The Middle East, Balkans, Caucasus and Central Asia (MEER) is a region of extremes. Countries of outstanding natural beauty, ancient traditions and customs; it's people have also suffered some of the darkest moments of human history. Brutal armed conflict, devastating natural disaster, and economic and social upheaval have characterised the region leaving economic deprivation and deeply entrenched divisions between communities, carved out along religious or ethnic lines, endured by populations for decades, or even centuries. Millions of children in the region have experienced war, while others live with the legacy it's crippling legacy. For many, the threat of further violence is never too far away. For others, violence and conflict the only way of life they have ever known. From the divided youth in Kosovo, to Iraqi refugee children in Jordan, World Vision is working to build a brighter future for these children through advocacy and peacebuilding initiatives across the region.

Jerusalem, Westbank, Gaza Iraq Lebanon Afghanistan Bosnia and Herzegovina Kosovo Serbia Montenegro Georgia Armenia Azerbaijan Chechnya

In the midst of this dynamic and tense region, World Vision provides:

• Relief assistance
  
• Assistance to children in crisis
  
• Reconstruction
  
• Economic recovery
  
• Community development
  

World Vision responds to current and past conflict situations through:

• Peace building and reconciliation
  
• Trauma recovery
  

World Vision Kosovo and KosInvest has begun a "Peace through Loans" project, to create intentional opportunities for holistic economic and social development between the different communities.

KosInvest, World Vision’s microfinance institution in Kosovo, already recruits a multi-ethnic team of loans officers to work among the divided ethnic populations and slowly, market relationships have begun between the majority Albanian and minority Serb population. Usually, contact between these two groups is non-existent and there is still deep mistrust between them.

One example is a Serb client who established a fast food business through a KosInvest loan, who is now buying her bread and traditional cheese rolls from an Albanian supplier, explaining that it makes good business sense. Moreover, more than 50 clients now have a guarantor of a different ethnicity.

The project is based in Rahovec / Orahovac where World Vision has worked hard in the post war years to build strong relationships on the ground with the local and international community, and religious leaders. The first post war multi-ethnic school was built by World Vision there and the Kids for Peace Project (KFP) is coordinated in the same town. Five years, 14 peace clubs and more than 350 children from different communities later, children’s lives have been impacted in a way no other opportunity has allowed.


With over 50 percent of the population under 25 years of age, World Vision Kosovo is now urgently proposing to further the work of KFP work with a "Youth for Peace" initiative. Thus far, these young people have been left on the fringes of their fragile society, which is currently awaiting the outcome of a UN report on the final status of the troubled province. Through "Peace through Loans", and KFP, World Vision and KosInvest are investing in a sustainable peace the way experience has shown them can work in the right conditions - by investing in people, their lives and their futures.

Conflict poses one of the greatest threats to development; destroying lives and undermining efforts to eradicate poverty. At the same time, poverty and injustice can increase the risk of war and armed conflict, with wars more likely to be fought in countries that are poor and lack effective political and legal institutions.

World Vision has witnessed the devastating effects of conflict across this region and is committed to helping those affected. As well as providing humanitarian relief, we run specialised programs to help the victims of war, such as child soldiers, and encourage initiatives that promote peace. To ensure that our work is effective, we:

• Build an environment for emergence of peace through meeting immediate needs
• Encourage maximum participation from the people we assist
• Operate with sensitivity to the local culture and relationship dynamics
• Work through national partners whenever possible
• Give immediate attention to economic recovery
• Build an environment for emergence of peace through meeting immediate needs
• Utilize the Local Capacity for Peace and Do No Harm tool to strengthen connectors between communities
• Encourage peace building through reconciliation and enhancement of civil society
• Provide local preparedness training in disaster-prone areas

An important aspect of World Vision's peace building work is lobbying governments and international decision makers to secure peaceful resolutions to conflicts, or to take steps to prevent conflict and violence.