Sarajevo - EU Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Johann Sattler, officially opened the new Mother and Baby Wash Facility equipped with bathrooms, laundry service, living room and other accompanying facilities to support mothers with children and pregnant women in the temporary reception center Ušivak in Hadžići. The event was also attended by high-level officials Slobodan Ujic, Director of the Service for Foreigners' Affairs; Laura Lungarotti Chief of Mission IOM in BiH,, Sabahudin Kazic, Assistant of Mayor  of the Municipality Hadzici, UNHCR representatives and representative from Canton Sarajevo.

The European Union has supported the establishment of the Mother and Baby Wash facility to improve the existing facilities and ensure a safe and quiet place for families with babies and small children as well as pregnant women, to bathe, wash and iron clothes, spend peaceful and quality time with their children while, at the same time, caring for them. The facility is adapted also for children with disabilities.

Ambassador Sattler and other officials visited the expanded facilities that will enable a safer and better accommodation in one of the largest temporary reception centers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Centre hosts families with children and other vulnerable categories, by expanding the COVID-19 isolation zone with 10 combined containers, facilitating easier management of the COVID-19 preventive measures.

The officials visited also the recently established Sewing Corner, where migrants can sew reusable masks and other textile items, bringing diversity and their own personal heritage, while improving their sewing skills. IOM's Sewing Corner Coordinator has been preparing various activities that have significantly increased the interest in this type of activity.

The new capacities have been established with the help of the European Union within the project "Addressing COVID-19 Challenges within the Migrants and Refugees Response in the Western Balkans" funded through the EU Foreign Policy Instrument Contributing to Stability and Peace and implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).