Amplifying Voices of women affected by war-related sexualised and gender-based violence in the Western Balkans – For a culture of Recognition

The Amplifying Voices project aimed to foster and support a culture of recognition and reconciliation in the Western Balkans by integrating the perspectives and needs of women affected by war-related sexualised and gender-based violence (SGBV) into national and regional “Dealing with the Past”1 initiatives.

Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development, Amplifying Voices was im-plemented over a three-and-a-half-year period in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia by seven partner or-ganisations: Vive Žene and Medica Zenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Medica Gjakova and Kosovo Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims (KRCT) in Kosovo, Youth Ini-tiative for Human Rights (YIHR), Women in Black (WiB) and the Autonomous Women’s Centre (AWC) in Serbia.

A final evaluation found that the project was relevant and impactful, especially at the individual and institution-al levels and particularly in Kosovo and Bosnia and Her-zegovina, due to the organisation’s focus in those two countries on dealing with the past and their governmen-tal support. Despite of notable progress in Serbia, chal-lenges remain, including the difficulty of institutional exchange regarding the culture of remembrance and rep-arations for sexualised violence. This could be explained by the different roles of involvement during conflict.