Since the mid-1990s national organisations of Children Born of War, in particular, in Europe, have been fundamental actors in the process of bringing the children born of war topic on the agenda. Being representative themselves of different generations of children born of war, they have shared their stories with researchers and the media, participated and supported research projects. They have used their knowledge, networks, and experiences to help thousands of CBOW find the truth about their biological origin, and therewith also often new family members Furthermore, they have used their voices and organisations to speak out to fight against discrimination and violations against the rights of CBOW in present days conflicts.
An example is the BOW i.n. which is short for “BORN OF WAR, international network”. This is a network of national associations of children born of war established in 2009. The CBOW Project is proud to have had the opportunity to work with the respective national organisations and with the umbrella association BOW i.n.
In the meantime, many of the national organisations are no longer active. The CBOW Project has promised to maintain the legacy of these pioneers in the CBOW field.
One of the active members of BOW i.n. was also the organisation “Krigsbarnforbundet Lebensborn”, an organisation for Norwegian CBOW which were registered under the Lebensbornprogram of the German occupying forces in Norway during World War II. The mobile game “My Child Lebensborn” which provided the seed funding for the CBOW Project foundation tells the story of these children and has been strongly supported by the members of the organisation in developing and testing the game. This was highlighted by the game developers at the BAFTA 2019 award ceremony when the game won the prize in the category “Best game beyond entertainment”.
For information on “My Child Lebensborn” see here