Main challenges to social inclusion

According to the Social Inclusion Report for 2025, high youth unemployment is one of the central challenges, significantly affecting the quality of life, social inclusion, and societal participation of young people. Migration and brain drain are ongoing issues, as young people, discouraged by limited opportunities and a lack of systemic support, continue to leave the country. This trend poses a long-term threat to the economic and social development of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Low birth rate and high mortality rates are worsening the demographic outlook. Legal frameworks on youth exist but lack consistent implementation across the country, weakening youth inclusion. Education is not inclusive, and the educational system lacks alignment with the labor market and does not sufficiently support marginalized youth, including Roma, returnee children, and youth with disabilities.

According to the Report, the employment rate for Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2023 was 41.5%, showing a slight increase compared to the previous year, when it stood at 40.2%. According to data from the Labor Force Survey for 2022, the activity rate was 47.6%, representing a slight decline compared to the previous year, when the rate was 48.2%. A gender gap is evident in the activity rate, as 59.6% of working-age men were active, compared to only 36.1% of women. In 2023, the unemployment rate was 13.2%, marking a decrease of 2.2 percentage points compared to the previous year. At the same time, registered unemployment also recorded a decline. On average, in 2023, 348,918 individuals were registered as unemployed, which is 15,000 fewer than the previous year.

A pronounced gender gap exacerbates these challenges. Women's labor force activity rate is significantly lower than men's (e.g., overall figures show around 36% for women compared to 60% for men in recent data), and this disparity is even more evident among youth.

Young women experience higher unemployment rates and lower employment probabilities, partly due to traditional gender roles, limited childcare support, and discrimination in hiring. These factors push many young women into inactivity or precarious work, widening the gender gap in economic participation and reinforcing cycles of poverty and exclusion.

Migration and brain drain continue as ongoing issues, with young people—discouraged by limited opportunities, high (un)employment barriers, and lack of systemic support, leaving the country in search of better prospects abroad. This trend poses a long-term threat to Bosnia and Herzegovina's economic and social development.

Low birth rates and high mortality rates further worsen the demographic outlook. Legal youth frameworks exist, but suffer from inconsistent implementation across entities, weakening overall youth inclusion. The education system lacks inclusivity, shows poor alignment with labor market demands, and insufficiently supports marginalized youth, including Roma, returnee children, and youth with disabilities.

According to the Labor Force Survey Report, the overall employment rate in Bosnia and Herzegovina reached 42.9% in 2024, up from 41.5% in 2023. The activity rate stood at around 47-48%, with a persistent gender gap: approximately 61% of working-age men were active compared to only 36% of women. According to the Social Exclusion Index, 49.4% of the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina experiences social exclusion on some grounds, ranking Bosnia and Herzegovina third among assessed neighboring countries.

Bosnia and Herzegovina does not use the EU SILC (Survey on Income and Living Conditions) but relies on the Household Budget Survey for tracking social exclusion.

The Labor Force Survey conducted by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Agency for Statistics in 2023indicated that the unemployment rate for youth aged 15–24 stood at 30.1%, highlighting their disadvantaged position in the labor market.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the shift to e-learning in Bosnia and Herzegovina highlighted and exacerbated existing inequalities in access to education, particularly for vulnerable groups. While the 2020 UNDP report noted that 99% of enrolled students had access to e-learning platforms, children outside the formal education system, often from marginalized communities, were largely excluded due to lack of devices, reliable internet, or digital literacy.

Post-pandemic developments indicate persistent and, in some cases, deepened challenges for social exclusion, especially among Roma children:

• The digital divide during school closures disproportionately affected Roma families. Many lacked the necessary technology, leading to significant learning losses that have proven difficult to recover. UNICEF and partner assessments (2021–2023) emphasized the need for resilient education systems, including blended learning models, but implementation has been uneven.
• A 2022 survey by the Romani Early Years Network (REYN) found that 42% of Romani families reported their children lacking access to quality services, including early childhood education (66% limited access) and broader public services. Discrimination in education and healthcare access remains a barrier.
• Recent reports (Human Rights Watch 2023–2025; UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2024) highlight ongoing persistent discrimination against Roma in education, employment, and public services. Roma children continue to face obstacles, with low enrollment and completion rates in primary and secondary education.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted an Action Plan for Social Inclusion of Roma (2021–2025), aligning with EU frameworks, focusing on improving education completion rates, housing, and health. However, implementation has been limited due to insufficient funding (e.g., only 1.3 million BAM budgeted in 2023 for Roma-related initiatives) and coordination challenges across entities.
• Broader social impacts from the pandemic, compounded by inflation and the Ukraine crisis (UNDP/UNICEF surveys 2022), increased poverty and food deprivation, further widening inequalities. Vulnerable groups, including Roma, single parents, and children, were hardest hit, with weak social protection systems failing to provide adequate support.

Overall, while economic recovery saw GDP growth rebound (e.g., 7.1% in 2021 per World Bank), structural vulnerabilities persist. Poverty rates remain high (around 18–20% absolute poverty in recent estimates), and Roma continue to be the most affected by social exclusion in education and digital access, with limited progress in closing these gaps as of 2025.

According to the UNDP Report (2020), persons with disabilities are the most vulnerable, excluded and marginalized group in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The difficulties and obstacles that this population faces daily vary from the realization of basic living needs to the right to movement, education and work. This is the population that has had the hardest time withstanding the consequences of the pandemic in terms of access to the education system.

Social inclusion of children from vulnerable categories in secondary education remains a significant challenge in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina). While overall gross secondary school enrollment stood at 84.29% in 2023 (a slight decline from 85.29% in 2022, per UNESCO Institute for Statistics data via World Bank), disparities persist, particularly for marginalized groups such as Roma children, those from rural or low-income families, children with disabilities, and returnees.

More recent assessments highlight ongoing barriers:

• For Roma children, secondary education attendance rates remain low. Data referenced in UNICEF's 2020 Situation Analysis of Children (drawing on earlier MICS) indicated around 23% attendance in secondary school, with gaps wider for girls (around 18%). UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reviews in 2024 noted that enrollment and attendance in pre-school, primary, and secondary education for Roma children continue to be very low, with persistent high dropout rates due to discrimination, poverty, and lack of support.

• Transition from primary to secondary school is generally high overall (progression rates around 98% in late 2010s data), but vulnerable children face interruptions. Reasons for non-enrollment or dropout include economic pressures (need to work), lack of motivation or parental support, transportation issues, migration, and discrimination—factors echoed in post-pandemic assessments and aligned with earlier UNDP findings.

• The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these issues, widening learning gaps and increasing dropout risks for marginalized students, as highlighted in joint UN projects (e.g., "Reimagining Education" 2020–2022) focused on preventing dropouts among vulnerable girls and boys.

• Efforts to address inclusion include entity-level strategies (e.g., Social Inclusion Strategies 2021–2027 in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, and Brčko District Bosnia and Herzegovina, supported by UNICEF and EU), action plans for Roma education, and initiatives for inclusive practices, though implementation remains uneven due to fragmented governance and limited resources.

Progress has been limited since the early 2010s MICS data, with structural vulnerabilities continuing to hinder equitable access to secondary education for the most excluded children as of 2025.

According to the Social Exclusion Index (Social Inclusion in Bosnia and Herzegovina - NHDR 2007), 49.4% of the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina are socially excluded on some grounds, which means that Bosnia and Herzegovina ranks third of the neighboring countries for which an assessment has been conducted.

Young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina face particularly acute challenges related to social exclusion, driven primarily by labor market barriers, educational transitions, and broader socioeconomic inequalities.

Key indicators as of 2024–2025 include:

• Youth unemployment (ages 15–24) stands at approximately 27–31% (ILO-modeled estimates around 27.3% in 2024; national data reporting ~30–31% in recent quarters), significantly higher than the overall unemployment rate of ~13%.

• The NEET rate (young people aged 15–29 not in employment, education, or training) is 22.2% (with a marked gender gap: 18.8% for males, 25.9% for females), placing Bosnia and Herzegovina among the higher rates in Europe.

• These figures contribute to high emigration intentions among youth, low trust in institutions, and persistent risks of poverty and marginalization, as highlighted in recent meta-analyses of youth studies (2021–2024) and EU reports.

Post-pandemic recovery has been uneven, with structural issues like skills mismatches, informal employment, and fragmented governance continuing to hinder inclusion. Initiatives such as entity-level Youth Guarantee plans and EU-supported employment programs aim to address these, but implementation gaps remain.

Definitions and concepts

There is no harmonized definition of social inclusion at the state level in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is a consequence of the country's complex constitutional structure, where competencies in the areas of social policy, education, employment and health lie mainly with the entities (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska) and the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Social inclusion is closely linked to access to education, employment, health care and social protection. The chain of inclusion begins with access to education, which is considered the foundation for integration into the labor market and independent living.

The concept of social inclusion in Bosnia and Herzegovina is understood in accordance with the definitions of the European Union and the Council of Europe: enabling persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion to participate fully in social, economic and cultural life, while enjoying an acceptable standard of living in the society in which they live. Existing legislation covering the field of social inclusion essentially starts from the definition of the Council of Europe, which covers three key terms:

According to the Council of Europe, Social exclusion is a ‘process whereby certain individuals are pushed to the edge of society and prevented from participating in social relations and developments to the full extent of their capacity, by virtue of their poverty, or lack of basic competencies and lifelong learning opportunities, or as a result of discrimination. Individuals and/or population groups are thus distanced from job, income and education and training opportunities and hindered from joining and participating in social and community networks and activities. Individuals and/or groups excluded have little and inadequate access to institutions, authorities and decision-making processes’ (Council of Europe 2004: 8).

“Social inclusion is a process which ensures that those at risk of poverty and social exclusion gain the opportunities and resources necessary to participate fully in economic, social and cultural life and to enjoy a standard of living and well-being that is considered normal in the society in which they live. Social inclusion ensures greater citizen participation in decision-making which affects their lives and access to their fundamental rights” (Council of Europe, 2004: 8).

Poverty is the third key term in the context of social inclusion according to the definitions of the Council of Europe and the European Union used in Bosnia and Herzegovina (along with social exclusion and social inclusion). These three terms form the basis for understanding and measuring social inclusion in the European framework, and in documents relevant to Bosnia and Herzegovina (e.g. the entity Social Inclusion Strategies 2021–2027 and UNDP reports) they are explicitly stated as interrelated.

The definition of poverty has remained essentially unchanged since 1975 and is still widely used in European institutions:

Poverty is defined as those whose resources (material, cultural and social) are so limited as to exclude them from a minimum acceptable way of life in the Member State in which they live (Council Decision 75/458/EEC, 22 July 1975).