Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia-Herzegovina has a population estimated at 3.8 million (UN, 2009) with an area of 51,129 sq km (19,741 sq miles). The capital is Sarajevo. The major languages are Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian.

Bosnia-Herzegovina is recovering from a devastating three-year war which accompanied the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. The 1992-1995 conflict centered on whether Bosnia should stay in the Yugoslav Federation, or whether it should become independent. During the war, thousands of women and girls were raped, often with extreme brutality; many were held in prison camps, hotels, private houses where they were sexually exploited. Successive governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina have failed to provide justice to thousands of women and girls who were raped during the 1992-1995 war.

Bosnia & Herzegovina ratified The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on September 1, 1993
Bosnia & Herzegovina does have a National Action Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325). Please click here for further information
Bosnia & Herzegovina had a UN peacekeeping mandate: United Nations Observer Mission in Bosnia & Herzegovina (UNMIBH) from December 1995 to December 2002

Sources:BBC; Amnesty International; UNIFEM

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May 1, 2012 (89.3 KPCC)
BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA: Peace, Justice Elude Rape Victims of Bosnian War Nearly two decades after the Bosnian War ended, thousands of Bosnian women who were victims of sexual violence are still seeking justice.
April 11, 2012 (Foreign Policy in Focus)
BOSNIA:Women of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Twenty Years Later Twenty years ago this month, war broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the main act in the dissolution of Yugoslavia. In Sarajevo, the country's capital that once proudly hosted the Winter Olympics, 11,541 red chairs on the main street mark the grim anniversary. One for every citizen killed during the almost four years of the city's siege, the longest in recent history. When this bloodiest conflict on European soil since World War II ended in 1995, the toll was staggering: two million displaced, 100,000 dead, and an estimated 20,000 women systematically raped, though the real number will never be unveiled from under the heavy stigma.
March 29, 2012 (Voice of America)
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA: Amnesty Slams Bosnia for Neglecting Victims of Wartime Rape Rights group Amnesty International has slammed the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina for neglecting women survivors of wartime rape.
March 22, 2012 (B92)
BALKANS: Statement Urges Greater Role for Women in Security Sector The signing ceremony in Belgrade this Thursday officially launched a project dubbed “Support for Gender Mainstreaming in Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans”, Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Šutanovac said. Šutanovac said that today women have an important role in the armed forces, providing a new quality and capacity in response to security challenges and global threats.
February 6, 2012 (The Telegraph)
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: Kathryn Bolkovac: 'They called me Xena: Warrior Princess' In 1999, Kathryn Bolkovac went to Bosnia as part of a UN mission. She discovered terrible wrongdoing - and refused to stay silent about it. She tells Nisha Lilia Diu her incredible story.