IOM together with the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Ministry of
Defence (MoD), will undertake the social and economic reintegration
of more than 3,000 soldiers whose contracts run out over the next
two years, with funding from the NATO Trust Fund.

The Fund, which was established in 2006, seeks to mitigate the
socio-economic consequences of continuing defence reform in BiH,
while also strengthening domestic capacity to meet similar
challenges in the future, if and when the need arises.

Under the programme, IOM will provide assistance to former
soldiers to support the transition into civilian life and the
workforce through employment counseling and job placement,
education/job training/re-training, and support for small business
start-up/expansion. IOM will also provide technical assistance to
the MoD to strengthen capacity to implement social and economic
reintegration services.

Individuals wishing to enter the programme will be registered by
IOM in a centralized MoD database which will be used to produce
socio-economic and demographic profiles to match the needs of the
individuals with training and employment services.

In collaboration with the BiH MoD, the Trust Fund programme will
seek the involvement and commitment of other government ministries,
including the Ministries of Finance, Labour, Education, Health and
Agriculture, as well as relevant private and public
institutions.

IOM implemented a similar programme from 2006-2009 in which more
than 2,800 former military personnel were assisted with social and
economic reintegration.

For more information, contact:

Edita Selimbegovic

Tel: +387 33 567 219

E-mail: "mailto:eselimbegovic@iom.int">eselimbegovic@iom.int