Who We Are

The Children of War Rescue Project (CWRP) was begun in 1992 as a project of Veterans For Peace, a United Nations Non-Governmental Organization (UN-NGO). At that time a war was raging in the Yugoslavian republic of Bosnia (officially Bosnia & Herzegovina), which is populated predominantly by Serbs and Croats who converted to the Islamic religion during its period of domination by the Ottoman Empire (1463-1878). In December of 1991, Bosnia declared itself a nation-state independent of Yugoslavia and was being attacked by Croatia and Serbia, which were both also at war with each other and were both accused of pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing in an attempt to rid the region of all Islamic influence.

Many Bosnian cities were surrounded by Serbs, Croats, or both. Within these enclaves, which were being pummeled daily by enemy artillery fire, the entire infrastructure, including the transportation system, generation of electrical power, and delivery of potable water had completely broken down. Supplies were not getting through, people were starving, and hospitals were unable to function.

In an effort to save the lives and limbs of hundreds of children who had been wounded by artillery shell fragments and sniper fire, CWRP entered into an informal partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), also a UN-NGO. IOM was then engaged in managing the huge refugee crisis resulting from the war, and was evacuating the wounded to medical facilities throughout western Europe and the United States. Due to the special nature of pediatric trauma care, CWRP accepted responsibility for soliciting, from medical centers in the United States, offers of pro bono medical, surgical and rehabilitative care for pediatric patients. CWRP also organized local support networks in each of the cities where evacuated children were to be treated. These networks consisted of housing for each child's mother or other adult guardian (where the patient could also reside between periods of hospitalization), local transportation, and interpreters.

In December of 1993, CWRP personnel also participated in organizing and executing a major evacuation from the Bosnian city of East Mostar, which was then surrounded and under siege by Serb and Croat artillery and sniper fire. The evacuation, code named Operation Angel, was organized in England and consisted of 220 volunteer medical and emergency response personnel, and 63 donated vehicles, including 50 ambulances. The convoy traveled from Brighton, England, to Makarska, Croatia, where a command post was established. The U.N. Professional Military Forces (UNPROFOR) provided 21 armored vehicles so CWRP, IOM and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) medical personnel and other volunteers could evacuate 56 wounded, each accompanied by at least one family member, from East Mostar, Bosnia, to a medical staging area in Metkovic, Croatia. The wounded were then transferred to ambulances, taken to waiting transport planes in Split, Croatia, and flown to an Italian Red Cross field hospital established at the airport in Ancona, Italy. There the wounded were stabilized and prepared for further transport to waiting hospitals in Europe and the United States.

During 1993 and 1994, CWRP arranged for life- and limb-saving medical care for 26 wounded children provided by medical centers in Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Pennsylvania.

Today, CWRP is an independent organization working to provide care for war-wounded children regardless of race, color, creed, or national origin. With assistance from sponsoring groups, such as civic, fraternal, military veteran, and religious organizations, CWRP is helping to provide medical care for children victimized by war. These children would otherwise be left to die or, if fortunate enough to survive, would be likely to endure lives that would fall far short of their potential.