Strong Families is a program designed to empower parents/guardians to better cope with the challenges of raising school-aged children, with the goal of improving relationships among all family members.

Since 2020, the Association for Addiction Prevention NARKO-NE has been implementing this program in Sarajevo Canton in cooperation with other partner institutions and organizations. At the same time, the Association has been training professionals from other communities and cities who work with children and families, in order to reach as many families as possible across Bosnia and Herzegovina. The program is also being implemented in Breza, Kakanj, Zenica, Maglaj, Tuzla, Kalesija, and Livno.

Training for new program facilitators was held in Sarajevo on May 6 and 7, 2025. A total of 19 participants took part, increasing our network to one hundred trained facilitators. They will continue implementing the program in their communities, empowering families to better cope with both family-related and everyday challenges and life difficulties.

The training was led by Alma Hadžiskakić, Program Associate for Family Prevention at NARKO-NE, and Andrea Mijatović, Deputy Executive Director of NARKO-NE. They shared their knowledge and introduced participants to the program and its implementation through various interactive methods.

Mia Komšić, a participant from the Kiseljak Social Welfare Service, emphasized how important continuous education in the field of family work is for her and her team:

I work with families to address violence, but that actually includes a lot. When we say violence, that includes juvenile delinquency and many other difficulties, so we work with families and individual family members. When we saw the promotional materials about the program and the training, we signed up right away because it’s very useful, interesting, and practical – everything we learn here can be applied in preventive practice.

The program is implemented according to clear standards and a manual developed by a UN agency (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), which all facilitators receive as a guide for working with families. The program is scientifically proven to be effective in working with families, increasing the capacity of both parents/guardians and children to cope with stress, and contributing to the improvement of the mental health of all family members.

The NARKO-NE Association implements the Strong Families program with financial support from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.

Azra Halilović