For the past 25 years, CARE has been working side-by-side with communities across the region to help create lasting change. CARE began providing humanitarian assistance in the Balkans in 1993 during the violent disintegration of former Yugoslavia and a series of wars and conflicts that devastated people’s lives. During the post-war period, new states emerged that were in need of socio-economic transition. Despite some dynamic developments and progress in reducing poverty and inequalities, social divides, ethnic tensions and poor democratic institutions continued to weaken the region. Although geographically the Balkans are unquestionably a part of the European continent, prevailing social injustice, economic challenges and political divisions have prevented large parts of the region from joining the European Union. CARE works in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania.