The International Organization for Migration (IOM) recently presented its Strategy in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2022-2025, in which special attention is paid to activities related to climate change, risk mitigation, strengthening resilience, enhancing adaptation capacities, as well as addressing environmental factors that lead to forced migration.

A training on writing project proposals focused on environmental protection was organized from September 1–4, 2022, as part of the project "Bosnia and Herzegovina: Engaging Youth in Environmentally and Socio-Economically Sustainable Initiatives," which IOM BiH is implementing with the support of the IOM Development Fund.

The goal of this project is to contribute to solving the factors that lead to socio-economic dissatisfaction of young people in communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, through an approach to environmental sustainability. To address these challenges, IOM will provide support to youth, with a special emphasis on empowering women and girls, encouraging them to get involved in protecting and improving the environment through participatory initiatives and community mechanisms to build climate resilience.

In addition, the project aims to contribute to the improvement of social cohesion in local communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina through the engagement of young people in environmental and socio-economic sustainability initiatives. The project is implemented in three municipalities in three different river regions: the Una, Neretva, and Sava regions, more precisely in Bihać, Jablanica and Bijeljina.

The training was attended by representatives of local institutions and non-governmental organizations from these three municipalities, and its goal was to strengthen capacities and ensure conditions for the implementation of initiatives. Participants had the opportunity to learn about all the steps of writing project proposals, from identifying the problem, to creating a logic matrix and budget.

This is one of the first activities of this project, and IOM continues to work closely with local institutions and organizations to ensure support for their environmental conservation efforts.