Suicide Hotlines and Crisis Lines in Bosnia and Herzegovina

A helpline is a place to talk to someone when you are struggling, before or instead of a crisis. The lines on this page are answered by trained counsellors or operators, depending on the service. If you are not in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the worldwide list is organised by country.

What you share is kept private in almost all cases; if a counsellor believes a life is in immediate danger, they may arrange urgent help. What each service costs is set out beside it below, because some of these numbers are free and one is an ordinary geographic number whose cost is not published.

TherapyRoute is a directory. We do not answer calls or messages ourselves, so please use the numbers below rather than contacting us if you need someone now.

CRISIS LINES, SUICIDE HOTLINES, AND HELPLINES IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Each number below was checked in August 2026 at the operating organisation's own website, or at a state or city government page that publishes the service.

Notice an error or a missing service? Please tell us so we can correct it.

Emergency numbers, and what each one is for

Plavi telefon, the counselling line for children and young people

SOS telefon 1265, for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

SOS telefon 1264, for Republika Srpska

SOS crvena linija, for Sarajevo Canton and surrounds

While you are waiting to be answered

If you are worried about someone else

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Emergency numbers, and what each one is for

Bosnia and Herzegovina has no single number that covers every emergency. Separate short codes cover the common cases, and they work the same way across the whole country.

Police: 122

Fire service: 123

Emergency medical assistance: 124

These three codes are published by the City of Sarajevo on its official emergency services page, and they are confirmed independently in the national numbering plan of the Communications Regulatory Agency. Because they are set at state level, they apply in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Republika Srpska, and in Brcko District alike.

Civil Protection operations centres: 121

The City of Sarajevo publishes 121 alongside the three codes above.

There is no national three-digit mental health number in Bosnia and Herzegovina. If your emergency is emotional rather than medical, 124 and a hospital emergency department are still the right route out of hours.

Plavi telefon, the counselling line for children and young people

Plavi telefon is run by the association Nova generacija in Banja Luka and has operated since 2013. Calls are answered by trained counsellors. It is the only line on this page that covers the whole country.

In the organisation's own words, translated from its site, Plavi telefon is "a counselling line concerned with providing psychological help and support to children and young people". Its terms of use add that the service is available to all children and young people, and to adults who want to talk about children.

So this is a children's and young people's line. An adult can call about a child, but it is not a general adult crisis line.

On cost, the organisation states, in translation: "Calls to Plavi telefon are free, regardless of which network in Bosnia and Herzegovina one calls from, fixed or mobile."

On privacy, it publishes its own limits, in translation: phone conversations "are not recorded, while chat correspondence is kept", and if you share information that your life is in danger, it is "obliged to pass all information to the competent institutions".

Tel: 080 05 03 05

Chat: plavitelefon.ba, through the chat window on the site.

Web form: poruka za web savjetovanje

Email: plavi.telefon@novageneracija.org

Hours: weekdays, 09:00 to 17:00, by phone or chat. Email can be sent at any time, and the organisation says a reply comes within 24 hours.

Cost: free, in the organisation's own words, from any fixed or mobile network in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Languages: the site is published in Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian, in both Latin and Cyrillic script.

SOS telefon 1265, for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

1265 is the SOS line for victims of domestic violence and violence against women across the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has run since 2008 under an agreement between the Gender Centre of the Federation government and six organisations, which answer calls by region.

One of those operators, Vive Žene in Tuzla, describes it in translation: "The free SOS line for victims of domestic violence is available on 1265. The line covers the territory of the Federation of BiH and is intended for all people suffering any form of violence: physical, psychological, sexual, economic, and similar." Callers may remain anonymous.

The scope matters. The state Agency for Gender Equality confirms the line serves the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. If you are in Republika Srpska, the equivalent line is 1264 below.

Tel: 1265

Hours: 24 hours. In the operator's translated words, the number is "available to everyone 24 hours".

Cost: free, in the operator's own description. The state Agency for Gender Equality corroborates, in translation, that calls to the SOS telephone lines are free.

SOS telefon 1264, for Republika Srpska

1264 is the SOS line for women and children who are victims of domestic or other gender-based violence in Republika Srpska. It is answered by the foundation Udružene žene in Banja Luka with partner organisations, and the foundation has run an SOS telephone since 1997. The state Agency for Gender Equality records that the line was established in 2005 by four non-governmental organisations and the Gender Centre of Republika Srpska.

In the operator's own words: "With a call to SOS telephone 1264, which is active 24 hours, victims of domestic violence or other forms of gender based violence can receive psychological support, information on protection of their rights and procedures of protection of their rights in front of the institutions."

The operator also states: "SOS call is free of charge and anonymous, if a person that seeks assistance wants to remain anonymous."

Tel: 1264

Hours: 24 hours, in the operator's own words.

Cost: free of charge, in the operator's own words.

SOS crvena linija, for Sarajevo Canton and surrounds

The Foundation for Local Democracy in Sarajevo runs a 24-hour line for reporting any form of domestic violence: physical, psychological, sexual or economic. In the organisation's translated description, the number allows "the citizens of Sarajevo Canton, and wider" to report violence at any hour, so treat it as a regional line rather than a national one.

Reports may be anonymous. The foundation states the line can coordinate a police and social services response and, where needed, placement in a safe house, under a protocol with the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Interior and the Cantonal Centre for Social Work. Calls are answered by operators trained in work with victims of domestic violence.

Tel: 033 222 000

Hours: 24 hours, in the organisation's own words.

Cost: not published. This is an ordinary geographic number rather than a short code, so a call may be charged.

While you are waiting to be answered

Some of these lines keep office hours, and a line that is open can still be busy. If you are waiting, try to stay with someone you trust, or ask someone to sit with you until the call connects.

If you have anything near you that you could use to harm yourself, put it somewhere harder to reach, or ask someone else to hold it for you. Distance and time both help.

If waiting is not possible, dial 124 or 122, or go to a hospital emergency department. You do not need an appointment and you do not need to explain yourself well.

If you are worried about someone else

Ask them directly. Asking someone whether they are thinking of suicide does not put the idea there, and it often comes as a relief to be asked plainly.

Listen more than you advise. You do not need the right words, and you are not expected to fix anything.

If they are willing, offer to sit with them while they call one of the numbers above, or to make the call together. If they are in immediate danger, treat it as you would any medical emergency.

Supporting someone through this is heavy, and it is reasonable to want support of your own. If what is happening at home involves violence, the 24-hour lines above are open to you too.

For services in other countries, see the list of helplines and suicide hotlines worldwide.

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