Capacity Building for Associations of Families of Missing Persons

About this grant

The overall project goal is to assist associations of families of missing persons from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia to become more effective organizations and positive forces for change, particularly with respect to issues of dealing with the past in the Western Balkans. To this end, the International Commission on Missing Persons supports the work and organizational development of associations of families of missing persons through workshops and regional conferences, tailored expert consultancy, policy development and advocacy, and small grants. In 2005-2006, the commission organized four regional workshops for associations from different ethnic/religious communities and two regional conferences, convened stakeholders and experts on a range of transitional justice issues, and provided small grants to associations to carry out concrete projects. The commission is a joint initiative of various governments, led by the United States, to identify persons missing as a result of armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.