Run your Bosnia program without building a country office.

Where plans go off track

The strategy is rarely the problem. Execution is.

Budgets and timelines slip between approval and delivery: a shipment stalls at customs, a permit lands in the wrong office, or a supplier quote carries a foreigner premium. Organisations with a country office absorb that work. Groundwork gives smaller European NGOs an in-country operations team without the fixed cost of building one.

What we handle

Work you can take off your team’s desk.

Use one workstream or combine several into a single in-country scope.

• Operations and logistics

  Move people and goods.

  • Clear shipments through customs and manage the paperwork
  • Arrange warehousing, local transport, and last-mile delivery
  • Set up short-term local hires, drivers, and interpreters

• Procurement and supply chain

  Buy locally, with checks in place.

  • Source comparable quotes and negotiate local-market prices
  • Check suppliers and contractors before funds are committed
  • Run major purchases of equipment, vehicles, and materials
  • Negotiate and execute contracts in Bosnian

• Authorities and access

  Get the right office involved.

  • Identify and approach the responsible people in ministries and municipalities
  • Maintain the working relationships a program depends on
  • Navigate responsibilities across FBiH, Republika Srpska, the Brčko District, cantons, and municipalities
  • Identify and vet implementing organisations and contractors

• Language and documentation

  Make the paperwork work locally.

  • Translate and interpret between Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian and English
  • Draft and review contracts in Bosnian
  • Prepare official submissions and correspondence
  • Represent your team in meetings it cannot attend in person

• Permits and compliance

  Secure approvals without losing the thread.

  • Prepare permits, registrations, and official approvals
  • Align local-law requirements with donor rules
  • Work through tax and legal-entity questions during program setup
  • Coordinate with regulators and inspectors

• Risk and due diligence

  Check before you commit.

  • Run background checks on prospective suppliers and implementing organisations
  • Identify unreliable or fraudulent intermediaries before funds move
  • Monitor relationships that are critical to delivery
  • Respond when a supplier, shipment, or approval goes wrong

What working together looks like

Clear ownership before work begins.

• One accountable lead

  One person owns the work, sends a written update every week, and stays with the agreed scope.

• Costs before commitment

  You see the likely supplier prices, intermediary fees, customs delays, and our own fee before the main work starts.

• Bosnia work, done in Bosnia

  We work in Bosnian and in person with suppliers, ministries, and municipalities. Your team gets the reporting and documentation its funders expect. Our registration status is stated in full on the imprint.

How we begin

From a live problem to a workable scope.

1. 01

   Fit check

   Bring a live program, an early plan, or a problem already costing time. We identify what needs a presence in Bosnia and tell you plainly whether we should take it on.

2. 02

   Written scope

   If the fit is right, we prepare a short scope with named outputs, timing, responsibilities, and a fixed fee or day-rate range. Defining that scope is a small, separately priced piece of work.

3. 03

   Delivery

   Once approved, one operations lead runs the work and reports weekly against the agreed timeline, budget, and decisions.