About Groundwork

The Bosnia operation you don’t need to build.

Groundwork runs in-country operations for European NGOs that need work handled in Bosnia without opening a permanent country office.

Execution is where programs go off plan.

A sound program can still lose months between approval and delivery. A supplier disappears with the deposit. A permit sits in the wrong office. A routine purchase arrives with a foreigner premium. An intermediary creates more work than they remove. Organizations with a country office have people who catch these problems early. Smaller NGOs face the same risks with less budget and less room for delay. Groundwork provides an in-country operations team they can hire as needed instead of building one.

What we take off your team’s desk.

We handle customs, procurement, permits, supplier checks, Bosnian-language contracts, and day-to-day contact with ministries and municipalities. Your team keeps ownership of the program. We run the work that requires local language, presence, and judgment. The useful knowledge is rarely written down: which supplier delivers, which office has authority, which delay is normal, and which intermediary is worth avoiding. That judgment is what clients are buying—not another assessment deck. The result is a program that can operate in Bosnia without your organization carrying the fixed cost of a permanent office here.

Who you work with

Haris Dizdarević

Founder, Groundwork

Groundwork is founder-led. I run every engagement myself: the scoping, the supplier visits, the ministry meetings, the weekly report. When a scope needs more hands—drivers, interpreters, customs agents, contractors—I bring in people I have already checked and worked with, for that scope only. You always know who is accountable, and it is one person. I have spent fifteen years working with programs in Bosnia and with German institutions, and I am based in Velika Kladuša, Una-Sana Canton. We can work in English, German, or Bosnian.

Start with the problem

Bring us the part that is stuck.

Tell us what needs to happen in Bosnia, what has already been tried, and what the delay is costing. We’ll tell you whether Groundwork should take it on and what a sensible first step looks like.

Discuss your program