Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Vera Kelava1 The contribution of the Youth Communicative Center (YCC) to the process of peace building on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the region Since its foundation in 1997 YCC has been working intensively on the process of reconciliation and peace building. Over the last years we have completed programs and activities aimed at different population categories (refugees and displaced persons, minorities, those returning to deserted homeland, demobilized soldiers, political party representatives, and local NGO representatives) in over 40 municipalities on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and broader. The focus of our work has always been building and maintaining peace, culture of dialogue and reconciliation. Although there is a program division within YCC, every filed of work (program) in its own, specific way, contributes to the realization of this broader goal. The program of peace building and the development of democracy is devoted entirely to the reconciliation and the process of building democratic patterns on personal, group and social level. In our work, we use different methods; however, the focus is on education. During the work, we have developed a methodology of education on reconciliation and peace building, adjusting the experience of good practice from foreign countries to the needs of our surroundings we act. Having in mind that peace is a state of mind of an individual and of a community; we try to achieve progress in this field with our selfsustaining programs. The years of experience have taught us that self-sustainability is imperative and it demands a long-term continuous work. Having in mind the capacity of our organization and the inability to organize programs continuously in different communities through our programs, we make a selection and educate representatives of different population groups in the process of peace building. After the education, we provide support for these groups and the supervision in their further work thus providing continuity. Besides the educational activities we organize programs with the aim of connecting young people in the region, conducting actions and campaigns of public advocacy with the aim of creating of democratic changes on the local and state level; we also organize counseling and psychotherapy with the endangered categories of population; we have a continuous media promotion of reconciliation through radio programs on our own and other radio and TV stations; organize education for professionals from the community who deal with reconciliation; provide support for the development of other local NGOs on the territory of BiH; participate as the full-fledged partners in activities of global and regional peace networks etc. 1 YKC, Banjaluka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, E mail: [email protected] Reviewing the work of our NGO and other local and international initiatives, we can conclude that despite enormous amounts of investments in the projects of reconciliation, the results obtained are still not satisfactory. During the academic year 2002/2003, we conducted research among the high school population in Republika Srpska, which encompassed 32 towns. The results of this research showed that only 11% of young people feel connected to the country they live in; 24% of young people would marry a person from other nationality or religion, 30% of young people think that Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats should live together and 63% thinks that Republika Srpska should be a independent country, only 8% think that the international community is doing the things the right way etc. Considering the results of this research, and having in mind the so far made efforts in creating the reconciliation, we come up against many questions: What kind of results do we expect? Do programs and projects that are conducted really bring long term results? To what extent can these programs really affect the attitudes of individuals or do they just compete with traumas from the war and the war stories still untold and histories, in the race where the programs cannot possibly win? It should be mentioned that those who participated in this research were aged 5-10 at the time of beginning of the conflict in Bosnia. This very important piece of information says that it is precisely the attitudes of this population that can be considered valid when assessing the influence of these programs. The influence of the programs on the older population is probably greater since the programs can bring back to memory many positive experiences from the common past, and these memories of living together with other nationalities often help in achieving better results. The former experiences of young people encompassed in this research are negligible. Many dilemmas are in front of the individuals and organizations that deal with reconciliation in any way. Do individual unsynchronized programs of reconciliation, numerous in BIH, affect the problem of peace building, or they barely maintain the state of peace? Are the “experiences of good practice – intelligent solutions” offered from “abroad” really effective or we need to create our own solutions? If we need ours the question is whose solutions are in fact “ours”? There are many “key”, “extremely important” or “unique” factors, truths and facts in the process of reconciliation. We have our own. Power- manipulation For many years power was only a one-direction process on this territory. In the creation of a two-track process one should go step by step ever since childhood. We try to do that through the educational system, we try to teach young people how to think and use their capacities in the best possible way, a way only they can choose. Unfortunately politics and media are taking us back at the beginning on a daily basis; however starting from the premise that an active individual is created, not born, we do not give up. History-truth The question of the existence of one or several historical truths could be elaborated on for days. Working with young people we have noticed that every discussion among young people of different ethnic groups reveals a great amount of emotional tension. By supporting and maintaining an open dialogue in dealing with, sometimes, hard and unsolvable questions (e.g. who was the first to arrive at this territory: amebas or some ethnic groups) we offer an opportunity for them to express their emotionally colored attitudes in a new, different, and more acceptable manner. A great cohesion among groups can be noticed after this type of process. Communication Omnipresent and low quality. Impersonal. Created in families with their past linked to the war, encumbered by the fear for survival, and helplessness. Very resistant when it comes to changing style. However, the continuous presence of the educational program about the effective ways of communication will probably create new patterns of family behavior which will be applied by today’s youth in relations with their children. Aggressiveness It’s hard not to notice how the parents today, probably incapable of offering their children any better, bequeath hatred, rage and helplessness to their children. These emotions were carried through generations in family traumas and (un) told stories. Often, young people express their aggressive emotions in socially unacceptable manners. The question is what other means does the society offer them? By engaging them in socially useful, voluntary activities we offer them a possibility to activate the accumulated amount of energy through a positive, psychologically enriching manner. And after everything, learning from the others Sometimes it is very hard to apply the models of reconciliation created in different territories, circumstances, in situations where there was a common enemy. Also, the application of certain experiences asks for the investment of joint efforts of all segments of society. However, if we don’t try we will never know whether they work. If we try, even if we do not succeed, at least we will know what we are not supposed to do. After the Second World War in Germany in the former concentration camp Dachau a model that could perhaps be used in our case was initiated. A group of ex convicts created a board that dealt with reconciliation under the slogan: “ may it never repeat again”. The board is active today as well. In the last couple of years they worked on the opening and reconstruction of the memorial center and the maintenance of the board by introducing young members, children even grandchildren of the ex-camp prisoners. Today, groups visit this memorial center, open to public on a daily basis, from all over the world that learn about things that happened. There are special programs for the youth, groups of certain nationalities that reconstruct history here, in different ways. Although sometimes painful this process creates understanding and empathy and for sure creates conditions for realizing the slogan: “may it never repeat, again”.