Sarajevo Open Center

Sarajevo Open Centre (SOC) is truly a unique organisation in Bosnia and Hercegovina in their fight for Human Rights for LGBT people and women at large. Their involvement against Homophobia and Transphobia has been recognized by many. Though there has been setbacks, not surprising due to quite a resistent society there has been many achievements too. SOC has managed to stage protest actions which got a lot of attention, not at least during 2017. The continued work related to EU accession process and to ensure EU integration are vital. SOC's work in relation to women's rights also gained ground not at least with the wok aimed to positively influence the Parliament (Federation level) in a more favorable way. Using different media platforms, SOC have managed to contribute to a wider knowledge about the issue at hand, and the role and rights of LGBT people. The Pink Reports submitted has been interesting and useful to read. Working with Parliamentary committees and the institutional frameworks of BiH as well as with the Gender Equality Agency cooperation has proven useful and building stronger networks around the country. An external evaluation was done in 2017 where the programme was evaluated in depth in a very comprehensive and positive way and which ample shows many of the successed achieved since the inception of the project start in 2015.    

The human rights situation of LGBT people and women in Bosnia and Herzegovina has improved.- LGBT people are socially and legally empowered- BiH authorities have increased responsiveness to guarantee human rights of LGBT people and women- LGBT and women's rights are mainstreamed in public