Bosnia and Herzegovina Safer Internet Day Committee - International Forum of Solidarity – EMMAUS (IFS-EMMAUS)

Last updated: 2024-01-26

About our SID activities

The importance of the Safer Internet Centre (SIC) is that it provides an online spot where illegal and harmful content can be reported. SIC services are currently being promoted to the target groups by a set of well-designed awareness and outreach activities, including information materials such as posters, leaflets, radio jingles, and additional materials that are being developed as we speak, which are already resulting in increased awareness and knowledge of target groups on online safety and prevention of OCSEA (platform statistics, helpline services requested, etc.). These are expanded by education workshops implemented in schools across BiH and through extracurricular activities that target children, parents, Parental Council representatives and other educators (school psychologists, pedagogues, representatives of education ministries, etc.) on prevention and protection from OCSEA in BiH.

The Safer Internet Centre (SIC) signed the Cooperation Protocol with representatives of all three police agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina - the Federal Police Unit, the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Srpska and the Brčko District Police. The aim of this Protocol is the advancement of social childcare and its protection, as well as ensuring necessary aid when a child is exposed to different forms of violence or abuse.  In the last ten years, IFS-EMMAUS, in cooperation with partners and sponsors, has engaged more than 100,000 children from Bosnia and Herzegovina to participate in an online quiz and educate themselves on online safety. 

Led by the success of previous years, the Safer Internet Centre in Bosnia and Herzegovina celebrates Safer Internet Day through an online quiz/competition for primary and secondary school students on the topic of safety in the digital environment via the web platform www.sigurnodijete.ba. The quiz has an educational character and motivates children to learn about the safe use of digital technologies in a fun way. 

Our long-term goal is to provide all children in Bosnia and Herzegovina with education on the safe use of digital technologies and to take all steps to prevent violence against children in the digital environment.

What we are doing to create a better internet…

Celebrating Safer Internet Day under the slogan "Together for a better Internet" makes us strive to include various actors from different sectors within the Bosnia and Herzegovina region - children, parents, professionals, representatives of educational institutions, media and companies. Preparing for Safer Internet Day, we are mobilising all ministries of education (on entity, district and cantonal levels) to cooperate with schools under their jurisdiction, share the information on Safer Internet Day and encourage children and youth to participate in quizzes. In this way, we cover all elementary and secondary schools within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Besides this, we are sharing information on SID towards all institutions we cooperate formally with (such as police units on all administration levels) and all others that we consider important and relevant. In this way, our partners are encouraging the public to join in our actions and activities, thus covering all Bosnia and Herzegovina areas, not excluding any child and giving everyone an equal opportunity to participate and educate. By contacting and cooperating with companies, we ensure valuable awards for children who achieve significant results on online quizzes. Lastly, the media also play a crucial role in sharing and disseminating information on Safer Internet Day. With this approach, we cover all relevant actors, institutions and the general public to be a part of SID. It is important to emphasise the regional cooperation we have with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Croatia, who provide us support with quizzes and hosting.

About us

International Forum of Solidarity – EMMAUS (IFS-EMMAUS) was established in 1999 with the aim of providing assistance to vulnerable population groups. With its over 260 employees, 70 volunteers and a network of 7 offices across the country, IFS-EMMAUS represents one of the largest NGOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) that operates on the whole country territory. Each of the country offices is specialized and addresses specific areas of intervention, whereby Office Sarajevo manages program actions addressing the prevention of trafficking in human beings (THB), illegal migration, online child abuse and exploitation (CSAE), domestic, sexual and related gender based violence, implementing comprehensive programs such as assistance and protection to victims of trafficking in persons (VoTs); children and youth subjected to physical and related online and gender based violence; assistance and shelter to VoTs and victims of violence, vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors and children without parental care; training and capacity building of government professionals (state, entity and local including law enforcement agencies, prosecutorial professionals, social workers and Regional Monitoring Team members), as well as civil society organizations (CSOs) and international actors; prevention and awareness raising amongst groups at risk and the general public; education of children, parents and teachers, as well as inclusion of THB related education into the BiH education system; activities contributing to legislative changes or amendments of TIP related laws; research, monitoring and lobbying for improvements in the aforementioned areas of action in BiH, region and globally.
 
IFS-EMMAUS operates the European Resource Center for the Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings and Other Forms of Exploitation – EURC comprising the first Resource Platform on Trafficking in Persons in BiH established in 2013 as a research, training and education centre for stakeholders from BiH, the region and around the globe; the first Safer Internet Center -SIC in BiH for reporting, awareness raising and education of children and general BiH public on online child abuse and exploitation (www.sigurnodijete.ba); operates one of the largest shelters in the world for trafficked victims, assisting and protecting both children and adults, BiH nationals and foreigners, men and women; manages the Center for Children and Youth assisting vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minors within the recent migration flows.
 
For all aforementioned actions, IFS-EMMAUS holds MoUs and Protocols with the responsible BiH Ministries; BiH Service for Foreigners Affairs (SFA); over 80 centers for social work across BiH; partner NGOs and international organizations. The organization has been a member of EMMAUS Europe/International since 2004, providing assistance to migrants across four world continents; INHOPE – International Association of Internet Hotlines since 2010; and ECPAT, one of the largest international networks engaged in the prevention of trafficking in human beings, since 2016.

Additional links/resources

Website
https://www.sigurnodijete.ba

Email address
sarajevo@mfs-emmaus.ba

Social media