Snow and cold in Bosnia‑Herzegovina: How our partner Save the Children helps the ones in need

The extreme onset of winter here in Switzerland has pretty much not gone unnoticed by anyone - we sank into the snow and braved the cold. Hundreds of thousands of children on the run are currently experiencing the same, but they are often at the mercy of the cold without a roof over their heads and urgently need support! Our partner Save the Children is on the ground, working to help refugee children in Bosnia and providing them with basic necessities.

The help arrives: Omar's story

The fate of 6-year-old Omar is one of the examples of how we can work together to help children on the run. Omar and his father fled Iraq for Bosnia. They had already had a long, arduous flight when they arrived at a refugee camp in Bosnia last year. "We crossed the sea in a small boat," little Omar describes the scenes on the refugee boat. He continues, "When I got to Bosnia, it was very cold. I didn't have enough clothes."

Once in Bosnia, Omar and his father were cared for by Save the Children staff and given a place in a warm and safe shelter. Omar was given winter clothes and shoes. In a child-friendly room, the curious boy can also learn again with supervision, do handicrafts and simply be a child again.

Example Bosnia-Herzegovina: Situation currently particularly bad

Since 2018, many desperate children and their families have been trying to reach safety in Europe via the Western Balkans route - every third person is a child. In attempts to cross the border to the EU, they are often turned back without being readmitted to refugee camps. As a result, countless children and families have no place of refuge at all and have to wait outside in the freezing cold without warm clothes and shoes.

Save the Children provides help - thanks to solidarity from all of us

Save the Children has been active in Bosnia and Herzegovina for over 25 years, helping needy children and families like Omar. Save the Children is active in the refugee camps on the ground, ensuring that children have access to medical care in emergencies. Their aid workers on the ground also care for unaccompanied children outside the refugee camps, making sure they are cared for in a warm and safe place. Currently, Save the Children is also distributing much-needed warm blankets, sleeping bags, winter clothes and winter shoes on the ground.

Thanks to generous donations, around 400 children are also receiving a warm and safe place in child-friendly rooms in three transit centers, where they can be cared for, play and do arts and crafts.

Also thanks to Stadtlandkind's appeal for donations, such rapid help for children in emergency situations worldwide is possible - thank you very much! Omar's story shows how we can help needy children worldwide together!

If you too would like to support the world's most disadvantaged children, you can do so at www.savethechildren.ch/stadtlandkind-fuer-bosnien.