In 1992, as Bosnia and Herzegovina descended into war, thousands of minors traded their toys for Kalashnikovs and artillery. Across a fractured nation, boys as young as 10 joined local defense units, placing themselves on the front lines of the ethno-nationalist conflicts that shattered the Balkans in the 1990s.
Today, the former child soldiers of Bosnia and Herzegovina are adults who carry deep and invisible wounds. Middle-aged men and women suffer from chronic and untreated trauma that has devastated their lives and locked them in a vicious cycle of poverty. Although three decades have passed since the Dayton Peace Agreement marked the end of the conflict in 1995, many of the surviving child soldiers live on the margins of society and are trapped in the lingering void of economic survival and social exclusion.
The Consequences of the War
After the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted a complex, decentralized and fragmented system of government that divides social protections across two autonomous entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska.
The nation that emerged from the ashes of the old Yugoslavia immediately faced the devastating consequences of the conflict. Both factions’ military tactics relied on debilitating the enemy’s economic activity, placing a direct target on civilian and production facilities.
When the arms finally fell silent, the newly independent country began its history as a land ravaged by a conflict that culminated in a death toll of 250,000, the displacement of 50% of the population, and a 90% drop in industrial production, according to a 2002 study published in World Development by economists Alberto Chong and Marcelo Bisogno. Poverty became the norm in post-war Bosnia, with 38.8% of the population living below the poverty line and unemployment levels reaching between 33% and 45%.
This critical situation triggered an influx of foreign aid upon which most of the population came to rely. Before the end of the century, more than $5 billion was funneled through massive donor programs to face the extreme crisis and rebuild basic services such as education and health.
The Legal Void
Following the signing of the peace accords, most combatants demobilized into civilian life, rapidly forming a distinct social group that secured specific rights and began organizing into numerous associations. They quickly gained significant political leverage, allowing them to capture a substantial share of humanitarian resources through large government subsidies. Beyond that, war veterans secured a wide range of social and economic benefits, including unemployment assistance, health care, privileged pensions and low-interest loans.
As foreign donations gradually dried up and humanitarian aid transitioned into permanent social assistance, veterans continued to absorb a massive portion of these funds. By 2017, 61% of all social assistance in Bosnia was directed toward war veterans, according to World Bank data.
Consequently, veterans legislation often requires proof of formal military mobilization, rendering all those who enlisted voluntarily or informally invisible in the eyes of the law. Many of these children joined out of desperation, constrained to defend their local communities.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, prohibited the recruitment and direct participation in armed conflict of children under age 15, establishing the legal framework for the protection of children during war.
The former Yugoslavia ratified the convention, but its implementation was severely undermined by the outbreak of the conflict two years later. At a domestic level, Yugoslav law prohibited the enlistment of minors under 18, yet it remained silent on voluntary participation. As a result, during the conflict, an estimated 2,000 children joined the front lines without formal enlistment papers, creating an administrative black hole that continues to exclude them from the rights and benefits afforded to their fellow conscripts.
The Ripple Effect
When the conflict ended, it had already robbed Bosnia and Herzegovina’s former child soldiers of their childhood, and the devastation left by the conflict continues to shape their lives. Today, these now middle-aged men are denied veteran status and remain excluded from the social protection system designed to help former fighters reintegrate into civil society.
From a legal standpoint, they are eligible for the state-funded benefits that helped other soldiers rebuild their lives, yet former child soldiers in Bosnia and Herzegovina affirm that in practice they are often ignored. A study on Bosnian social policy by Professor Nikolina Obradovic shows that in 2009, only one out of 16,542 privileged pension beneficiaries was between the ages of 25 and 29, illustrating the exclusion of veterans who were children during the conflict from social protection meant for veterans.
Many suffer from disabilities, severe injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), making it difficult to live ordinary lives, leaving many trapped in cycles of addiction, economic vulnerability and social isolation.
Thrown into active combat as children, their education was interrupted and their formative years disrupted by the horrors of war. Having missed critical years of schooling, they entered a collapsed Bosnian economy with no qualifications and no clear path forward. According to the same 2002 World Bank-cited study by Chong and Bisogno, the risk of exposure to poverty rises sharply when lacking formal education: those with no education face a 62.5% risk, and those with just primary education face a 57.6% risk.
Former child soldiers, such as Sanel Kruščica, struggled to find work after the war, possessing no other skills than, as he told Bosnian journalist Aida Mia Alic, to “fight a war and drive a car.”
The stigma extends beyond unemployment. Mirsad Geko, who volunteered at 17, struggled to find work even after earning a master’s degree years after the conflict. This pattern of rejection also affects veterans seeking mental health and psychiatric care, many of whom accuse the government of negligence and indifference.
Meanwhile, authorities’ responses have followed the same line, refusing to grant former child soldiers a special status based on claims about their age and informal enlisting.
How Local NGOs Are Intervening
Amid state inaction, local civil society organizations have stepped in to fill the void. In Sarajevo, the Association of Former Child Soldiers, founded in 2011 by Kemal Salaka, advocates for the legal recognition of a unique status for adults who participated in the conflict as children. The organization had an estimated 226 members registered at its early stages and represented more than 500 former child soldiers.
The Association of Young Volunteers, led by Branko Matošin, represents former child volunteers who served in the Croatian Defense Council. The organization has been one of the main advocates against the lack of psychological care, employment opportunities and institutional recognition for former child soldiers.
Although operating in different parts of the country, both organizations stress that securing psychological support and social integration for former child soldiers is not only vital for their well-being but essential for transitional justice, which in the long term will benefit society as a whole.
Looking Ahead
More than three decades have passed since the end of the war. Yet for thousands of former child soldiers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the fighting did not end with the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords; it evolved into a struggle to fit back into civil society. Although the topic of child soldiers in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains largely absent from the broader global discourse on children in armed conflict, today, those same boys who held weapons instead of toys are the leading advocates for the support they have long been denied. Their stories reflect resilience and illustrate why integration should be a priority in every peace process.
– Mateo Montes Asturias
Mateo is based in Montpellier, France and focuses on Politics for The Borgen Project.
Photo: Pexels
Helping Hong Kong’s Migrant Domestic Workers
Hong Kong is widely known as a global financial hub. This economic international superpower relies on the labor of its massive population of migrant domestic workers who serve wealthy families.
Like many immigrant laborers across the world, MDWs (migrant domestic workers) struggle with exploitation resulting in underpayment. Groups like HELP for Domestic Workers are taking measures to break mistreated laborers free of harsh conditions through advocacy, educational programming, emotional support, and emergency shelter. Anne’s is just one success story.
Facing Hardships
A Stanford University study shows that Hong Kong’s ultra-wealthy 0.001% owns more than half of the city’s income, while the women who run their households often live off less than minimum wage.
Hong Kong’s migrant domestic workers tend to obtain fragile visas to work in homes and send money back to their families. They sign contracts from agencies that provide household employers, and those agencies demand placement fees that often lead workers quickly into debt.
According to the Hong Kong Labour Department, contracts dictate that employers must pay MDWs the official allowable minimum wage, but there is no requirement to adjust that rate for inflation, so MDWs end up earning far less than the average person.
Additionally, a mandatory live-in policy results in a total loss of privacy for laborers. They commonly sleep in kitchens, bathtubs and on couches while on call 24/7. If given a day off, it is usually spent out in public in large groups.
The U.S. State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report dedicates an entire segment to the trafficking of migrant domestic workers, explaining that some agencies strategically use debt-based coercion as a pipeline into labor trafficking, sometimes withholding workers’ identification documents until they pay their debts, which can take years. Visa regulations and other systematic obstacles have made it difficult for workers to legally report abuse. However, grassroots efforts have been at work to help the situation for decades now, with growing impacts in recent years.
How HELP Is Helping
HELP for Domestic Workers is a local NGO providing thousands of Hong Kong’s migrant domestic workers with counseling, shelter, education on their legal rights, and other adaptive support systems. Volunteers are also taking active steps to help propel workers into higher degrees of success, envisioning a Hong Kong where migrant workers have the chance to achieve their dreams, where they no longer live under exploitation.
In 2025 alone, HELP volunteers provided employment guidance to more than 800 MDWs, emotional support to over 900, and communicated with almost 4,000 people in need through outreach.
HELP also uses its platform to amplify media coverage centering Hong Kong’s migrant domestic workers, like one HKFP story on loan sharks’ exploitation of migrant domestic workers through online scams and a Tatler piece on how migrant domestic workers are supporting their communities using art. In doing so, they spread further awareness of the issues MDWs face and relentlessly call attention from both the public and government officials to the cause.
A Broader Horizon
Organizations like HELP for Domestic Workers not only provide the help they promise, but they also give hope to unseen yet important Hong Kong communities.
By drawing attention to the voices of Hong Kong’s migrant domestic workers, the focus turns to all immigrant laborers, all those victims of exploitation and systematic disregard. Actionable attention like this generates meaningful grassroots movements like HELP, a conglomeration of ordinary people doing their part to aid their communities.
– Aren Lau
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Cassava Farming in Nigeria: A Billion-Dollar Export Industry
Nigeria produces more cassava than any other country on earth, accounting for roughly 21% of global output, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). For decades, that distinction meant little beyond feeding local communities. Now, driven by surging global demand, government investment and a surprising new wave of cultural attention, cassava farming in Nigeria is edging toward billion-dollar export territory, taking millions of people out of poverty with it.
A Root With Radical Potential
Cassava is drought-resistant, grows in poor soils and can feed millions in climate-uncertain conditions, qualities that have made it a staple across sub-Saharan Africa for generations. What has changed is who wants it, and why. Cassava has long been a poverty survival crop. Now it is becoming a poverty elimination crop.
Global food manufacturers are increasingly sourcing cassava starch and flour as a gluten-free wheat alternative. The global cassava starch market was valued at approximately $4.5 billion in 2022 and is projected to exceed $7 billion by 2030, according to market research firm Grand View Research. Nigeria, as the world’s largest producer, sits at the center of that growth curve.
According to the World Bank, nearly 40% of Nigeria’s population lives below the national poverty line, and the majority of those households depend on agriculture for survival. Cassava, as the country’s most widely grown crop, sits at the center of any realistic poverty-reduction conversation.
From Farm to Factory
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has identified cassava as a priority non-oil export commodity, and with good reason. In 2021, Nigeria exported cassava products worth hundreds of millions of dollars, a figure the government is actively working to scale. The National Agricultural Growth Scheme, launched in 2022, earmarked significant funding specifically to expand cassava processing capacity and connect smallholder farmers to export markets.
Processing is the key variable. Raw cassava degrades quickly, but processed derivatives, starch, flour, ethanol and animal feed travel well and command strong prices. Companies like Psaltry International, based in Oyo State, have built industrial processing facilities that bridge the gap between rural farmers and international buyers. Psaltry reported supplying cassava starch to multinational food companies including Nestlé and Procter & Gamble, according to reporting by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which provided the company with financing to expand.
The Influencer Effect: When Cassava Goes Viral
Perhaps the most unexpected chapter in this story is cultural. Cassava-based foods, fufu, tapioca pearls, cassava fries and gluten-free cassava tortillas have become a genuine trend in wellness and food communities across North America and Europe. Food content creators on platforms like TikTok and Instagram have driven millions of views on cassava flour recipes, with the grain-free baking community in particular embracing it as a pantry staple.
This is not trivial. When a food becomes a trend in wealthy consumer markets, demand signals travel fast. Brands like Otto’s Naturals, which sells cassava flour directly to consumers, have reported rapid growth in the U.S. market. That demand loop, viral content driving retail sales driving commodity demand, creates real downstream opportunity for cassava farming in Nigeria and the farmers at its source.
What Farmers Are Actually Earning
Poverty reduction, in practical terms, often comes down to a single crop yielding twice what it did last season. The critical question is whether export growth reaches smallholders, who represent the overwhelming majority of Nigeria’s cassava producers. The evidence is cautiously encouraging.
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), headquartered in Ibadan, Nigeria, has worked for decades to develop higher-yield cassava varieties and connect farmers to processing networks. Its TGx and TME series of improved varieties have helped farmers increase yields from roughly eight metric tons per hectare to more than 25 metric tons under optimal conditions, a transformation that can triple a household’s income.
Organizations like the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) have also stepped in with training programs that teach post-harvest handling, reducing the crop losses that historically eroded farmer earnings before cassava ever reached a processor.
The Road to a Billion Dollars
For cassava farming in Nigeria to fully realize its export potential, infrastructure remains the central challenge. Cold chain logistics, rural road access and reliable electricity for processing facilities are gaps that both government and private investors are beginning to close. The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation program has committed funding specifically to address these bottlenecks across the continent, with Nigeria among the priority beneficiaries.
What was once dismissed as a poor person’s crop is becoming a global commodity, a wellness trend and an economic lifeline, all at once. Cassava farming in Nigeria is proof that the most transformative agricultural stories do not always begin in Silicon Valley. Sometimes they begin in the soil of Oyo State. What was once dismissed as a poor person’s crop is becoming a global commodity, a wellness trend and the most credible poverty-reduction tool in Nigeria’s agricultural arsenal.
– Nay Mohamad
Photo: Pexels
Solar Power and Education in Rwanda
Education is an imperative method to alleviate poverty. Providing students with knowledge to enter the workforce, Rwanda has expanded its school system to rural communities over the last two decades. A major reason behind this growth is the expansive usage of solar power in Rwanda to empower schools. Partnering with the company Ignite Power, the nation’s work helps millions access education. Teaching needed digital literacy, basic reading and math, this initiative alleviates poverty through strategic growth in the classrooms. This partnership helps Rwandan children grow and learn through the use of solar power.
Using Solar Power in Rwanda
Rwanda’s educational enrollment rates are at a historic high. Yet, this was not always the case. Tackling low youth development initiatives, the Rwandan government partners with Ignite Power to bring clean energy to every corner of the nation. Ignite Power is a leading solar company operating in Africa, helping other countries brighten homes and classrooms. The organization has already connected more than 2 million people across Sub-Saharan Africa to clean energy since 2014.
The terrain and lifestyle of Rwandan people make traditional electricity grids impractical. A total of 83% of families live in rural communities and lack existing infrastructure that could illuminate classrooms. This detailed expansion aims to solar-electrify 955 off-grid, rural schools, ensuring equal opportunity for the majority of impoverished students. Solar power bypasses infrastructure delays and high costs. Ignite Power utilizes solar kits to provide immediate and affordable solutions. These sustainable systems bring reliable electricity directly to rural classrooms, ushering in new modern learning.
Expanding Education in Rwanda
The new use of solar power in Rwanda elevates the abilities of rural education. By brightening classrooms, students thrive through centralized community locations in regional villages. This nationwide initiative helps nearly 400,000 students by providing them with access to modern digital literacy. Schools teach high-demand skills. Focusing on technology and daily business skills, Rwanda focuses its education priorities on applicable skills for a sustainable life.
Reliable solar power revamps education. Schools operate computers and thrive upon digital literacy programs. These programs are expected to rise from 41.1% to 65% by 2029. Ignite Power is not the only company helping to illuminate classrooms. International organizations like Little Sun and local partners like Safer Rwanda also provide solar chargers and tools, successfully reaching over 35,000 children and 800 teachers in Rwandan schools. Teachers now stay connected and can download ebooks to help increase literacy rates among children.
Connection Between Poverty and Education
Every solar panel helps bridge the opportunity gap. Each one fosters Rwanda’s emergence into the global economy. Rural students now thrive alongside their urban peers. With clean and sustainable energy, rural schools build strong connections through digital access. Solar power empowers these communities economically, teaching students to learn competitive techniques to lead the modern workforce. Furthermore, providing universal power and internet access through solar satellite terminals allows rural institutions to eliminate the digital divide, allowing impoverished students to study on an equal playing field. According to the World Bank, each additional year of schooling increases individual hourly earnings by an average of 12.4%, a finding echoed by research on solar electrification’s classroom impact.
Alleviating Poverty
Solar power in Rwanda is paving the way for a stronger education system. The benefits of renewable energy shine far beyond the final school bell. With Ignite Power’s solar power lamps, millions of new Rwandan students gain study materials and a bright environment in their homes. With millions of cumulative study hours, these students excel in their lessons. Ignite Power’s solar lamps and other local initiatives increase evening study hours for children by 28%, ultimately reducing dropout rates and improving grades. Solar energy fosters higher retention rates, better digital understanding and increases academic success. By bringing sunlight to schools across the nation, students shine the brightest and communities build long-term hope. Providing a strong path toward education through solar power, Rwandans uplift their economy and slowly break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.
– Maya Tung
Photo: Pixabay
Addressing the HIV Epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
HIV and AIDS at a Glance
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) attacks the body’s immune system, and patients often experience flu-like symptoms before the virus progresses to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This is the most severe stage of the disease, and once diagnosed, patients with AIDS often survive around three years.
The virus is transmitted through bodily fluids, such as blood and semen, meaning contracting the disease can be prevented by exercising careful protection strategies, such as wearing condoms during intercourse and only using clean needles and syringes.
Health care workers combating the HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia face a critical dispute between what is medically proven to help patients with HIV and what doctors are legally permitted to use. There is a ban on opioid agonist therapy (OAT), which is illegal in Russia, Turkmenistan and other countries in these regions, despite being a recognized tool used to prevent the spread of HIV among drug users.
Another example is the life-saving pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) pill that scientists manufactured to prevent the acquisition of HIV, which is largely unavailable in many Central Asian countries, where the pill is considered unaffordable or completely missing from state funding budgets.
The 95-95-95 Target
The UNAIDS 95-95-95 target originates from the 2021-2026 strategy and is yet to be achieved by all member states, continuing in the 2026-2031 strategy. The goal is for 95% of those with HIV to receive a diagnosis, 95% of those diagnosed to be on antiviral therapy, and 95% of people undergoing treatment to achieve “viral suppression,” meaning they can no longer transmit the disease to others.
Promoting Harm Reduction Programs
Harm reduction programs, such as the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA), are promoted by the U.N. to help combat HIV transmissions directly related to needle use.
EHRA’s “Sustainability of Services for Key Populations in the EECA Region” is one of the biggest projects combating the HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The project aims to reduce criminalization and promote harm reduction for drug users by advocating for the dissolution of certain drug policies, which prevent people from accessing HIV prevention strategies and seeking HIV treatment and care.
Programs like EHRA advocate against the use of drug registries and similar methods of drug-use restriction. In its Position Paper on Drug Policy, EHRA argued that “drug dependence should no longer be an aggravation but should be considered as a basis for social and medical care provision,” explaining that by criminalizing drug users, governments induce a fear of the legal system that directly prevents drug users from both achieving safe needle and syringe usage to prevent HIV transmission and seeking help when they contract the disease.
Integrating HIV Screening Into Primary Care
The HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is predominantly driven by relations between heterosexual partners, people who partake in drug use, and sex workers. The transmission of HIV to thousands of people each year could be prevented if local health care clinics implemented regular testing policies.
In addition to the 95-95-95 targets, UNAIDS has also committed to a 30-80-60 plan, which requires communities to deliver 30% of testing and treatment services and 80% of prevention programs.
Despite the introduction of new policies, such as the European Standards of HIV Prevention and Care policy, developed in 2025 to raise expectations for the implementation of these obligations, progress has temporarily stalled. A UNAIDS report released following the Geneva Convention in June 2026 revealed that extreme funding cuts have led to a reduction in HIV testing, with programs falling by 22% between 2024 and 2025 and funding for condoms being cut by more than 90% in some areas. Officials, however, remain hopeful that stricter enforcement of the European Standards of HIV Prevention and Care policy will cause HIV prevalence to decline.
– Ruby Fraser
Photo: Flickr
The Legacy of Child Soldiers in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Today, the former child soldiers of Bosnia and Herzegovina are adults who carry deep and invisible wounds. Middle-aged men and women suffer from chronic and untreated trauma that has devastated their lives and locked them in a vicious cycle of poverty. Although three decades have passed since the Dayton Peace Agreement marked the end of the conflict in 1995, many of the surviving child soldiers live on the margins of society and are trapped in the lingering void of economic survival and social exclusion.
The Consequences of the War
After the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted a complex, decentralized and fragmented system of government that divides social protections across two autonomous entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska.
The nation that emerged from the ashes of the old Yugoslavia immediately faced the devastating consequences of the conflict. Both factions’ military tactics relied on debilitating the enemy’s economic activity, placing a direct target on civilian and production facilities.
When the arms finally fell silent, the newly independent country began its history as a land ravaged by a conflict that culminated in a death toll of 250,000, the displacement of 50% of the population, and a 90% drop in industrial production, according to a 2002 study published in World Development by economists Alberto Chong and Marcelo Bisogno. Poverty became the norm in post-war Bosnia, with 38.8% of the population living below the poverty line and unemployment levels reaching between 33% and 45%.
This critical situation triggered an influx of foreign aid upon which most of the population came to rely. Before the end of the century, more than $5 billion was funneled through massive donor programs to face the extreme crisis and rebuild basic services such as education and health.
The Legal Void
Following the signing of the peace accords, most combatants demobilized into civilian life, rapidly forming a distinct social group that secured specific rights and began organizing into numerous associations. They quickly gained significant political leverage, allowing them to capture a substantial share of humanitarian resources through large government subsidies. Beyond that, war veterans secured a wide range of social and economic benefits, including unemployment assistance, health care, privileged pensions and low-interest loans.
As foreign donations gradually dried up and humanitarian aid transitioned into permanent social assistance, veterans continued to absorb a massive portion of these funds. By 2017, 61% of all social assistance in Bosnia was directed toward war veterans, according to World Bank data.
Consequently, veterans legislation often requires proof of formal military mobilization, rendering all those who enlisted voluntarily or informally invisible in the eyes of the law. Many of these children joined out of desperation, constrained to defend their local communities.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, prohibited the recruitment and direct participation in armed conflict of children under age 15, establishing the legal framework for the protection of children during war.
The former Yugoslavia ratified the convention, but its implementation was severely undermined by the outbreak of the conflict two years later. At a domestic level, Yugoslav law prohibited the enlistment of minors under 18, yet it remained silent on voluntary participation. As a result, during the conflict, an estimated 2,000 children joined the front lines without formal enlistment papers, creating an administrative black hole that continues to exclude them from the rights and benefits afforded to their fellow conscripts.
The Ripple Effect
When the conflict ended, it had already robbed Bosnia and Herzegovina’s former child soldiers of their childhood, and the devastation left by the conflict continues to shape their lives. Today, these now middle-aged men are denied veteran status and remain excluded from the social protection system designed to help former fighters reintegrate into civil society.
From a legal standpoint, they are eligible for the state-funded benefits that helped other soldiers rebuild their lives, yet former child soldiers in Bosnia and Herzegovina affirm that in practice they are often ignored. A study on Bosnian social policy by Professor Nikolina Obradovic shows that in 2009, only one out of 16,542 privileged pension beneficiaries was between the ages of 25 and 29, illustrating the exclusion of veterans who were children during the conflict from social protection meant for veterans.
Many suffer from disabilities, severe injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), making it difficult to live ordinary lives, leaving many trapped in cycles of addiction, economic vulnerability and social isolation.
Thrown into active combat as children, their education was interrupted and their formative years disrupted by the horrors of war. Having missed critical years of schooling, they entered a collapsed Bosnian economy with no qualifications and no clear path forward. According to the same 2002 World Bank-cited study by Chong and Bisogno, the risk of exposure to poverty rises sharply when lacking formal education: those with no education face a 62.5% risk, and those with just primary education face a 57.6% risk.
Former child soldiers, such as Sanel Kruščica, struggled to find work after the war, possessing no other skills than, as he told Bosnian journalist Aida Mia Alic, to “fight a war and drive a car.”
The stigma extends beyond unemployment. Mirsad Geko, who volunteered at 17, struggled to find work even after earning a master’s degree years after the conflict. This pattern of rejection also affects veterans seeking mental health and psychiatric care, many of whom accuse the government of negligence and indifference.
Meanwhile, authorities’ responses have followed the same line, refusing to grant former child soldiers a special status based on claims about their age and informal enlisting.
How Local NGOs Are Intervening
Amid state inaction, local civil society organizations have stepped in to fill the void. In Sarajevo, the Association of Former Child Soldiers, founded in 2011 by Kemal Salaka, advocates for the legal recognition of a unique status for adults who participated in the conflict as children. The organization had an estimated 226 members registered at its early stages and represented more than 500 former child soldiers.
The Association of Young Volunteers, led by Branko Matošin, represents former child volunteers who served in the Croatian Defense Council. The organization has been one of the main advocates against the lack of psychological care, employment opportunities and institutional recognition for former child soldiers.
Although operating in different parts of the country, both organizations stress that securing psychological support and social integration for former child soldiers is not only vital for their well-being but essential for transitional justice, which in the long term will benefit society as a whole.
Looking Ahead
More than three decades have passed since the end of the war. Yet for thousands of former child soldiers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the fighting did not end with the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords; it evolved into a struggle to fit back into civil society. Although the topic of child soldiers in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains largely absent from the broader global discourse on children in armed conflict, today, those same boys who held weapons instead of toys are the leading advocates for the support they have long been denied. Their stories reflect resilience and illustrate why integration should be a priority in every peace process.
– Mateo Montes Asturias
Photo: Pexels
Telehealth in Uganda: Redefining Health Services
About 20% of the country’s citizens live in poverty. Children make up roughly half of Uganda’s population, meaning many of those living in poverty are minors. Seven out of 10 households rely on agriculture for income, while one in three depend on their own production for food. With rising inflation, food insecurity has increased, while the affordability of health care has not changed. As many villages are far from facilities, many communities opt for more holistic medicinal approaches.
The Rise of Telehealth
Telehealth is the use of technology in health care that allows for care delivery, information and education to be completed remotely. Advances in telecommunication health applications have expanded access to health care for people living in rural and underserved areas, creating better quality and reach of care.
Like many other countries, Uganda adopted telehealth during COVID-19 to educate health care workers and communities on prevention, symptom identification and treatment. These digital platforms provided Community Health Workers (CHW) support in diagnosing patients, while also supplying medicine and other necessary materials needed during the pandemic.
The Importance of Kaaro Health
As telehealth reaches more parts of Uganda, Kaaro Health has been financing health care groups by providing infrastructure changes and medical equipment. According to Kaaro Health, “[They] are committed to ensuring that regardless of whether people live in rural or urban areas, they should be able to access high-quality secondary and tertiary medical care.”
Kaaro Health uses “simple mobile technologies” to combat the challenges of limited access to electricity. The organization has funded and engineered renewable energy solutions like solar-powered lights, generators and incinerators. These resources have allowed Kaaro Health to deploy telehealth clinics to rural and peri-urban villages. Many of these communities are located more than 25 kilometers from medical sites.
To continue its support for sustainable medical care, Kaaro Health has collaborated with local groups to identify those most in need of services, while also working with international partners like GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) to improve quality within the country. Although the organization has driven expansion, it attributes much of its success to the communities and workers who have started and operated Kaaro’s services.
By 2020, Kaaro Health had trained 200 rural nurses and health care workers in mental health services to address challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has established 71 clinics, decreasing the distance these communities have to travel to their nearest medical center.
The Future of Telehealth in Uganda
The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies three objectives for advancing online health: providing digital solutions and standards, enhancing medical knowledge, and supplying countries with solutions specific to their needs. WHO has said, “Digital health can help make health systems more efficient and sustainable, enabling them to deliver good quality, affordable and equitable care.”
As Uganda continues to expand online health care, telehealth providers are funding new technologies that will improve health care and create better efficiency to serve larger numbers of patients. Telehealth in Uganda is an emerging field, and with continued investments, expansion throughout the country will increase affordability and availability of online consultations.
– Jacquelyn Orr
Photo: Flickr
Vocational Education in Sri Lanka
Context of Northeast Sri Lanka
While tension between the Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic groups seems to originate out of cultural disputes, British imperialism certainly provoked it. Experts suggest that the Sinhalese community felt threatened due to the Tamil group’s prosperity growth, which was partly a response to British favoritism. Following imperial rule, the Sinhalese slowly gained power in government, gradually passing laws effectively disenfranchising Tamil people. The Sinhala Only Act, for instance, made Sinhala the only official language of Sri Lanka and created barriers for Tamil people seeking employment or roles within the government.
Discriminatory practices resulted in a proposition for Tamil Eelam, a separate state for Tamils. By the 1980s, Tamils lived almost entirely separate from Sinhalese, occupying the north and east while most Sinhalese lived in southern, western and central Sri Lanka. Following riots targeting Tamils in July 1983, now known as Black July, the Sri Lankan Civil War began. It devastated the country and its economy, lasting until 2009, when the Sri Lankan government announced that it killed the leader of Tamil Eelam.
The end of the war was certainly not the end of discrimination against Tamil people. Sinhalese culture has removed Tamil culture in areas of predominantly Tamil ethnicity, replacing monuments, road signs, street and village names and places of worship. According to a report by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the northeast of Sri Lanka, predominantly Tamil, is multi-dimensionally poor. Large tracts of privately owned land are under military occupation, and the World Bank has noted that 500,000 people lost their jobs due to the economic crisis between 2019 and 2024.
What Are VETs?
Vocational education training centers in Sri Lanka, specific types of programs focused on technical skills for individual jobs, are actively working to reduce unemployment rates. These programs differ from typical education in a number of ways, the key one being prioritization of hands-on experiences of learned skills. Implementation of these programs has been linked with economic growth, as it supports both a skilled workforce in the technical industry and enhanced employability for graduates.
The Impact of Vocational Education Training in Sri Lanka
Vocational education training centers in Sri Lanka have existed since 1893 with the formation of the Government Technical School, but following the Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka Act No. 12 of 1995, several new programs were implemented, designed to increase employability. One such program is iLEAD, or the Initiative for Livelihood Education Development, which is part of Action Education. Founded in 2006, iLEAD has since trained more than 12,000 disadvantaged students and built 10 centers across the country, with five centered in northeast districts. Poverty rates have remained high in northeast Sri Lanka, where many still suffer the effects of the civil war, facing marginalization, unemployment and violence. Vocational education training centers in Sri Lanka like programs offered by Action Education have helped those affected receive certification in IT, sales and English, allowing students to obtain nationally and internationally recognized degrees and find employment.
Hope for the Economy of the Future
Focused on bridging the gap between the unemployed and access to education, programs like Action Education are slowly working to reduce poverty rates nationally. Vocational education training centers in Sri Lanka are still limited, and many don’t have proper accreditation, but others are working to increase confidence in young people, teaching them necessary competencies to perform skilled labor. Combating generational poverty that’s the result of a war, a global pandemic and an economic crisis takes time, but these programs are making a difference.
– Madalyn Youngbauer
Photo: Pixabay
Everything to Know About Hunger in the DRC
Conflict at the Root of Food Insecurity
This is due to both the length and the nature of their famines. The DRC has been dealing with armed conflict on its eastern border since the First Congo War in 1996. This prolonged violence, which is the root cause of hunger in the DRC, is harder to cover than the relatively recent famines in Somalia and South Sudan that are perpetuated by extreme climate events.
Unfortunately, this lack of coverage does not mean the conflict or the famine has ended. Just last year, the M23 rebel group took over the eastern city of Goma, which was a vital international trade hub for the area. All this conflict has caused the displacement of 7.8 million people in the DRC, which further perpetuates issues of food security and sanitation, and helping these people has become more difficult and therefore more important than ever with the capture of Goma.
Humanitarian Response and Immediate Relief
To combat these issues, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Food Programme (WFP) are working to address the hunger crisis in the DRC. With the $10 million allocated from the DRC Humanitarian Fund, the FAO and the WFP, through their combined efforts, have provided immediate food relief or cash-based assistance to nearly 1.3 million people. This is no doubt a significant effort, but it falls dramatically short of the $214 million needed to aid the entirety of the affected Congo population.
Building Long-Term Food Security
Along with immediate relief, the two organizations have also prioritized improving the resilience and self-reliance of local communities. The nutrition problems in the area are particularly alarming, with more than 4.18 million children under five suffering from acute malnutrition. To help prevent this in the future, the WFP has set up nutrition-focused cooking classes in dozens of villages across the DRC. These lessons not only promote healthier, well-balanced diets for Congolese children, but the recipes also include only locally grown native ingredients.
Meanwhile, the FAO provides continued support to the area’s agriculture. This includes seeds, tools, livelihood inputs and cash-based assistance, which help families restore food production and reduce overall dependence on food assistance. However, it could not raise adequate funds to provide agricultural support to the entire region. The FAO urgently requires an additional $163 million to scale up its life-saving agricultural support before it misses critical planting windows.
The Funding Gap and the Path Forward
The Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to face a prolonged famine spurred by armed conflict in the region. This famine would have grown to dire proportions with the capture of Goma by M23 if not for the FAO and WFP’s efforts to combat food insecurity in the region. These organizations are committed to a dual-approach solution to the food crisis that combines immediate food relief with longer-term support to agriculture and food security. However, their plans to provide the necessary assistance and stop the famine in the area have encountered an unfortunate $214 million funding shortfall. Reducing hunger in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will require donations and a continued commitment to both emergency relief and long-term recovery. With this, the international community can help turn today’s humanitarian crisis into lasting food security for tomorrow.
– Arda Aydogan
Photo: Flickr
3 Facts About the Response to HIV/AIDS in Brunei
Yet, new cases of infection have continued to emerge slowly. As of 2020, a total of 289 Bruneians and permanent residents had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in Brunei. Of that total number, 75% are still living with HIV.
Barriers: Stigma and Discrimination
Brunei continues to face stigma and discrimination, which creates barriers for vulnerable communities seeking opportunities and support. These challenges exist among youth with disabilities (YWDs), who often face difficulties entering the workforce due to prejudice and misconceptions about their abilities. These barriers can prevent YWDs from becoming financially independent and fully participating in society.
A similar pattern of exclusion affects people living with HIV/AIDS in Brunei. Discrimination and homophobia can discourage individuals from seeking HIV testing, treatment and support services. For example, under the Infectious Diseases Act, which Brunei introduced in 2003, people diagnosed with HIV face legal restrictions related to transmission and disclosure. HIV advocates argue that these policies may increase stigma and create fear, making individuals less likely to access health care.
Brunei’s HIV/AIDS Response: Access and Awareness
However, HIV/AIDS in Brunei is supported by the healthcare system and local community organizations that work to address barriers faced by vulnerable populations, including marginalized youth affected by social and economic challenges. These efforts focus on increasing awareness, encouraging HIV testing, reducing stigma, and improving access to healthcare. Here are three facts about Brunei’s response to HIV.
1. Access to HIV Testing
In 2020, Brunei expanded access to rapid HIV testing by offering free screenings at seven private clinics. The partnering clinics are: Ammaan Medical Clinic, C.Y. Lim Clinic, Dr. Prema Clinic, Riverview Medical Clinic, Vitaliv Health and Wellness Clinic, Wholistica Clinic, Wellness and Panaga Health Center.
The rapid HIV testing provides results within 15 to 20 minutes. Then, the early diagnosis allows people living with HIV to seek support services at an early stage. The initiative was developed in collaboration with the Brunei Darussalam AIDS Council, which highlighted the importance of creating safe, nonjudgmental spaces for testing while combining medical services with HIV education and awareness programs. In addition, the country conducts approximately 200,000 medical screenings each year, including HIV tests for pregnant women and foreign workers.
2. Self-Testing
The Ministry of Health has approved access to HIV self-test kits. Along with it, institutions like Panaga Health (PH) provide access to these self-test kits at their facility, so anyone and their partners can simply go over the counter at PH and purchase them. The self-test allows individuals to conduct an HIV test in the privacy of their homes, with the results available in about 20 minutes. Also, the self-test does not include needles or blood, only saliva.
PH is a healthcare facility that provides a range of medical services, including primary healthcare, dental care, emergency services and health protection programs. In 2022, PH expanded its services to a wider community; it only supported workers in the oil and gas industry. By increasing access to confidential testing, PH helps reduce fear of discrimination, reduce barriers to care and connect individuals with treatment when needed.
3. Youth Education
In addition to expanding access to testing and treatment, Brunei has also focused on HIV education among younger generations. The HIV Awareness Programme for Peers and Youths (H.A.P.P.Y), which is run by Brunei Darussalam AIDS Council (BDAIDS Council), is a youth-focused initiative that teaches students about HIV transmission, prevention and sexual health.
In 2026, the program reached around 70 students at Sultan Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien College, where participants learned about how HIV spreads, discussed common misconceptions and explored ways to make informed decisions about their health. In addition, the session emphasized the importance of setting healthy boundaries, understanding sexually transmitted infections and sharing accurate information with peers and families.
Through interactive activities and locally educational materials, H.A.P.P.Y aims to reduce misinformation and encourage young people to become advocates for HIV awareness in their communities.
Addressing HIV/AIDS Conclusion
HIV/AIDS in Brunei has remained relatively low due to the country’s effort in prevention, testing and treatment programs. Continued investment in inclusive health services and public awareness will be essential for Brunei to reach its goal of ending HIV/AIDS by 2030. Also, by addressing these barriers, Brunei’s HIV response helps prevent health challenges from creating further social and economic disadvantages for vulnerable communities.
– Daniela Escobar
Photo: Flickr
Updates on SDG 3 in Indonesia
These ambitions are closely connected to the fight against global poverty and have prompted many low and middle-income countries to take action. Among them, Indonesia stands out for its planning, financing and unique ability to overcome population challenges. These updates on SDG 3 in Indonesia demonstrate how the country is expanding equitable healthcare access.
Poverty in Indonesia
It’s important to first recognize the state of poverty in Indonesia. While significant growth over the past two decades has allowed the country to achieve middle-income status, 5.4% of citizens remain in extreme poverty. While this figure may not sound daunting on its own, it does when one recognizes that Indonesia is home to nearly 286 million people and that means that 5.4% equal more than 15 million Indonesians living in extreme poverty. This manifests into real-world effects, such as:
That last effect is particularly noteworthy. The intersection of extreme poverty and the world’s fourth-largest population has made expanding healthcare access in Indonesia an uphill battle.
Why Population Matters
How many people live in a country may determine how well the nation’s government is able to respond to the health needs of its citizens. For example, a large population introduces a daunting logistical strain in developing countries with fewer resources. Such nations often lack the infrastructure necessary to provide equitable access to healthcare for their entire population.
India is a key example of a large population impeding the health progress of a developing country. Despite attempts to improve health services, India continues to lack easily accessible healthcare and remains behind on SDG 3 initiatives. A major reason for these gaps is the nation’s status as the most populated country in the world, with more than 1.4 billion citizens.
While having a large population certainly makes it more difficult to improve healthcare access, it does not make it impossible. Indonesia’s recent successes show that the population problem can be overcome through global partnerships, government planning and strategic financing.
How Indonesia is Working Toward SDG 3
Since the Ministry of Health first launched the Health System Transformation Agenda (HSTA) in 2022, Indonesia has undergone sweeping health reforms. This has included efforts to enhance the resilience, workforce and technology of Indonesia’s healthcare system.
Specifically, Indonesia’s government has partnered with organizations like the World Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank to finance the HSTA’s goals. With these investments, Indonesia has managed to:
Through these initiatives, the government has vastly improved the state of public health in Indonesia. Prior to the HSTA, financial barriers prevented many citizens from seeking care, with catastrophic health expenditure rates as high as 4.5%. Now, these rates have dropped to 2%, and the national insurance plan covered more than 260 million people.
Vertical Hospitals
Aside from blanket reforms, Indonesia has also created specialized medical facilities to target specific problems that the HSTA seeks to address. These hubs are known as “vertical” hospitals, and have been strategically constructed across the country to address the needs of both urban and rural populations. Programs offered at these facilities are expansive, including cancer treatment, infectious diseases and even mental health.
In addition to immediate improvements in quality of life, making healthcare more accessible and effective has had a sizable impact on reducing poverty by:
Looking Ahead
While more work is necessary to improve healthcare access around the world, updates on SDG 3 in Indonesia show that significant progress is being made. By leveraging international investments towards better infrastructure, upgraded technology and national healthcare coverage, Indonesia has improved access to high-quality medicine and treatment.
As Indonesia continues to expand these initiatives, better health may enable citizens to save funds that would have previously gone towards expensive and ineffective healthcare. Improved wellbeing may also allow individuals to work more frequently, earn higher wages and improve their socioeconomic status.
– Brogan Jones
Photo: Unsplash