Centre for nonviolent action

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crossing borders

learning from the past

CNA

Sarajevo | Beograd

Life’s Boundaries – On the Study Trip to Kosovo

The study trip to Kosovo for team members of the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo – Belgrade and some of our associates was organised from 6 to 10 November 2023

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Kosovo, from a different perspective

Kosovo, from a different perspective

The people of Kosovo are far from reconciliation, but it remains a common desired goal. Luan Imeri, a columnist of Рацин.мк wrote this reportage a few days after visiting Kosovo with a group of friends – peace activists from the former Yugoslavia, led by the Centre for Nonviolent Action

26th Annual Report Published

We have published the 26th Annual Report of the Centre for Nonviolent Action. We look forward to your comments, suggestions and feedback about this report.

Second edition of the study “On the Trail of the Danube Swabians in Vojvodina”

We published the second expanded edition of On the Trail of the Danube Swabians in Vojvodina in German in 2023

The collection of short stories from the Biber 05 regional contest has been published

The fifth Biber Contest ran from 10 December 2021 to 1 June 2022. A total of 473 stories were entered anonymously. Twenty stories selected for the collection were chosen by the jury made up of:  Lejla Kalamujić, Kalina Maleska and Olja Savičević Ivančević.

Documentation: The Present of Our Past

The Present of Our Past study trip included visits to marked and unmarked sites of suffering in the wider Jasenovac and Novska area in Croatia, as well as Donja Gradina, Kozara, Prijedor and Sanski Most in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Special Report: Peacebuilding in South Asia and the Western Balkans – Insights from an Unusual Encounter

A special report about an extraordinary encounter with our colleagues from South Asia.

25th Annual Report Published

We have published the 25th Annual Report of the Centre for Nonviolent Action.
We look forward to your comments, suggestions and feedback about this report and our work.

Documentation: South Asia – Western Balkan Peacebuilding Exchange

The encounter within the project “South Asia – Western Balkan Peacebuilding Exchange” took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 26 March to 2 April 2022. The exchange included two parts: optional study trip in Mostar and the workshop held in Sarajevo. The participants of this exchange programme came from India, Manipur/India, Bangladesh, Germany, North Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

24th Annual Report Published

In front of you is the 24th annual report on the activities of the Center for Nonviolent Action. As always, your feedback would mean a lot to us.

Meeting of War Veterans in Daruvar – Keeping up the Peace Work

In a relaxed working atmosphere in Daruvar, war veterans discussed the need for joint planning and next steps and reviewed their work over the past period.

War Veterans and Peace Activists at the Commemoration in Rogatica: Victims welcome all support

Invited by the “Suza” Association of Families and Friends of Missing Persons from Rogatica, a mixed group of war veterans and peace activists from the region attended the commemoration to mark 31 years since the start of persecution of non-Serbs in the Rogatica area

War Veterans and Peace Activists at the Commemoration for Civilian Victims in Lozje near Goražde

At the invitation of the Goražde Prison Camp Survivors Association, a group of war veterans and peace activists attended a commemoration for civilians killed in Lozje near Goražde

Prison Camp Survivors and Peace Activists Visit Sites of Detention Together and Issue a Public Appeal

Together with prison camp survivors, supported by peace activists, reporters and war veterans the Centre for Nonviolent Action organised a joint visit to mark four silos that were used as sites of detention in the area of Tarčin near Hadžići, Kaćuni near Busovača, and in Žepče and Derventa

Three Decades since the Crime in Sjeverin near Priboj: Families Still Waiting for Justice

On the thirtieth anniversary of the abduction and killing of 17 civilians from Sjeverin near Priboj, a funeral service was held and a commemoration in memory of the victims. The commemoration was attended also by peace activists and war veterans from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia.

Meeting of War Veterans – We Remain Steadfast on the Path of Peacebuilding

From 6 to 10 June 2022, in Blagaj near Mostar, we organised a meeting of war veterans and peace activists

War Veterans at the Commemoration to Children Killed in Vitez: We Can Learn from the Painful Past

It has been 29 years, yet no one has been held responsible for the deaths of eight children in Vitez, killed on 10 June 1993 by a shell fired from the positions of ARBiH. A mixed group of war veterans and peace activists from BiH, Croatia and Serbia visited Vitez today to pay their respects to the child victims.

Joint Visit and Honouring of Victims in Trusina and Stupni Do

For the first time, representatives of the two communities and families of victims visited both monuments and paid their respects to the victims on both sides.

Marking the anniversary of the closure of the Silos detention facility near Hadžići

War veterans and peace activists from the region attended the commemoration on the anniversary of the closure of the “Silos” detention facility located in Tarčin near Hadžići.

Honouring Those Killed in Skelani: Remembrance of All Victims

Members of the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo-Belgrade attended the commemoration for people killed in Skelani, a local community within the Srebrenica Municipality. In Skelani and other surrounding villages, 34 Serb civilians and 35 members of the Republika Srpska Army were killed on 16 January 1993.

Kruševo Republic of Tears and Laughter: 45th Basic Training in Peacebuilding

The Basic Training in Peacebuilding, its 45th edition, was held in Kruševo, in the south of North Macedonia from 6 to 16 October 2023.

Fifth Peacebuilding Training for Students from BiH: Generation Change

Report from the fifth Peacebuilding Training for students from Bosnia and Herzegovina that held from 22 to 28 July 2023 on Mount Vlašić

44th Basic Training: Days when Years Happen

The 44th Basic Training in Peacebuilding organised by the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo/Belgrade was held in Ulcinj, Montenegro from 14 to 24 October.

“Introduction to Peacebuilding”, Mir-Paqe-Мир 2022

Many topics and questions discussed at the training are taboos in our societies, they are not spoken about, not even in the most intimate circles

The Courage and Openness of Twenty-Year-Olds

The fourth Peacebuilding Training for students from Bosnia and Herzegovina was held from 22 to 28 July on Mount Vlašić.

Powerful Chairs — 43rd Basic Training in Peacebuilding

The training is an opportunity to open up grievances and discuss the things we hold against people “from the other side”, but also to see which topics we are forbidden to open inside our societies.

“Introduction to Peacebuilding”, Mir-Paqe-Мир, Kruševo, 10 – 19 May 2019

Overcoming official borders, but even more so, those that exist in people’s heads is the biggest challenge when it comes to peacebuilding in the region. Over its nine days of intensive activities, the Mir-Paqe-Мир training becomes a space for free exchange of opinions and for re-examining your own views. The Mir-Paqe-Мир training requires courage of the participants in deciding to face up to accepted and unconscious stereotypes imposed by our societies so as to transform them (at least) in their own minds.

Third Student Training in Peacebuilding: Generational Responsibility?!

The third peacebuilding training for students from BiH is complete. We identified the need for this type of peace education geared at students for the first time four years ago, when we organised the first peacebuilding training for students from BiH.

Kosovo 2.0 portal about CNA peace work and activities with war veterans

Portal Kosovo 2.0 published an article about the peace work of the CNA, especially about our working with war veterans

Swiss television SRF: War veterans from the region at the commemoration in Prijepolje

The report was recorded on February 26 and 27, 2020, during the participation of war veterans from the region at the commemoration in Prijepolje, for the victims in Štrpce.

Centre for Nonviolent Action among the Winners of the Krunoslav Sukić Award

The official awards ceremony was held on 12 December 2019 at the Croatian National Theatre in Osijek

Media: As veterans honour Ahmici victims, activists criticise Croatia’s silence

While veterans from the region were paying their respects for the victims of the 1993 massacre in the village of Ahmici, Croatian activists were criticising their country’s leadership for not participating in the April 16th commemoration.

Members of the BiH Presidency Should Visit Sites of Atrocities Together

Mirza Dajić writes in Oslobođenje (6 January 2019) about the need for political officials to jointly visit sites of suffering, following the example of, among others, war veterans from the region who have been visiting sites of atrocities together for 10 years now, under the organisation of CNA.

Reconciliation does not mean forcing individuals to reconcile

The strategy aims to offer guidelines about the lessons to be learned from the wars. Primarily about how to re-examine the national past, which is presented as black-and-white in the dominant narrative.

Reconciling Histories!?

Reflections about Conference organised by the Centre for Nonviolent Action (CNA), Sarajevo 15.-17.5.2018.

Kosovo, from a different perspective

The people of Kosovo are far from reconciliation, but it remains a common desired goal. Luan Imeri, a columnist of Рацин.мк wrote this reportage a few days after visiting Kosovo with a group of friends – peace activists from the former Yugoslavia, led by the Centre for Nonviolent Action

Going deeper

Political and social contexts in which we live

SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR AWAY: On the severed ties between BiH and Kosovo

Starting from 1 January 2024, citizens of Kosovo will be able to travel visa-free anywhere in Europe, but not to BiH, for which they will need to obtain a visa either from Zagreb, Podgorica, Tirana or Skopje

BETWEEN DENIAL AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Who and what does the Kazani memorial serve?

BETWEEN DENIAL AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Who and what does the Kazani memorial serve?

Commemoration for Killed Children Not Focused on Killed Children

Nedžad Novalić, member of the CNA team, in a text published by the ResPublica portal writes about the commemoration for killed children in Sarajevo

Monetary fines and prison sentences are not the worst that can happen

Vanja Stokić, a reporter and activist from Banja Luka, writes about the impact of the draft law adopted by the Republika Srpska National Assembly criminalising slander and libel.

Life in Europe’s Waiting Room

Political and social contexts in which we live

Bulgaria is the New Greece

Political and social contexts in which we live – from Annual Report 2021

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