CNA - 3-month Report (December 1998

The past three months have offered an ongoing period of change for CNA, which is undergoing transformation from being a one man office into a three person concern. Jasmin Redzepovic returned recently from his 3 month training on ´Education in civil dealing with conflicts´ in Kleve, Germany. He and Cara Gibney (who arrived in December) are introducing themselves to each other. Meanwhile Nenad Vukosavljevic and the contacts he has set up are becoming used to the fact that CNA no longer consists of one person.

Second part of the Training for Trainers in nonviolent conflict transformation
Teslic, January 11 - 20 1999
CNA / SHL (Schüler Helfen Leben) cooperation

Out of 16 participants in the first training event, only 9 could join us in the second one which took place in the town of Teslic in Republika Srpska (the Serb controlled Bosnian entity). Two new female participants joined us, one from Belgrade and one from Gorazde. Both with women have experience in training, and both are planning to engage themselves heavily in training work. Apart from two people who did not excuse their absence, all of the others had good reason for not attending (one was drafted into the military, and two could not travel from Kosovo because of police blockades etc). On arrival in at the hotel, the staff informed us that they were not aware of us coming, even though the reservations had been made two months previously. It seemed to be the beginning of a typical organisational nightmare, which are not so rare over here. We came just two days before the Serbian New Year (13th January) so the hotel was full of guests. But eventually we were able to organise a seminar room, and could start to concentrate on the actual work in hand.

The themes of the workshops were chosen by the participants themselves during the first training. They were selected from a variety of themes offered by the training team and requested by participants. The final programme contained the following workshops:

The workshops conducted by the participants were highly creative. One regular flaw was that due to lack of facilitation experience, the participants in their trainer role often forgot to mind the time. This meant that the workshops lasted much longer than planned, and this put a higher demand on every ones energy levels. On the second night the long role play took place. It lasted from 10PM until 6AM with 2 hours of emotional evaluation afterwards. The role play was created to test team work ability under stressful conditions, and how participants dealt with varying types of authority (police customs etc) who were given the role of being intimidating, offensive and aggressive. The simulated role play trip took the participants on a one day exploratory journey to an „Independent state of Montenegro" where they had to research the possibilities of cooperation with local groups in nonviolence training, and in an attempt to try and convince them to approve such events.

The role play highlighted the typical roles that each participant takes within a group. The evaluation showed that this was an opportunity for them to think about the roles they took, and how they dealt with team work from these roles, during a stressful situation.

The highest emotions came up during the workshop on gender. For this participants were divided into groups of female and male. Each group had to brainstorm on the theme ´How are women/men?´ The results of the brainstorm were written on a poster and displayed on the wall. Emotions boiled at one point when the male group created a statue that presented a woman who, while dancing with a man, was flirting with another one behind his back. One woman perceived the statue as very offensive and discriminatory. Some men argued back that they had „presented the dark side of woman", and an emotional and heated debate took place. Mutual prejudices and perceptions came out and caused pain on both sides. Because of such a heated situation the workshop was continued after dinner and lasted until 11PM. An interesting point is that although it would be assumed that the theme of national identity would cause at least the same level of controversy, it did not. It seems that the question of national identity is much more present in daily life, and awareness of it is much higher than of gender issues. For many people this was their first confrontation about it.

In the national identity workshop we tried to pinpoint aspects that define our national identity. Many things emerged:

One particularly powerful exercise was designed by 2 participants. It involved a huge hand drawn map of the outer borders of former Yugoslavia. Each of the participants and the team drew on the map and pointed out places important to them, explaining why and why and how this effects their national identity. It was a very emotional exercise, where once again people spoke very personally of experiences which had defined their identity. At the end of the exercise the map was covered with spots of all colours inside and outside the borders of the former country.

In the final evaluation the question was asked „How did the training affect your standpoints?" Some answers were :
It helped me to break some of my prejudices
I will requestion some of my standpoints
It widened my views
I realised that prejudices can sometimes have a positive side
It formed some of my views and made me see myself from another angle. If nothing else, it improved my perception.

One open question for myself as one of the trainers in this programme, is how will these people really apply the things they have learned, and what changes will this actually lead to. It does not make sense to conduct training in nonviolence simply so that more trainings in nonviolence can be implemented. Neither is it satisfactory to reach only those few who attend a CNA training. The question is, will the training have the affect reflecting in everyday life? Will the participants be able to stand up for their beliefs and resist pressure that is placed on them on a daily basis? Will they actively stand up to protect their own rights and those of their fellow citizens? Could it lead to civil disobedience/courage? Could it be the beginning of establishing constructive alternatives to systematic minority oppression? Will they object when their Serb/Croat/Bosniak or Albanian neighbour gets harassed on the bus or cursed at in the bakery? Will they say a word within their families when they hear opinions which justify the oppression of others?

But the courage has already started. The act of travelling to Republika Srpska (RS) for training while Serbs threatened revenge acts if NATO started bombing (which seemed likely at the time), speaks volumes for our participants. In times of general lack of security, of ongoing attacks on minorities and internationals which are still happening in BiH, particularly in RS, it is courageous travelling to the ´other side´. We need to work out how we can create the space for more of the same. We need to work out what is the very best support that we can give. We are working on this all the time.

CNA Project evaluation and Strategy development
Hamburg 13-14, 16th February

At the project evaluation in Hamburg, Nenad and Jasmin from the CNA team were present. Also present were former coordinator of CNA project in Germany Joerg Rohwedder, and present coordinator Franziska Guenther, along with other members of the Project and Support group. We looked back at the history of the project from the initial idea right up to the present stage of development. Besides reviewing single steps that were made, we concentrated particularly on highlighting specific problems for us in Sarajevo also for those in Germany. We critically examined the usefulness of the project and its compatibility with the goals we set up in the initial stages, and possibilities of work transfer. Many details that were not clear to all present in the evaluation were clarified. Problems, difficulties and misunderstandings were talked over, as were their consequences and the development of constructive alternatives.

This project is the first long term volunteer project of KURVE Wustrow, and it is a great learning experience. But this has certainly also brought difficulties due to the lack of experience. It was in consensus at the evaluation that a volunteer project in a foreign country demands a high level of professionalism. This partly collides with KURVE's capacities and high dependence on volunteer workers (meaning non-professional). Professional work depends greatly on the availability of material resources, of which KURVE has a limited supply. The amount of work connected with a project such as CNA was underestimated and this lead to communication problems between Sarajevo and Germany. But this has shifted with time, and structural changes have been introduced which make life easier for all sides.

The role and importance of the Support and Project group were discussed and stressed once again. CNA considers it fortunate to have a group of committed and engaged friends who have, and still do, support us. These two groups have played a particularly important role in staff counselling throughout the existence of CNA.
Main achievements of CNA recorded as:

The good image that CNA has acquired
The organisation and implementation of the Training for Trainer Programme
Networking between groups and individuals in the region
Successful fund raising

Nenad has successfully implemented his ambitious plans
Team enlargement with Cara and Jasmin
The work of the Support group
Evaluation itself
Sarajevo project as a kind of „model" project
Nenads participation at the Peace Congress in Osnabrueck in 1998
fund raising
Cooperation with Nenad at the NRW course „Education in civil dealing with conflicts"

As a very important experience for future projects we have notified the importance of the exploration/preparation phase

We discussed the concept and the question of the multiplication effect. Is CNA producing an elite-concept due to the fact that there is a clear target group with which we work, and because this is limited it does not reach out to all populations (e.g. potato-sellers).

The question „Is there a real multiplication effect?" was discussed. It is a difficult question since we have no criteria to measure this, and we see great difficulty in establishing one. We believe that multiplication is a process that happens after the training events, and that evaluation of training events is not the right way to evaluate this process. Follow up meetings and regular contact is the only way to get a picture about how the learning is developing.

CNA does desire that the political context becomes more present in the thoughts of activists and our participants. But it is presently more personal development and dealing with questions of identity and prejudice that interest people. This is certainly understandable and very practical in view of the fact that war was so recent. There are huge communication barriers, fears and prejudices that must be worked on first. One illustration of this is the themes that participants chose for the second training for trainers programme. The themes did not include issues such as nonviolent action or human rights, but focused rather dealing with stress, national identity etc.

The question on how to set up an objective criteria to measure the ultimate success of a training remains open.

The final transfer strategy decision was postponed until October 1999, since we do not feel able at the moment to choose one option without excluding others.
Three present options, which partly overlap, are the following:
1. CNA is taken over by local staff and continues to be registered as a local organisation without any KURVE support
Problem: no available local staff available yet
Sub option: CNA prolongs the mandate for another year until locals are found who would take over
2. CNA closes and locals do the work themselves within their present organisations
3. Locals from outside Sarajevo come to work with CNA for 3-6 months to gather experience and start their own projects in their own communities. This option is open particularly for a few participants of the Training for Trainers from Belgrade, who expressed interest.

The conflicting parties are part of the conflict,
but also a part of its solution

The beginning at CNA (Center for nonviolent action - Sarajevo)
by Jasmin Redzepovic

In November 1998 I finally started to work for CNA. I was previously engaged in CNA work with Nenad Vukosavljevic (CNA) during various training events, both as a participant and as a co-trainer. But from now on I believe I can offer a bigger contribution to the work of CNA.
With Nenads help I gained an insight into the office management of CNA. I understood the basics of it like working on the computer, bookkeeping, using a contact data base etc. Much time and energy in these first weeks at CNA was spent trying to get a visa for my stay in Germany and attendance at the course in "Civil dealing with conflicts" to be held in the town of Kleve. I also spoke with Nenad about our future colleague Cara, her expectations of the work and our future cooperation. Cara received minutes of our discussions before she came to Sarajevo in December 1998.

Participation at the ´Course in civil dealing with conflicts´
Kleve, Germany 23rd November 1998 - 12th February 1999

Living for 11 weeks with a group of people who are engaged all over the world in supporting and advising people doing civilian conflict management was something very special to me. Many themes that we worked on there, conducted by trainers, resource persons or participants themselves, were of great importance for my future work in Sarajevo.

The participants came from different countries (Somalia, Ethiopia Ogaden, Holland, Germany and Bosnia-Herzegovina) and will be working in Somalia, Haiti, Guatemala, Cameron, Chad, FR Yugoslavia, Palestine, Philippines and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Of course we had different interests which sometimes led to some dissatisfaction. This was mainly because there were so many countries, and each one had its specific characteristics. But even that could sometimes be dealt with in a constructive manner and was included into the learning process through the preparation of themes by participants.

Some examples of this were themes such as ´Kosovo´ and ´The military in peace and war´. The flexibility and openness of the training team allowed me space to work within the group in a good and constructive atmosphere. There were also moments when I wanted more room on a personal level (e.g. I did not have enough time to present my country and its problems). But even that was something I have learned from. Very open evaluations contributed a lot to the learning process.

One difference between me and the rest of the group that I noticed immediately was the fact that I am not a foreigner in the country where I work. Furthermore I was an active participant in the conflict itself. That is the reason why I could connect themes we worked on with the actual situation at home, since I know the country and people well. I believe that it would have been better for certain themes to be worked on in country specific groups. The fact they were done on a more general basis meant that there was not always enough time to explain the details of the situation.

There were themes which particularly meant very much to me and my work. They were: mediation, gender awareness, training work, international government organisations - these all made a very strong impact on me. Concerning mediation it became clear what the role of the mediator is, and how the process should be conducted. It still does not mean that I feel capable of working as a mediator because I feel that I need to deepen my skills in this work area, as in many others. While we worked on the theme of gender it became clear to me how important it is to monitor and rethink the roles of men and women. Some pictures from Bosnia became present, like the one that ´war is a man´s thing´.

I came to the training with many questions concerning training work, and for many of these I found an answer. My role as trainer became clear to me. I hope to be able to offer enough space to each individual within a training to feel free and to open up, and I hope to do this by using methods in dealing with conflict. Particularly interesting was the theme of ´international government organisations´ focusing on UNO, NATO, EU and OSCE. All of the above mentioned organisations have their representatives, so it was highly interesting to hear about advantages and disadvantages of their activities.

The training has given me knowledge and skills. But it has also empowered me and enriched me for my work and for my life.

After the course in Kleve I took part at the CNA project evaluation and Strategy development in Hamburg. After that I spent 10 days at KURVE Wustrow doing my work placement. My first visit to Wustrow was on a weekend in December 1998. Even at that stage I realised how important it would be for me to go for this work placement. I experienced KURVE staff at work, caring for all of KURVE´s activities. It was good that I too worked there, getting more knowledge about how the office manages. Particularly important was to get to know personally all the people in KURVE and hear about their difficulties and joys at work. But unfortunately I felt very tired by the end of my stay in Germany, and this effected my ability in taking in new things.

I am bringing with me to CNA my history, and all the experience that I have gathered from before, during and after the war in BiH. I was born in Nuernberg/Germany and came back to Sarajevo with my parents in 1984. The time I spent in Germany has given me knowledge about a different culture and the knowledge of the language. But despite the large part of my childhood that I spent in Germany, I felt a special bond to the city of Sarajevo. This feeling has attracted me to Sarajevo and its people since I was a child. And so it was during the war in BiH. In November 1992, at the age of eighteen, I was drafted into the Bosnian Army and was a soldier for three years. It was a time in which I tried to lead a normal life. I had plenty of time to think how and why this conflict happened. To many questions I found answers only after the war. Participation in youth initiatives gave me the strength to take part in the reconciliation process. Training and seminars on nonviolent conflict transformation has given me new opportunities in dealing with conflicts. Nonviolence can be an answer to political abuse in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The work in CNA is more than just a project for me. I experience it as a chance that is not given to everyone. A chance to meet people from different parts of former Yugoslavia and communicate with them about our future, and also about our present and the past. Everyday difficulties connected with this could be noticed already on my bus going back home to Sarajevo, and I know that it will not be easy. Fear, resignation, distrust and disrespect are things I face here very often. I am trying to deal with them as openly and transparently as possible. Since I returned I have written a letter in local language to my friends in the region, about the past 4 months.

´The conflicting parties are a part of the conflict, but also a part of its solution´ is the quote from Kleve, and it has given me additional clarification in my life and in my work.

Nenad visited the Wustrow Main office for the purpose of talking to Hagen Berndt the staff coordinator and office manager Christine Böckmann. With the latter, issues of „paper" management were discussed. Better coordination agreed and new systems of bookkeeping were established. With H.Berndt I spoke about general CNA perspectives, the role of CNA within KURVE, the development of professional peace work education in Germany and better use of the vast experience resources that KURVE/CNA gather.

In December CNA and SHL applied jointly for a grant to produce separate home pages that will make information about our activities and those of our partners more accessible. Contents of the CNA home page include:

OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) accepted the grant proposal and the CNA web page has been launched on the above address. The website design has been the hard work of Ivana Franovic, who was also in the Teslic training team and jointly responsible for the documentation of that training.

CNA and SHL met to evaluate the co-operation between the two organisations and how it can be improved. Changes of staff in both organisations has led to varying levels of knowledge in each others work, and a change of expectation in each each others role. The evaluation proved to be valuable, offering suggestions for improvement and concrete arrangements for further co-operation (see ´Future Activities´)

Documentation of previous seminars and training in nonviolent conflict transformation (NVCT) in local language, including detailed method descriptions and minutes of the seminars.
Three month reports on activities of CNA in English, German and local language.
Information on future activities and online applications for interested individuals.
Information about cooperation partners in BiH and the wider region of former Yugoslavia, including their planned activities and application forms for them.
Information about available trainings in nonviolent conflict transformation in Europe
Links to other organisations dealing with nonviolence, peace building and youth work

Ongoing contact has been maintained with our partner in Macedonia the Embassy for Peace about planned joint projects in the following year. Concrete funding still need to be gathered for these training events, and due to difficulties that Embassy for Peace are having in finding interested parties it is now being researched by both Embassy for Peace and CNA.

SHL ´Media conference´ training seminar, 15 -22 March
SHL has requested that CNA takes part in a training seminar that will be the first event to happen in the new SHL conference house in Sarajevo. CNA have been asked to present a history and a background to the conflict (or is it to BiH, or...???) to German participants of the training, and also to facilitate trust building and communication exercises in the first two days of the event.

Ivana Franovic has spent a large amount of time with CNA due to her involvement in the Teslic training team, the following documentation of that training, and her work on the CNA Web page.

Claudia Kukla from Pax Christi Banja Luka has stayed with us quite frequently over the past months. Her recent work with CNA has actually been quite varied. She acted as a joint resource person with Nenad in the Kleve training (attended by Jasmin), and one week later changed her role to that of participant in the Teslic Training for Trainers. She is presently organising a Training for Teachers in Banja Luka which will include in the training team Anna and Otto Raffai and at least two of the participants from the CNA Training for Trainers.

Anna and Otto Raffai with family stayed for a number of days with CNA during the development stage of the Teslic Training for Training.

Cara Gibney
Jasmin Redzepovic
Nenad Vukosavljevic
For Centar za nenasilnu akciju
the Project office of KURVE Wustrow

Special thanks to:
Aktionsgemeinschaft Dienst für den Frieden - AGDF
Berghof Stiftung & Berghof Institute for creative conflict menagement
Care International - Banja Luka
CNA Support group Hamburg
Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft Vereinigte Kriegsgegner - DFG VK Bielefeld
Internationale Ärzte zur Verhütung des Atomkrieges - IPPNW Deutschland
Menschenrechtsreferat des Diakonischen Werkes
OSCE Democratisation office, Sarajevo
Pax christi - Deutscher Zweig
Quaker Peace and Service
Schüler Helfen Leben
Towae Stiftung

CNA will very much welcome feedback, suggestions, questions and criticism
concerning this report and our general work.
Your thinking along, helps us!
Thank you.