone, in the boulevard, part of the town known as “no man’s land”. During the war, Abrasevic was destroyed, and the young people rebuilt it and made it a functional and open public space.

Abrasevic became a famous and relevant public space, dedicated to different alternative genres of music, interculturalism, arts, and youth empowerment. Each year, Abrašević organizes around 150 events.

We work and cooperate daily with many young people and other organizations from Mostar, such as United World College, Mostar Rock School, the Youth Council of the City of Mostar, the Street Arts Festival, different informal youth initiatives, etc. In partnership with Mostar Rock School, OKC Abrašević opened music Club K19, where we organize music events for youth, like concerts, parties, and other activities.

OKC Abrašević also cooperates and implements projects with partners from Europe and the international level. Projects focus on youth, culture, arts, media, and peacebuilding.

Abrasevic will focus its effort within this project on grassroots civic actions and youth-centered activities. We will use culture as a connector to bring life to public spaces and gather citizens around their common interests and needs. We will prioritize empowering youth to invest in the city’s urban space while developing critical soft skills and creating organic opportunities for cross-community interaction.

Since its establishment in November 2004 Local Democracy Agency Mostar acts as a locally registered non-profit, nongovernmental organization, with the support of its partners and cooperation with other Agencies and the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA). It is precisely this cooperation, both on a local and regional level that has enabled numerous activities and projects useful for the development of the local community and its inclusion into processes at the regional level. Activities of LDA Mostar, which aim to create a more active citizenry on one side, and transparent and accountable local authorities on the other, are focused on the development of a modern democratic society. These activities entangle every segment of the life of the local community and offer a possibility of improving the living standard of all categories of society by directly influencing concrete changes.

The Local Democracy Agencies have been established in the Western Balkans by the Congress of the Council of Europe since 1992 by the Congress of the Council of Europe, as a support program for strengthening local democracy, respect for human rights, and further sustainable development.

The LDAs develop partnerships with local authorities and NGOs from all over Europe giving the whole network direct access to an international framework through the support of ALDA, the Council of Europe, and the European Union.

Within the Project Mostar LDA Mostar will lead the work with local authorities to draw attention to shared citizen priorities and provide the skills, mechanisms, and concrete opportunities to address them. Specifically, LDA Mostar will first conduct a baseline needs assessment that will allow us to tailor the subsequent capacity development and measure progress against a number of core areas including transparency, participation, digital participation (e-democracy), and social inclusion. Building on the assessment results, a series of participatory joint (civil society -local authority) capacity development workshops for at least 40 participants will focus on concrete means to make local democracy more participatory and inclusive via improved dialogue, consultation, and partnership tools and practices and youth-focused civic engagement workshops to activate the next generation of Mostar citizens. In parallel, LDA Mostar will support specific citizen mobilization actions of the partner associations OKC Abrašević and NEŠTO VIŠE through individualized teaching of grant recipients in order to collaborate directly with local authorities in finding common solutions in numerous potential areas.

Citizens’ Association “NEŠTO VIŠE” (NV) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1997 . Our programs and projects have been implemented in over 70 cities throughout BiH. NV operates and implements projects countrywide with personnel (7 full-time employees) located in three towns: Sarajevo (central office), Mostar (the first BiH permacultural farm with an office), and Banja Luka.

NV is also the founder and owner of the social enterprise “EkoDizajn” ltd (2016) which provides services of environmental-friendly landscaping on permaculture principles, organization of training, workshops, and events related to permaculture and environmental protection. NV is a socially responsible employer promoting equal opportunities; it endorses gender equality and fully supports the inclusion of marginalized groups.

At the moment, NV is implementing several projects and activities in areas of youth support and youth employment, gender equality and human rights, improving the quality of life of people with disabilities, social entrepreneurship for youth and ecology, permaculture, and green and circular economy.

As part of the Mostar Project – Spaces that Activate and Rejuvenate, NEŠTO VIŠE will focus on the promotion and encouragement of sustainable development, gender equality, social inclusion of people with disabilities and other marginalized groups, as well as the promotion of environmentally friendly solutions for public spaces and urban gardening, and the responsible use of natural resources.