The perception of poverty, as presented by the CNN aired articles about the famine in Ethiopia and the other victims of the post-colonial world order, long prevailed as the sole picture that the people in these parts had about this social phenomenon. Humanitarian workers, sacks of flour, rise and wheats, the hungry eyes of the African children and thosands of hands that fight for a peace of bread distributed from a truck were pictures far removed from the Balkans.

That perception of poverty, however, has radically changed over the past 15 years or so. The break-up of Yugoslavia, wars, refugees, destruction of economic resources and the overall drop in the standards of living introduced poverty to our homes. The wars in Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, the bombng of FRY, greatly contributed to the fact that the citizens of the Balkans could face the poverty in its ugliest form. The middle class, which is the backbone of every economy in the world and has the greatests consumer potential, dissappeared overnight, leaving in its place the two extremes: the extremely poor and the filthy rich.

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16.10.2008 UNDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina fights to eradicate poverty, but also promotes inclusion of the weak and marginalized into agendas for development, says the organization on the eve of October 17, the International Day for Eradication of Poverty.

12.06.2008 The DOBRO (GOOD) altruist asociation organized, on June 6-7, 2008, a humanitarian action One GOOD, Hundreds of Hands, Thousands Fed!, aimed to collect food and hygiene products for the needy citizens of the Canton of Sarajevo.

30.05.2005 A survey, conducted by UK Department of International Development DFID for the needs of the B&H Council of Ministers, shows that the level of poverty in Bosnia and Herzegovina is falling down, but nonetheless, 17.8 percent of the population still lives in poverty.

17.12.2004 PowerPoint presentation “Poverty and Social Transfers in Croatia, 2000-2004, was prepared by the Study Centre for Social Work at the Zagreb University Law Faculty.