Annual Report 2003 – VI

 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

BASIC CNA TRAINING 3

Basic Training in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation – Vogošća, December 2002. 3

Basic Training in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation – Hajdučke Vode, May 2003. 4

PROGRAMME  TRAINING FOR TRAINERS 6

Programme Training for Trainers 2002-2003 6

Programme Training for Trainers 2003-2004 10

OTHER TRAININGS AND WORKSHOPS 14

Training for Members of the Trade Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina 14

A One-day Workshop in Prijedor 14

Training in nonviolent Communication and Nonviolent Conflict Transformation 14

Workshops for Members of Trade Union from Bosnia and Herzegovina 15

Workshop «Social Valuation of A Woman as Wife, A Mother and A Housewife» 15

Congress: “Students Build Bridges” 15

DEALING WITH THE PAST 16

Panel Discussions «four Views: from the Past – me in the War –how to reach sustainable Peace» in Bosnia and Herzegovina  16

Training for ex-combatants, Part I 16

Training for ex-combatants, Part II 17

PUBLICATIONS 19

ACTIVITIES OF OUR  COOPERATION PARTNERS 20

The Panel Discussion “Life Together of Different Religions” 20

Training in Nonviolent Communication And Creative Conflict Transformation 21

Training in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation for the Teachers of the Secondary Medical School from Skoplje, Macedonia  22

EVALUATION 24

Evaluation of CNA work 24

Evaluation of the Training for Trainers 2002-2003 Programme 27

The Political and Social Context within which cna works 32

Macedonia 32

Montenegro 32

Serbia 33

Kosovo 34

Croatia 35

Bosnia and Herzegovina 36

WORK PLAN 38

 

 

BASIC CNA TRAINING

 in nonviolent conflict transformation

 

Basic CNA Training in nonviolent conflict transformation is a ten days long programme of peace education which gathers people from the region of former Yugoslavia (from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo). Major themes of the training are: violence, nonviolence, teamwork and decision making, leadership, nonviolent communication, prejudices, identity, national identity, dealing with the past, creative conflict transformation. Besides passing on skills, abilities and knowledge needed for nonviolent conflict transformation, this programme aims to empower participants to be ready, capable and aware of their own responsibility, power and strength to influence the society they live in. Participants of the programme are people who we see as potential multiplicators and who work in media, schools, war veteran associations, political parties or nongovernmental organisations.

The programme is in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian language.

The training methods are interactive and participative, which mirrors our standpoint, that differences enrich us, and help us to develop understanding and hence influences our behaviour in conflict situations.

 

Basic Training in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation – Vogošća, December 2002.

Vogošća, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 13-23.12.2002.

From December 13 to 23, 2002 CNA Sarajevo organized and implemented the Basic Training in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation in Vogošća, near Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was financially supported by Gesellschaft fuer technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ).

There were 20 participants altogether, just as planned, 10 female and 10 male, aged 19 to 39. They came from the following regions:Macedonia,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Kosovo,SerbiaincludingVojvodina,CroatiaandMontenegro. Amongst participants, there were people active in political parties, media, different nongovernmental and governmental organizations and international organizations as well.

The training team included Adnan Hasanbegović from CNA Sarajevo, Milan Colić and Helena Rill from CNA Belgrade and Sanja Deanković from a local organization (HUK) from the town of Kašteli, Croatia. It had been her first experience as a trainer and in the meantime she became a member of CNA team.

The following themes were covered: nonviolent communication, team work and decision making, violence/nonviolence, differences, identity/national identity, prejudices, discrimination, leadership, power, gender issues, creative conflict transformation.

The concept of the training was mostly based on sensitisation to violence, to which participants continued to return to while working on many other themes. Although violence was discussed a lot, there was a lack of critical introspection on „where I support violence“.

The training was focused on creative conflict transformation in which participants tried out different roles themselves, exploring possibilities to transform certain conflicts. Participants were highly motivated and offered detailed analysis, reexaminations, with particularly important discussions on power of an individual, activism, nonviolence and responsibility.

At the end of the training, participants completed written evaluation. Here ARE some of the answers participants gave when asked “What was their most important experience from the training?»:

–          The experience of safe space created by people so different from each other. Going through exercises and roles was difficult at first, but gave me a great satisfaction because I felt empowered – thanks to the support everybody gave me.

–          The most important experience for me is the principle of «nonviolence » – acting, one‘s own needs, other people‘s space. I‘ve realized what my problem is: I can see violence, I have the power to act, but I usually cannot react other than violently. Now I have – the method!

–          The experience of work within the group where almost every participant gives its contribution. Absence of hierarchical structure in decision making. The most important, however is the cognition that nonviolence is the principle of life, an attitude to life, the philosophy of life and not only the sole absence of violence.

Here are some of the participants‘ answers given to the question «What do you think you learned on these workshops? Which of those things you learned you can apply in your work and life?»:

–          I‘ve learned that every conflict can be understood and resolved in some way, and that I can change many things in my work.

–          I‘ve learned about the importance of nonviolent action, that the individual should have and has the responsibility to act in a civil society. I‘ve felt the power an individual may have and how important it is to use it!

–          The most important thing from these workshops for me is that I‘ve learned how to empower myself and how to work on it in the future with respect to helping myself and people from my environment who need that.

–          The reflection on structural violence and power meant a lot, since I often feel this type of violence, and I‘m not sure whether I react in a right way or not to social injustice.

–          To reexamine myself. I‘ve been doing that before, but it was somehow for the sake of reexamining. I am now aware that reexamination is just the part of the process of nonviolent conflict transformation. To recognize and express my needs. That compromise is not same as cooperation. That I have the power to respond actively. I think that my power is still little. It is however a significant change for me. I hope that through the working process I will empower myself and others to continue working.

–          To try to continue with my activism and change some things in my environment and pass them onto others, but with the support and experience of others, needed for something like that.

 

Documentation of this training titled «Those silent ones are trouble!» containing 92 pages, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian language is available on request, and will soon be on our web-site.

 

 

Basic Training in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation – Hajdučke Vode, May 2003

Hajdučke Vode / BH, 2–12.05.2003.

This year’s first basic training in non-violent conflict transformation was held in the Hajdučke Vode Hotel in Borija, near the town of Teslić, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It gathered 19 participants (9 male and 10 female) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo and Croatia.

Members of the training team that created the workshops and conducted the training were: Sanja and Nedžad from CNA Sarajevo office and Milan and Helena from CNA Belgrade office.

Due to a very late, negative reply from the donors whom we had expected to financially support the training, we didn’t have time to look for support from other foundations; therefore we had to cover the expenses of the training mostly from our own resources. The participants covered part of the travel expenses. The fact that the organizers were not fully covering the travel costs (which had been specified in invitations we had sent to potential applicants), combined with other factors, probably affected the number of applications for the training which was considerably lower (57) than usual. Fewer applications meant that it was somewhat harder to develop a well-balanced group, on various levels. We found this experience a useful one in regards to making our programs on peace education for people from this region less financially dependant on foreign donors, which continues to be our long-term goal.

Group of participants consisted of people from NGOs (Multikultura – Tetovo, Macedonia; OSCE Gnjilane, Kosovo; Suedost – Bijeljina, Republic of Srpska; Crnogorski ženski lobi (Montengrian Women’s Lobby)  – Podgorica, Montenegro; FGT Urbana kultura (Urban Culture) – Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Most – Beli Manastir, Serbia; Hajde da… –Belgrade, Serbia; Suncokret – Zagreb, Croatia; Međaši – Skopje, Macedonia; Udruženje mladih Otoka, Croatia; Unija studenata (Students’ Union) – Belgrade, Serbia; CCI – Kočani, Macedonia; Zrenjaninski edukativni centar (Educational Center of Zrenjanin), Vojvodina; representatives of political parties and structures (G17+, Democratic Party from Serbia, Macedonian Ministry of Defence), people from media (“Drita” – Gnjilane, Kosovo) and teachers (“Vera Blagojević” Elementary School from Banja Koviljača, Serbia; “May 9” Elementary School).

The concept of the training was quite flexible, meaning that enough space was left during the preparations that preceded the training, to adjust the workshops and the program to the needs and interests of the group. The following themes were covered on the training: communication, non-violent communication, team work and decision making, violence, understanding conflicts and work on conflicts, perception, prejudice and discrimination, gender roles in society, creative transformation of conflicts and power. In spite of the difficulties, the training team expressed their satisfaction with the concept of the training, which was specific because of the participants’ deep engagement in work on prejudice and discrimination. Becoming aware of one’s own prejudices and dealing with them in situations when we are being discriminated against or when we are discriminatory against someone else in everyday life was sometimes painful. But at the same time it was inspiring for self re-examination, for self-criticism and for finding ways to fight it.

There was one person in the group whose psychological condition made it impossible for her to take part in a group’s interaction and to establish communication with the rest of the group, which lead to a lot of misunderstandings between that person and the others. The situation kept escalating during both workshops and breaks, thus provoking intense and often mixed feelings (anger, pity, confusion, helplessness…) that was difficult for the training team and the group to deal with and which burdened the working process. All of this became evident especially during the second part of the training. Therefore, the training team invited a qualified person who recommended that this person should be returned home safely, before the end of the training, which was also that person’s wish.

However difficult, it was an extremely valuable experience that gave us many learning points and offered us a space to reflect about eventual ways to deal with situations like these that turned out to be possible.

Another difficulty of the training was the bad treatment participants by the hotel staff. The question remains how much our stay in such places and our wish to support them is understood and accepted.

Here are some of the participants’ answers from the evaluation questions: What have you gained, what did you like and what was the difficulty of this training?:

–          It was a very good training. I’ve gained a new way of looking at some things. There are still many things I need to think about and to find a place for myself in all this.

–          I’m going to need a lot of time to put my thoughts in order. I feel like I’ve gained a wider view and a lot to think about.

–          I especially liked the multi-ethnic background of participants, although I don’t like that word. I liked being with people from other regions and that I had a chance to realise their specific experiences. I had difficulties with my blood pressure so I had a hard time waking up. I’ve got a memory to cherish and add things to.

–          I’ve gained plenty of re-examinations of myself and my own actions, personal insights and realisations of many prejudices I had but wasn’t aware of.

–          I’ve realised many things about the “Bosnian pot”. I liked the nature, the work method and themes. I liked how well the team was organised with regards to the group.  I liked that we talked about ourselves, although it was difficult for me because we talked about things we don’t even share with our close friends. I like it that the training team reacted well and quick in some situations. I had trouble with the food and music.

–          I’m a bit exhausted but it is a special experience for me.

 

 

PROGRAMME TRAINING FOR TRAINER

in nonviolent conflict transformation

 

Programme Training for Trainers 2002-2003

Note: More information on the first and the second Phase of this Programme you can find in our previous Annual Report, http://nenasilje.org/reports/pdf/CNA-AnnualReport2002.pdf

Phase III, ten-days training

Kolašin / Montenegro, 23.8. – 2.9.2002.

The fourth programme Training for Trainers in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation  started in July 2002. The third phase of the programme was held in «Bjelasica» hotel in Kolašin, Montenegro. (More information on the first two phases available in our previous Annual Report.)

A ten-day training gave participants a chance to conduct workshops they had prepared during follow-up meetings, as well as to receive feedback about their work, from both the group and the members of the training team. In the first part of the training, participants conducted their own workshops, while the second part opened up room for discussions on
trainer’s work, role of the trainer, motivation for this type of work and so on.

Teams of participants, formed in the first phase of the program (on the training in Jahorina) prepared and implemented workshops on the following themes: identity, prejudices, gender roles in the society, ethnic prejudices, peacebuilding and power. Their choice of themes has proved their courage and readiness to tackle all the issues and problems that turn out to be the most crucial in our societies, problems that need to be worked on the most in order to change well-established, widely accepted patterns of opinion and behaviour. Most workshops were prepared very carefully and attentively. The training team got the impression that a lot of effort and creativity was invested in every workshop in order to fulfil its goals. Certain mistakes which were noticed and commented upon, happened mostly because some teams weren’t totally coordinated and prepared, due to some slip-ups during preparations. The lack of training experience of the participants, and the fact that they had not been involved in conducting a workshop before were also connected with this. The contents of mostworkshops showed quite an advance, in comparison to the previous training events.The group was well developed, which enabled people to express their non-censored opinions on many delicate issues(such as ethnic prejudice or the role of KFOR or NGOs in peace building) in a transparent manner.

The second part of the training focused on the following themes: difficulties in work, the role of the trainer, peace building, motivation, and the evaluation of training.Rather unexpectedly there was quite enough energy and good mood for work, and therefore plenty of questions concerning the work of the trainer, and work on peace building in general, was asked. It was obvious that the group needed very much to get answers to some of their questions, as well as to get support in resolving some personal dilemmas in relation to possible difficulties and approaches to work.

The impression remained with the training team that it takes more work and reflection on a strategic approach, as well as more self-reflection on one’s own capability and motivation for work on concrete problems that exist in our societies. What we’ve certainly recognized is a strong desire and interest to act, but often without a clear picture about the ways to approach problems and how to accomplish changes that are desired.

It was agreed to exchange ideas about possible activities through a common mailing list, in the meantime,to facilitate criticism, comment, and to expand these ideas as well as form teams based on them. Participants took responsibility for opening up and moderating the mailing list.

During the evaluation most participants put an emphasis on the importance of their experience in conducting their first workshop, as well as the feelings of encouragement and empowerment they received for further work.

Financial support for this and six other phases of the program was provided by German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

More information on this training is available from the documentation entitled «I was painting the fence – 4. Program Training for Trainers in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation, phase III». Documentation in Bosnian / Croatian / Serbian language contains 74 pages.

Phase IV, 5-days training

Bečej / Serbia, 18–23.10.2003.

The fourth phase of the Training for Trainers Programme was held in Bečej, Vojvodina, from October 18 to 23. According to a new, expanded concept, this program now lasts for a year. This fourth phase represents an innovation of the program, and its main goal is completion of the participant’s ideas for activities in the area of peace building as well as forming teams of participants that are going to prepare and implement their own ideas, with the support of CNA team.

This is introducing a strategic approach to making project proposals, getting in touch with potential founders and all the other jobs that precede and follow the actual workshops and training events.

This time our colleague from the Centre for Peace Studies in Zagreb, Croatia, Gordan Bodog joined the training team. He conducted the workshops onWriting  Project Proposals and Making the Budget. By inviting colleagues from other peaceorganisations our participants get to know different approaches to trainer’s work, to feel different dynamics and get to know new insight into different aspects of activism.

The training took four days, during which we were working very intensively, with all the workshops taking longer than planned and with work during breaks. As a result of all this, in spite our fears and worries, teams were formed based on the criteria agreed on in the previous training which had taken place in Kolašin, Montenegro.

Teams were made with respect to the ideas for activities gathered through the mailing list and presented on the training. We agreed to start searching for funds for the implementation of six ideas:

–          Training for teachers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Vojvodina

–          Training for activists from different parts of Macedonia

–          Training for journalists from FRY

–          Training in nonviolent conflict transformation for people from the region of former SFRY

–          Training for youth in Kosovo

–          Training for youth in Montenegro

 

We were very glad to see how participants chose these activities, because we didn’t have the feeling they were just interested in “trainings for the sake of trainings”, but were highly motivated to work on problems in their own environment. One of the indicators for this was the choice of issues that participants chose to work on. Those from Macedonia wanted to work on inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia, participants from Kosovo wanted to work in Kosovo, journalists wished to work in media, pedagogues from a primary school wanted to work with teachers, while participants from Montenegro planned to work with youth in Montenegro. Besides being “oriented locally”, a certain number of participants wished to work on a regional level, therefore they decided to work with people from the region of former Yugoslavia or to join some “local” activity, so they could contribute to it with an “outside” view and with their relatively similar experiences.

It is of special value to the programme that some people who went through the Training for Trainers over the past number years will be joining some of these teams in preparation and implementation of their own training. We are thus one step closer to the bonding of trainers from the region and strengthening the informal trainers’ network. We believe this will certainly contribute to the quality and quantity of peace work in different parts of former Yugoslavia.

Another big benefit of this training comes from a much wider space for discussion on a strategic approach in the context of peacebuilding. The group was highly motivated to work and a noticeable advance was made in dealing with these issues in comparison to the previous training in Kolašin.

By the end of the training we were very tired but had far fewer worries concerning further phases of the program. It was very satisfying to see and sense the level of responsibility participants took over during the work process. It was also noticeable how open and transparent participants’ mutual communication was, as well as readiness to offer each other not just support and cooperation but constructive and clear criticism that opened a path towards changes and contributed to the quality of joint effort.

Phase V, follow-up meetings

November – December 2002

Phase V of the program gave participants a chance to meet, elaborate ideas about their activities, work out a precise work schedule, distribute responsibilities accordingly, and get as much support from the CNA team as needed.

Participants spent most of the time in these meetings finishing their internal agreements and distributing responsibilities. Our role was reduced to giving recommendations about things they needed to think about and do in the process of organising the training. The second part of the meeting was dedicated to advice and open issues about project proposal, budget, financial report and narrative report.

Participants requested to have one CNA team member in each training team, for five of the activities chosen. Our colleague and friend who participated in Training for Trainers Program in 1998-99, who has a lot of experience in this type of work will join the sixth team. This was a result of the participants’ wish to have a person with more experience within the team. This is important as it means that having a more experienced team member within the team gives support to those team members who do not have it.

We are very satisfied with this phase of the program. Meetings did take a very long time (sometimes up to 10 hours a day), however participants were very motivated to work. It is really wonderful to see participants become our colleagues with equal rights, taking on more and more responsibility.

Phase VI, 5-days training

Bečej /Serbia, 13–18.12.2003.

Phase VI of the Training for Trainers Program was quite a new experience for both the participants and the training team. The original idea for this phase was to practice public presentation of peace work, but also to return to a wider context of work on peace building, analyze “peace degrading” and work on the issue of ‘Dealing with the past’.

Training was held in the hotel “Fantast” in Vojvodina near Bečej. We had lots of difficulties with the hotel (first few days we did not have a proper working-room although we booked one, heating almost did not exist so we were forced to put on our jackets and coats while working, meals were tasteless and small and the hotel staff was not paying attention to our complains). Because of this experience we certainly would not recommend this hotel to other groups and organizations.

In spite of all these difficulties, which influenced the working process and required daily arrangements and negotiations with the hotel management, me managed to do a lot, primarily thanks to participants’ high motivation.

If we forget the troubles with the hotel for a moment, the highlight of the training was certainly the workshop on the public presentation of peace work. As a part of this workshop we did short scenes in which the participants’ task was to present the activity they had chosen to implement as a part of a Training for trainers program in the beginning of 2003. Participants appeared in the morning show of “YU info” TV station, visited the Ministry of Education where they asked for permission to work with school employees, visited local authorities to ask for support, went to local veterans’ association to invite them to sign up for training, presented their idea in front of donors and to an international peace organisation, etc. We videotaped these short scenes, played them and later analysed them. It turned out this workshop required more emotional effort and was more stressful than we had expected. For many participants it was the first time they found themselves in situations such as visiting pro-nationalist local authorities, visiting war veterans, being interviewed by a not very well-intentioned journalist; and they had difficulties dealing with them. The analysis of these scenes was very thorough and useful. We paid a lot of attention to the language and manner with which we address a wider population, or people who are not directly connected to peace work, since we noticed that peace groups (including us) tend to develop their own “meta–language”, which we suspected not everyone would understand.

The workshop on building and degrading of peace was very interesting because we analysed how much we, as well as other social groups, contributed to peace building, with our work, and how much of it had quite the opposite effect and contributed to degrading of peace. The discussion was focused on the analysis of terms often used by people who consider themselves to be activists. It is our opinion that these terms are not being re-examined enough and that some aspects of these terms are neglected (‘conflict resolution, ‘meeting foreign standards’, ‘nonviolent communication’, ‘healthy competition between NGOs’ are just some of the terms we covered).

In this phase of the program, we discussed for the first time the issue of Dealing with the past. While we were preparing the concept of the workshop, we had great expectations about it wishing to cover as many open questions regarding this issue. The training team intended to approach this subject on a social level, while participants turned out to look at it on a more personal level, not setting a social level as their priority. We also noticed that the work on peace building is often mixed up and equalised with work on the issue of Dealing with the past. Although these two areas overlap we cannot say they are basically the same. Such an outcome of the workshop helped us realise how much more work it takes to deal with the past, especially with people dedicated to peace building and sensitive to a productive approach to this subject.

Phase VII, participant’s project

January – May 2003

From January to May 2003, participants of the Training for Trainers Programme prepared, organized and implemented their activities. Finally, here are five out of six ideas for projects that were implemented:

–          training for youth in Montenegro

–          training for journalists from Serbia and Montenegro

–          training for teachers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Vojvodina

–          training for activists from different parts of Macedonia

–          training in nonviolent conflict transformation for people from the region of former Yugoslavia

Participants created the activities themselves, chose the teams to implement them, organized and conducted them and were in charge of the making of the narrative report and completing the financial report.

This phase is an innovation of the program in comparison to the previous ones. It was introduced after thorough evaluations of the previous programs and feedback we had received from participants. It turned out to be a hit, and it made the program develop in just the right way; i.e. more extensive training of participants from independent organizations, which empowers them and the implementation of their activities.

Narrative reports of the participants of the program who implemented projects are available in our previous Three-month report,http://nenasilje.org/izvjestaji/e/CNA-BG-may2003e.pdf

Phase VIII, Final Training / Evaluation of the Program

Ulcinj / Montenegro, 23-27.5.2003.

The final training of this program was held in Ulcinj, Montenegro, from May 23^rd to 27^th, 2003. It was organized with an idea to evaluate the entire program, to exchange experiences gathered during the training events that participants carried out themselves, and to take a look at the future and discuss mutual cooperation.

Due to a great need for an exchange of experiences, we prolonged the training for another day; therefore it lasted for three days in total. It seems however that it wasn’t enough, because the evaluation of the whole program, which was very important to us, remained in the background of the exchange of experiences, ideas and need for future work.

Participants of the program were still under the strong impression of the training events they did themselves, and had a great need to talk to others about the difficulties they had encountered, about ways they had dealt with them, about new, nice and interesting issues and learning points as well. It is interesting that all of them experienced teamwork within their own teams as very nice, perhaps even the most beautiful experience, although the teams were formed with respect to the ideas for certain activities and not based on personal wishes for being in a team with a certain person. It tells us how well developed this group of people is and we are glad to see there’s a feeling of belonging and a wish for further cooperation amongst them.

We didn’t manage to complete an evaluation of the whole program, which was as thorough and productive as we had hoped for, because it simply didn’t seem to be the participants’ priority, which was quite understandable. Besides the great need for an exchange of information on that last joint meeting, it was evident that the participants’ concentration had dropped, which contributed to inadequate results. Still, we are not unsatisfied with such an outcome, because a detailed evaluation of the program will certainly follow. Berghof of Research Centre will do the external part of that evaluation which includes interviews with participants of the program for Constructive Conflict Management from Berlin. We will separately prepare thorough questionnaires for participants.

However unbelievable it may sound, the fourth Training for Trainers program has been finished. All eight phases of the program we had planned were implemented. The new concept with the additional phases of the program gave more results than we had hoped for. Two years ago while we were developing the new concept we hoped that the participants would create and implement at least one or two purposeful activities. We planned to ask participants of the previous Training for Trainers programs who were active and who would welcome this kind of program enlargement to join the participants of this year’s program in case they didn’t have any ideas or didn’t feel a need and a desire to work on activities of their own. It turned out that this group of people was full of ideas about the essential activities and was highly motivated to work on peace building and the promotion of nonviolence, on both local and regional level.

Several participants of the program said that they were under the impression that a three-day meeting didn’t feel like the end of the program, but rather like the start of its ninth phase that was without any time limit and with working at full steam. We share that feeling, too.

 

Programme Training for Trainers 2003-2004

The fifth Programme Training for Trainers in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation began with a ten-day training which took place in Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from July 4^th – 14^th, 2003. Using the same format as last year this programme will last for one year and will consist of eight phases.

The programme includes 20 participants: 12 male and 8 female, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia.

Participants come from the following organisations:

–    Association for Culture «Aurora» (Asocijacija za kulturu «Aurora»), Ulcinj, Montenegro

–    Suedost Europa Kultur e.V. – Centre Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina

–    Youth Centre «Laketrails» (Omladinski centar «Laketrails») Peace Trails, Nevesinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina

–    Youth organisation KVART, (KVART omladinska organizacija), Kraljevo, Serbia

–    ZaMirNET, Zagreb, Croatia

–    Secondary school of economy and commerce «Jovan Trajković» (Ekonomsko-trovinska škola «Jovan Trajković»), Zrenjanin, Vojvodina

–    OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Gnjilane

–    Action Against Violence and For Peace Building ANP (Akcija protiv nasilja i izgradnja mira ANP), Gnjilane, Kosovo

–    Political Party G17Plus, Niš, Serbia

–    Ministry of Urban Planning and Constructions of Republic of Serbia (Ministarstvo urbanizma i građevine Republike Srbije), Belgrade, Serbia

–    Youth Centre (Omladinski centar) Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje, Bosnia and Herzegovina

–    Peace Action (Mirovna akcija), Prilep, Macedonia

–    Multikultura, Tetovo, Macedonia

–    Centre for Peace Studies (Centar za mirovne studije), Zagreb, Croatia

–    Association of Students of Philosophy «Filonus» (Društvo studentkinja i studenata filozofije «Filonus»), Belgrade, Serbia

–    Youth Initiatives (Mladinski inicijativi), Skopje, Macedonia

–    Ministry of Defence, The Eurointegration Project (Ministarstvo odbrane, projekat «Eurointegracije»), Skopje, Macedonia

–    Analytical Centre of the Social democratic Union of Macedonia (Analitički centar Socijaldemokratskog saveza Makedonije), Skopje, Macedonia

The training team includes CNA team members from the Sarajevo and Belgrade offices:

Adnan Hasanbegović

Helena Rill

Nedžad Horozović

Tamara Šmidling

Guest trainer in the first phase of the training was Goran Božičević, from Quaker Peace and Social Witness.

Financial support

The first six phases of the programme were financially supported by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Phases 7 and 8 were financially supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

Phase I, 10-days training

Jahorina / BH, 4-14.7.2003.

Most of the topics, we worked on in the first phase of the programme were extensions of those covered on basic training events, e.g. nonviolent communication, understanding and analysis of conflict, decision making, leadership, work on values, nonviolence, discrimination, national identity, gender roles in society, peace building. The themes Role of a trainer and Preparation of workshops were an introduction for the workshops participants were going to prepare and implement independently during the third phase, with their own small teams.

Our impression of the training is that in terms of dynamics it can be divided into 3 parts. The first part was an introduction that lasted for the first few’- days. There was slow progress, with a lot of detachment within the group. We gained the impression that people were hesitant to involve emotionally, beyond the rational professional level. The topic which was worked on the most was conflict. Confrontation did not work as there was mistrust within the group due to the fact that the group had not been built enough in the first part of the training.

The second part of the training was mainly related to subjects such as: nonviolence, gender roles in society, national identity and discrimination. These subjects carry great potential for emotional charge and can open up a wide space for the establishment of clear connections between personal experience and social values and customs. This significantly influenced the work dynamics and trust building within the group. The exercise called «The third route», in which participants had a chance to realize their own reactions in situations of direct violence, as well as to look for various possibilities to respond to violence, was one of the important turning points of the training. The aspect of national identity gave a special mark to this training because emotional openness peaked. This topic, together with the one of gender roles within society showed that people from the group were ready to step into the shoes of others, to feel empathy and give each other support.

The third part of the training was related to arrival of Goran Božičević, the guest trainer, when discussion about peace building was initiated, which changed the focus of the training. His arrival was quite refreshing after the intensity of the several previous days. Therefore a different approach and a new dynamic was agreeable to both the group and the exhausted training team. The subject of peace building became a focus for the training because many previously discussed issues (violence, nonviolence, values, conflict, social change, etc.) reflected upon it. Important issues and dilemmas suddenly started to pour out, and dealing with the reality we lived in was very strong. This workshop brought some very intensive reflection and observations from participants in the plenary discussion. Some questions that came up in the discussion were:

–          Is the violence that destroys actual “violence” a way towards peace building?

–          Is my own individual discord in the soul part of the collective peace/discord?

–          Is there an ideal PEACE?

–          Are there parameters for PEACE?

–          What is the difference between nonviolence and not violence?

–          What is (sustainable) peace?

–          Can peace be built in a violent way?

–          With respect to the fall of the former president of Serbia, Slobodan Milošević, if things turned out differently (if there were more casualties) how would we have looked at it and would we have supported that violence?

–          Can building and establishing peace go on side by side?

–          Can establishment of peace (some incidents) disturb peace building?

Generally, the thread gender identities – discrimination – national identity – peace building was sensible and useful to notice the connection between those topics in the context of nonviolence.

During the workshop on “the role of the trainer” there were some serious reflections; several important questions were asked, e.g. on the authority of the trainer and participants’ attitude towards him/her. We found that issue particularly important, bearing in mind the exaggerated respect for an imaginary “super-hero–trainer” which was noticeable within the group.

What we found missing was discussion about the social context from which people came. On several  occasions we noticed a lack of knowledge and understanding of various social and cultural situations that people came from. Therefore one of the learning points for us was to pay even more attention to getting to know each other, especially by giving more room for presenting personal stories and describing our own social contexts.

Our perception of the group of participants is that they are motivated to work. They invested a lot of effort and were very hardworking and committed. The activist dimension was not emphasized by the group of participants. There were no leaders in the group either, who could pull things up and inspire others to join in. There was a lack of initiative and readiness to take on more responsibility for what was happening during the training. People were also looking for ready-made answers and clarifications, which pointed out to us the lack of understanding among the group of the role of the trainer. We also saw plenty of restraint from free and independent expression of ideas.

One could hear quite a lot of politically correct statements during workshops, but at the same time not enough re-examination of personal responsibility for the social context (‘I am a victim of society’, but what is my role in that society?). There were a lot of difficulties getting into different roles during exercises, but there was readiness to step into the other people’s shoes, which was crucial for this kind of training. We saw a lot of individual re-questioning and work on one’s own values. We also saw people re-examining their own map, showing that participants had come to this  course with an open mind. The fear of confrontation was slowly overcome in the course of the training. One could mostly sense openness and willingness for cooperation. We grew very fond of people from the group and it was good to spend time with them outside working hours. Because of the potential in this group that is worth empowering, we see good reason to continue the programme.

We liked the work of the training team: we felt support, safe space; there was a freedom of expression. We were worried about fatigue and that was one of the most important things to think about. We put a lot of effort into it and there was an equal level of responsibility of all of us in the team. This was the first time that these 4 trainers had worked together, and we therefore had the sense that the team was being developed. It was a very demanding training for us, but still a very satisfying one.

Generally speaking, we like the training; we have a good feeling about it – the first step in this programme has been made.

There’s an overall impression within the team that we managed to respond to the needs of the group, and what is especially important, we got plenty of material for re-examination and enhancement of the approach to work, which we foster in CNA.

Documentation of the training titled «Perhaps It’s Possible» in Bosnian/Croatian, Serbian language is available on request.

Phase II, follow-up meetings

Beograd-Sarajevo, July – August 2003

At the end of July and the beginning of August, the second phase of the Training for Trainers Programme was implemented. During that phase, small teams were formed, which participated in follow-up meetings. In these meetings they prepared the workshops that were to be implemented in the following third phase.

Seven small team meetings took place, generally lasting 2 days. Four took place in Belgrade and three in Sarajevo.

Topics chosen by participants were as follows:

–          Prejudice

–          Analysis of conflict

–          Leadership

–          Gender roles within society

–          Identity and national identity

–          Team work and decision making

–          Identity and different cultural contexts

Two teams prepared their workshops on the subject of identity, but they gave the subject different contexts: one of them made a parallel to national identity, while the other covered identities through various cultural contexts.

At each meeting there were two trainers, who gave support as well as suggestions and feedback in the process of workshop preparation. Meetings were structured in such a way as to include setting up goals for the workshop, defining major issues that needed to be covered, and developing exercises to cover those goals and issues.

Participants found these meetings useful and necessary, as well as exhausting. For the training team some of the meetings were quite inspiring, while others were more or less tiring. We look forward to seeing the workshops conducted in the third phase of the programme. This phase of the Training for Trainers Programme is planned to take place in Bjelašnica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from August 22^nd to September 1^st.

 

 OTHER TRAININGS AND WORKSHOPS

 Training for Members of the Trade Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Hajdučke Vode – Teslić / BH, 10-12.10.2002.

From October 10 – 12, 2002 the seminar on the theme of “Basis of Work Legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Team Work and Understanding of Conflicts”, was held in Hajdučke Vode, near the town of Teslić. The seminar was organised by The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Two members of CNA team, Adnan Hasanbegović and Tamara Šmidling, prepared and conducted three workshops as a part of this training.

There were 18 participants altogether, all of them activists of branch trade unions’ youth sections from different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The organizers had the idea to make two trainings (the one in question was the first part) during which participants would be introduced to some legal aspects of trade union activism, and get a chance to work on the issues and problems of team work and understanding of conflicts that they were encountering on daily basis, in their professional and personal environment. The first day of the seminar was dedicated to work legislature and the role of the union in its creation and implementation. The other part of the seminar was left for workshops, prepared by CNA teammembers.

 

A One-day Workshop in Prijedor

Prijedor / BH, 4.11.2002.

On November 4, 2002, the workshop on the theme of understanding of conflict was held in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the part of a five-day training called «Let’s make the peace» («Pomirimo se»). It was organized by The Agency of Local Democracy – Prijedor in cooperation with an Italian organisation called Obsservatorio Balcani and prepared and conducted by CNA team member Nedžad Horozović. Workshop gathered 14 participants – mostly members of youth clubs, but also young NGO activists from Prijedor, Novi Grad, Banja Luka and Zavidovići.

The training covered different themes (“world” context – globalisation, the role of the community and people’s diplomacy, territory and networking …) offering participants different approaches and work methods (lectures, interactive workshops, plenary discussions). Although the entire training was called: Training in nonviolent conflict resolution/transformation, just one day was planned for work on understanding of conflict, therefore it was impossible to cover this subject more deeply and comprehensively.

 

Training in nonviolent Communication and Nonviolent Conflict Transformation

Banovići / BH, 20-24.11.2002.

Three CNA team members (Adnan Hasanbegović, Milan Colić and Helena Rill) held a four-day training in nonviolent conflict transformation to an invitation from Civic Association „Youth Centre“ from Zavidovići, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A training like this has already been implemented last year, where youth of Zavidovići and Žepče took part, together with members of CNA team and one of their colleagues. After pursuing an examination of needs, Youth Centre confirmed that there was still a need for this kind of training.

However, one day before the training we found out that young people from Žepče would not turn up. We weren‘t informed about the actual reasons for it. The program and the goals of the training were partly changed due to their absence.

The following subjects were worked on: nonviolent communication, team work, decision making, perception and understanding of conflicts, violence / nonviolence and power.

Twelve young people took part at the training, 10 of which were Bosniaks from Zavidovići, and two were Serbs from Prijedor.

 

Workshops for Members of Trade Union from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Neum / BH, 19-21.2.2003.

From February 19 – 21, 2003 the training/seminar was held in Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was organized for members of union’s youth sections from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first part of the training was held in Teslić, BiH, last October. This one was designed to train union activists for an active and constructive work in their sections. Workshops were prepared and conducted by Tamara and Adnan from CNA Sarajevo office.

This time, group was made out of 19 participants. The training team put together a program made of two blocks of workshops with the topics conflict analysis and leadership.

The issue of understanding the structural violence is, in our opinion, a key to trade union activism, therefore we’re very sorry that on this occasion, there wasn’t enough time and space to shed some light to this issue.

 

Workshop «Social Valuation of A Woman as Wife, A Mother and A Housewife»

Sarajevo / BH, 28.02 – 02.03.2003.

Two CNA team members, Sanja Deanković and Tamara Šmidling had a chance to conduct a workshop on the theme of role and the position of women in society, with a very special target group – Muslim women who were devoted believers. The idea for this short training came from one of the participants of our last year’s basic training event in Vogošća.

There were 18 women who attended the workshops. The following themes were covered: identity, social roles and gender roles, and discrimination.

Plenty of interesting and inspiring opinions were heard about the woman’s role in the society, ways to coordinate social engagement and enormous amount of work women do at home, far from the public eye and without any social recognition. The key point of the training was the discussion on discrimination in the society, especially on discrimination against Muslim women. We think that quite a high level of sensitisation to discrimination and violence in the society was achieved. The discussion about possible actions against discrimination was very tempestuous, and most importantly concrete.

 

Congress: “Students Build Bridges”

Hamburg / Germany, 9-11.05.2003.

The organizers of the congress “Students Build Bridges”, which was held for the second time in Hamburg, Germany, gathering many students from South-East Europe and other students who study in Germany, invited Adnan Hasanbegović and Nenad Vukosavljević to conduct two workshops on the themes of “violence within society” and “prejudices”. We were especially motivated to accept this invitation because it offered us a chance to introduce students from the Balkans to an example of peace work. We were glad to receive feedback from them on how encouraged they were to return home after finishing their studies, because they found out about some initiatives that promoted peace in the region and opposed nationalism. Several people who were obviously under the impression of the workshop on prejudices, told us that the workshop was important to them as well as meeting people from different ethnic groups and having discussions on prejudice which were very much a part of their life within their families and environment.

The presence of young people of different nationalities in workshops emphasized the need to work with them as potential returnees and those who would carry out the development of a different future of this region.

 

work on the process

 DEALING WITH THE PAST

 

Panel Discussions «four Views: from the Past – me in the War –

The first panel “Four views: from the past – me in the war, to the future – how to reach sustainable peace” was held in Zenica, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on March 15, 2003. The participants were: Adnan Hasanbegović, Nermin Karačić – both from Sarajevo, former members of Bosnia and Herzegovina Army, Romeo Zelenika from Mostar, a former member of the Croatian Defence Council and Novak Grbić from Banja Luka, a former member of the Republic of Srpska Army.

About one hundred people came to the panel which took place in the Old People’s Home in Zenica. They were mostly young people and NGO activists, and just a very few of those who had been direct participants of the war or who had been on the battlefield, whom we were expecting. We would have experienced their appearance as a support and a clear signal that there was a space for this story within those usually quite closed circles of people.

The panel consisted of three parts: participants’ stories about their feelings and dilemmas regarding the war, their views and reflections on the possibility of building of sustainable peace in this region and finally questions from the people in the audience.

The second panel which was held in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the first one in Republic of Srpska took place in Banja Luka, on March 30.

Although it was far less attended than the one in Zenica, the very place where the panel was held – the festive room of the Banski dvori palace was in a way the signal to the local community that there was a need for an open attitude towards the activates of this kind and that they needed to be done with a certain cooperation of local authorities.

Just like the previous one, this panel also consisted of three parts.

Participants of the panel were: Novak Grbić from Banja Luka and Dušan Šehovac from Sarajevo, former members of the Republic of Srpska Army, Adnan Hasanbegović from Sarajevo, former member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Army and Romeo Zelenika from Mostar, an ex member of the Croatian Defence Council.

 

Training for ex-combatants, Part I

Ulcinj / Montenegro, 30.04 – 06.05.2003.

The Training for the participants of wars in the region of former Yugoslavia was held in Ulcinj, Montenegro, from April 30 to May 6. The group of participants consisted of 10 former soldiers from Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Many of those people are activists of various associations of veterans and disabled veterans, as well as NGOs.

The training team included people from both CNA offices (Adnan, Ivana, Nenad and Tamara) and also our long-time colleague and friend Goran Božičević who’s presently working for the Quaker Peace and Social Witness.

The need for such training came up after we had organized the first round of “Four Views” panels. That’s when we realised that there wasn’t enough space and time for a more intense work with participants on the issues of responsibility for wars and violence and on further work on building the sustainable peace in this region.

During five working days the following themes were covered and the issues were opened: communication, perception, violence, personal experiences related to the war, peace building, simulation of panels, fears and expectations regarding the participation in the process of dealing with the past.

It turned out that the worries of the training team regarding the methodological approach to the group that was rather unfamiliar with the work in the workshops were unfounded because participants’ high motivation contributed to the dynamic workshops and ample discussions. It was noticeable that there wasn’t enough time to cover all the points that were opened in the discussions.

The special segment (level) of work on this seminar was dedicated to the issue of personal responsibility for the war and for the violence that comes with it, and with respect to that was the work on the problems of “law, orders and conscience”. It seems to us that those are the pressing problems that need to be worked on a lot and that this work must be done with a readiness to re-examine one’s own position, actions and non-actions. Only after those points are processed and reviewed – public appearances like the panels we organize, can accomplish a desired, strong impact on the audience.

After the end of the training we have a feeling that an important thing has been done with this activity, with respect to establishment of closer connection between the population of former soldiers and peace initiatives and that a strong impulse was given for various activities in the area of peace building and dealing with the past, in the local communities.

 

Training for ex-combatants, Part II

Bjelašnica, BH, 13 – 16.06.2003.

The second part of the training for ex-combatants was held in the middle of June in the «Maršal» Hotel, in Bjelašnica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Apart from two people who were unable to joins us, the rest of the group remained the same as on the first part of the training, in Ulcinj, Montenegro. Instead of those two we had participants from Rijeka (Croatia) and Tešanj (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The training team remained the same as on the first part of the training, including: Adnan, Ivana, Nenad and Tamara from CNA and Goran Božićević from QPSW.

A two-day gathering was planned to be a follow-up activity with regards to the previous five-day training, with an aim to gather round the group again and let them exchange reactions they had had in their local communities, make some preliminary plans for further actions in the area of dealing with the past, and work additionally on the aspects important for public appearances. Since there were only two working days, the training team tried carefully to make up a timetable in order to devote enough time to all the issues from the agenda which turned out to be quite a difficult task. An additional dimension of the training came out as a result of the need of a large part of the group to dedicate even more time to some of the open issues that had been started in the first part of the training, in Ulcinj. Due to the number and the nature of those open issues, the training gained in complexity that is not quite typical for such two-day training events. The training team estimated that it was a rare chance to exchange some things, therefore a lot of space was left for the most delicate issues related to past wars in this region, like the issues of perpetrators and victims, the nature and the meaning of past wars (whether they were aggressions or civil wars) and so on.

The concept of the training included the following: the introductory workshop that offered space for some additional building of the group and the exchange of experiences amongst participants, work on understanding of the other side, recording of short interviews with each participant and commenting them and a block dedicated to “look into the future” and work on open questions.

One of the emotional peaks of the training was the exercise called “The Other View” that was created in such a way to enable participants to step into the role of the other and understand needs, hopes and fears of the people from the “other side”. The entire working block was dedicated to this exercise with the high level of activity of all the participants, who were playing roles of Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks and trying to understand views and positions of the “other” side in the context of war and violence caused by war.

The last block was intended to start discussion about the ideas for future activities and the evaluation of participants’ own capacities for further dealing with this problem. It also confronted us with two big tasks – how to continue supporting this group of people most of which expressed their great motivation for additional work in this field and how to empower them and support their individual activities, not by organizing them but by collaborating or participating as partners in these activities.

The training ended with an unusually long and occasionally very emotional discussion about the most painful issues regarding the wars in the region of former Yugoslavia and ways and needs to overcome them.

Now, after the training has ended, besides an enormous emotional and energy burn-out we also feel an immense satisfaction with what was accomplished. It’s not only because this sensitive group of people was gathered, but they knew how to use the chance and have an open discussion, and also because most of them still have a lot of motivation and willingness to work in this field. It is especially important to us that they are ready to take part in the activities of this type (training events, panels …) in the whole region of former Yugoslavia and that is not only in the countries they come from.

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

The Manual for Trainings “NENASILJE?” (“NONVIOLENCE?”) Translated into Albanian

The Manual for Training in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation for Work with Adults “NENASILJE?” »NONVIOLENCE? by Nenad Vukosavljević, which was published in 2000, has been translated into Albanian language (»PADHUNSHMËRIA? Doracak për trajnim në temën përpunimi i padhunshëm i konflikteve për punë me të rritur«). It was done by our friend and colleague Memet Memeti from Tetovo, Macedonia and edited by Prof Hamit Xhaferi, Ph.D.

500 copies of the Manual in Albanian have been printed. It can be obtained from CNA Belgrade and Sarajevo offices and it is also available on our web page: www.nenasilje.org.

We use this opportunity to thank once again all those who supported us while we were working on translation of this manual with special thanks to Berghof Stiftung Foundation which provided financial support; Berghof Research Centre for Creative Dealing with Conflict (Berghof Forschungszentrum für konstruktive Konfliktbearbeitung) for their advice and support and Memet Memeti for great and dedicated work on translation of the Manual.

 

Training documentations

Training documentations published since September 2002:

Tko šuti – muti!	documentation of the CNA Basic Training held in Vogošći/BiH in December 2002
Skok u nepoznato 2	documentation of the CNA Basic Training held in Hajdučke Vode/BiH in May 2003
Farbala sam ogradu	IV programme Training for Trainers, phase 3
Daj novu grupu!	IV programme Training for Trainers, phase 4 and 6
IV programme Training for Trainers in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation	documentation of the whole programme
Možda je moguće	V programme Training for Trainers, phase 1

 

Besides the listed publications there are also our regular three-month and annual reports that are available on our web page www.nenasilje.org

 

 ACTIVITIES OF OUR  COOPERATION PARTNERS

In this chapter there are articles on activities organised by our cooperation partners, mainly persons who participated in our Training for Trainers programme. Their activities certainly numerous, but here we describe only those we directly supported or participated in them.

 

The Panel Discussion “Life Together of Different Religions”

Niš /Serbia, 12.6.2003.

The panel discussion titled «Life Together of Different Religions» was held in the Niš City Hall on June 12^th, 2003. It was organized by Youth Council of G17Plus political party.

Coordinator and facilitator of the panel was Aleksandar Obradović, who had shortly before that participated on our Basic Training in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation in Hajdučke Vode, Bosnia and Herzegovina during which he developed the idea of organizing the panel. Aleksandar is now a participant of this year’s Training for Trainers Program.

In the process of planning the structure of the panel two members of CNA gave him the support and the concrete suggestions. CNA supports people with common values and who work on building of sustainable peace in their local communities. We see the theme of the panel as the part of the peace building process.

Guests of the panel were:

–          Bogdan Đurović – sociology professor from the School of Mechanical Engineering in Niš, Serbia

–          Mevlud Ef. Dudić – principal of the Islamic secondary school in Novi Pazar, Serbia, and a member of the government commission for the religious education (representing Muslim religious community)

–          Lorand Kilbertus – priest of St. Peter’s perish from Belgrade (representing Catholic Church)

–          Boban Milenković – priest and professor at the Orthodox School of Theology (representing Serbian Orthodox Church)

 

The panel was moderated by Aleksandar Obradović who focused on the following questions.

What is your opinion on cooperation with members of different religious communities in this region? 

What are the actual chances of cooperation and how much willingness is there for it?

What is gained and what is lost by this in the context of building of for the future? 

How are other religions perceived from your own standpoint? 

What are your expectations of other religions? 

What about living together with atheists – people who do not belong to any religious community?

The entire panel held a very constructive dialogue during both the guest discussion sessions, and when people from the audience had a chance to ask questions. Life together was discussed from both the religious point of view and from everyday life experience. The discussion referred to the current (lack of) knowledge of different religions, and the need for more dialogue about a minimum of common values everyone that everyone could aim for?. Participants of the panel commented on the current state of inter-religious relations and concluded that it was more of a mutual endurance than understanding. Some unplanned issues were brought up during the discussion such as gender, with an emphasis on the point of view of religious teachings.

 

Organized by Creative Centre Caribrod (Kreativni Centar Caribrod)

Vlasinsko jezero (Vlasinsko Lake) / Serbia, 11-20.7.2003.

From July 11^th-20^th, the “Training in Nonviolent Communication and Creative Conflict Transformation” was held on the Vlasina Lake, Serbia. It is a part of the project called “Peace Education in Southeast Serbia 2003” which will be implemented from July to December 2003. The program was organized and carried out by the Creative Centre Caribrod (Kreativni Centar Caribrod) from Dimitrovgrad, Serbia. This program continues the training, which was held under the same name in Zvonačka banja, Serbia, in June 2002. It’s an attempt to maintain continuity of work in this field, in the region of South and Southeast Serbia. The program will be implemented in several phases that adds to one another. The target group includes NGO activists, elementary and secondary school teachers, journalists, politicians and other people who are motivated to work on affirmation of values different from those existing today in their local communities. The first phase of the training foresees two training events, lasting eight days each, with the same concept and with two groups, each of them including 20 people. Some of the basic goals of the training are: work on nonviolent communication, teamwork, sensitisation for violence, work on identities, on conflict transformation, etc.

In the second phase of the training the plan is to continue the “advanced” work with a group of 20 people, chosen from the previous two groups. Seven-day training will cover the following issues: activism, participation in social processes in the local community, writing project proposals and creating small-scale actions which will be implemented in the next phase of the program, with the support of the organizers who have provided financial resources for it. The whole project is financially supported by GTZ (The German Advisory Office).

The training team for the first “basic” training included: Rozeta Aleksov from Dimitrovgrad, Serbia, who was also the organizer of this training (former participant of CNA’s Training for Trainers 2001/02), Sanja Dimitrijević from Novi Sad, Serbia and Blerim Jašari from Tetovo, Macedonia (both of them, former participants of the Training for Trainers 2002/03) and Milan Colić Humljan from CNA Belgrade.

Southeast Serbia can be seen as micro-region that is full of diversities of various types: ethnic, religious, lingual, habitual and traditional. Taking this into consideration, the group was very heterogeneous and well-balanced regionally. The training also gathered people from political parties, education, media, trade unions and NGOs. It turns out that having six people who work in education on the training gives very good results, because it accelerates the potential multiplication effects of knowledge gained in the work process.

The concept of the entire training, although prepared in advance, was often changed and adjusted according to the needs of the group throughout the work process. Some of the topics were covered more thoroughly then previously planned, while others were shortened and modified according to their duration. It required lot of energy and following of the group of which resulted in long evening team evaluations and extensive preparations for each topic. This led to less time being spent with the group in after hours. The group process and the work dynamics were growing throughout the whole training.  The motivation for both work on the individual stand-point, re-questioning personal stand-points, and for the analysis of social processes and action within the local community were increasing on daily basis.

During both the plenary discussions and the work in small groups, one could notice a remarkably constructive approach and that people were listening to each other. On the other hand there was very little confrontation within the group, which was directly damaging the process of the deep examination of some issues that required different views and inter-group confrontation. That hindered work on violence, prejudice and discrimination. The subject of violence provoked a lot of emotions which made it an opening for many other issues. E.g. it opened discussion on issues of violence in the society: how we recognized it, how we acted against it and how much we recognized ourselves in it (whether we committed it ourselves or we were subjected to it). The topic of gender was also covered in a very intense way and made a strong impact on the whole group. There was a lot of discussion about violence against the sexes and social patterns we accept, while growing up, thus becoming a part of it, which supports discrimination and existing violence. There was also lot of discussion about ways to deal with that situation.

The subject of national identity turned out to be a very important one which needed to be worked on in the region of Southeast Serbia. One could hear a lot of expressions denying the importance of that particular identity and emphasizing that there was no need to talk about it. This indicated that the subject has been made a taboo because of the way it is related to some past and present events and because of a current trend of “political correctness” when national identities are discussed. It seems that there is no apparent willingness to discuss this subject and that the tendency is to deny it and push it away without even thinking about it, because, according to some comments “it does not bring any good” which inevitably harms the process of dealing with the past and recognizing one’s own responsibility for it, all of which is an important item in the process of the building of sustainable peace.

The training team estimate that some individuals from the group have a lot of potential and motivation to continue participating in the program, and to take part in the next Training for Trainers. The training team encountered many difficulties in their work, which required a lot of energy and time to deal with. These were caused by a lack of time for preparation of workshops before the training, bearing in mind a new training team. There was also a lack of communication when it came to the organisational duties of some team members, and various levels of experience among the training team (regarding the approach and the number of training events they had done in the past) as well as the complexity of the training (with respect to the frequent changes of the concept of the programme, due to the group process).

This training was also specific because of many problems the training team had with the management of the “Narcis” Hotel, where the training took place. These problems included the fact that the place was unsanitary, the food was bad and the hotel staff treated us extremely rudely while the conditions for work were exceptionally hard. The only way the training team can react to that is to warn anyone who wants to go to that hotel, to avoid it, by all means.

This aside, the team feel that working on the affirmation of the values of nonviolence in the region of Southeast Serbia, with a strong focus on local conditions and specific problems that affect people of that area, gives quite a special and very important dimension to our work and we shall certainly give it a lot of thought in the future.

 

 Training in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation  for the Teachers of the Secondary Medical School from Skoplje, Macedonia

Organised by Prva detska ambasada  Međaši (The First Children’s Embassy Međaši), Skoplje/Macedonia

Mavrovo, 17-24.8.2003

This training was the first of a 6-month long pilot project organized by Prva detska ambasada Međaši (The First Children’s Embassy Međaši) from Skopje, Macedonia. The participants are teachers from a bi-lingual (Macedonian and Albanian) school in Skoplje, Macedonia. The project aims at opening communication channels between the 2 ethnicities.

There are ongoing problems in the school, strongly effected by the high level of inter-ethnic distrust throughout the country, causing trouble for both teachers and students. Physical violence between large groups of students, which is partly encouraged by some teachers was also a problem that has occurred in the past.

Preparation for the project included a systematic, anonymous poll conducted amongst the students of four bi-lingual high schools in Skopje, which pointed out inter-ethnic problems as one of the main difficulties.

The training team consisted of:

–          Gordana Zmijanac from Skopje, The First Children’s Embassy Međaši;

–          Blerim Jashari from Tetovo, Centre for Balkanic Cooperation LOJA;

–          Ana Bitoljanu from Skopje, Oliva;

–          Nenad Vukosavljević from Belgrade, Centre for Nonviolent Action.

The first three were participants of CNA’s Training for Trainers Program. This was the first time they all had a chance to work together as members of a training team.

The participant group consisted of 20 teachers, half of whom were Albanian and half Macedonian. We worked for 7 days, opening up some issues important for the understanding of conflict in Macedonia, and for better understanding of the view of the other side of that conflict. Opening up those taboos provoked turbulent emotional reactions, or a reluctance to discuss politics at all. However the group showed willingness to work on those painful issues, so it was possible for discussion to take place on the following subjects: the use of Albanian language, the perception of belonging to Macedonia as country, numerous examples of torture and discrimination against certain Albanians during the war in Macedonia, and also about the fears of people of both Macedonian and Albanian nationality.

After the building of trust within the group, and the establishment of mutual communication, we worked on problems that were occurring in the school and on possible ways to solve them through the cooperation of teachers from both ethnic groups. The discussion began by looking at the approach of children to education, and different perceptions of it.  We looked at the concept of “let’s teach them some rules so they become men” as opposed to “let’s offer them interaction and responsibility in the process of dialogue, so that they experience school rules as part of the agreement they have also participated in it”.

Work on gender issues was very turbulent and it vigorously opened up communication between people of different nationalities, because they (firstly women) recognized the discrimination they are subjected to, regardless of their nationality. The training was too short to give us a chance to cover the issues we began to work on, thoroughly enough. However, it created an excellent basis for cooperation between the teachers, and for further joint action in the school.  It also gave them a chance to become aware of injustice in their society that didn’t necessarily affect them, but did affect their colleagues.

With respect to the plans to continue work with this group and the expected support, this project might offer a solid basis for the development of the program which could be applied all through Macedonia. It is certain that need for such a thing exists.

 

 EVALUATION

 

Note: The detailed internal and external evaluations of our programmes Training for Trainers and the process that follows the public forums Four Views will be published in our next three-month report (September – November 2003).

 

EVALUATION OF CNA WORK

Activities

During the past 12 months (from September 2^nd – August 3^rd) members of the CNA team were primarily engaged in the following basic areas of work:

1.) The organisation and implementation of basic training events in non-violent conflict transformation

2.) The implementation of a new, expanded concept of the Training for Trainers program

3.) Activities in the fields of dealing with the past (preparation and implementation of panels «Four Views: From the Past – Me in the War; Towards the Future – How to Reach Sustainable Peace» and the organisation of training events with people who participated in wars in the region of former Yugoslavia).

However, the activities stated above do not include everything that was done in the past year, since we also had time and resources to take part in several short training events and workshops, as well as long-lasting activities, organized mostly by people who participated in some of our previous Training for Trainers Programs.

Basic training events

The last year was quite exceptional for CNA, primarily because of the very small number of basic training events we managed to implement. There were just two of them, one in Vogošća, Bosnia and Herzegovina in December 2002 and the other one in Hajdučke Vode, Bosnia and Herzegovina in May 2003. The main reason for this situation was the lack of financial support for this kind of activity, a point we will refer to later on in this report. As for the CNA’s global idea of action, basic training events represent a corner stone of all our activities, and the basis from which we draw potential participants for the Training for Trainers Programs, and cooperation in all the other activities we pursue. Therefore, we perceive this situation as truly challenging and a serious difficulty that endangers the basic concept of our work.

These training events contained much potential for Training for Trainers. At the same time, some old problems remained (a very small number of applications from Kosovo and some parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina) and some new challenges and dilemmas occurred that required serious reflection about ways to deal with them (for instance how to handle difficult psychological problems that individuals in the group might have).

Training for Trainers

The new, expanded Program was implemented for the first time in the past year. The program consisted of eight phases, during which participants had a chance not only to gain knowledge, skills and the sensitisation needed for the trainer’s work, but to create and implement their own activities, with the support of the CNA team. Five training events were implemented in the VII phase of the Program as a result of intensive and dedicated, several-month long work. Training events were organized and conducted by participants of the program with different target groups (young people, journalists, teachers, NGO activists) in Montenegro, Vojvodina, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia.

Such a concept gives plenty of reasons for satisfaction because according to our assessment, it is quite ample and offers a balance between work on personal development and work on gaining necessary organizational and trainer’s skills. At the same time, it is also empowering which is proved with a high percentage of people from the group who continue to create, implement and facilitate various training events and workshops after the training. Of course, all this doesn’t mean that the concept needs no change, but they will be defined in the evaluation of the program which will be done in cooperation with  the Berghof Research Centre for Constructive Conflict Management with the participants, at the end of this year.

An especially important item of the evaluation of this Program is related to the establishment of closer connections and cooperation between people who went through the Training for Trainers programs in previous years. Two participants from our former Training for Trainers Programs took part in the activities organized by the participants of this year’s program. The cooperation between them has not stopped there, because they have already planned and implemented some other activities together. One of them is the series of training events in the Southeast Serbia which is organized by one of the participants of Training for Trainers Program 2001. The training team on the first of those training events included two people from last year’s program and one CNA Belgrade team member. Two participants from our 2002/2003 Training for Trainers Program from Macedonia organized the training for Macedonian and Albanian teachers. One of our colleagues from CNA Belgrade and one participant of the Training for Trainers Program 2000 joined them in the training team. Besides strengthening connections and cooperation between people who belong to the informal trainers’ network, this activity is also important because the work is taking place in Macedonia and it focuses on the target group of teachers, since Macedonia is a region with an ongoing, low-intensity, inter-ethnic conflict where CNA wants to give extra support to the local initiatives and capacities in the process of peace building.

In the beginning of July, we started a new, fifth Training for Trainers Program. We’ve done three phases of the program so far (two ten-day training events and a series of follow-up meetings). This group of participants is specific in comparison to the others because it includes four former soldiers, people who participated in wars in the region of former Yugoslavia (two of them from the Army of Republic of Srpska, one from the Croatian Army and one from the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina). Therefore, we’ve managed to fulfil another one of our goals and that is to include the target group of former soldiers in our usual training activities and to enable recognition of this particular social group, in the area of peace building.

Dealing with the past

We started this last year as a pilot-project with four panels that gathered former participants of wars in this region. It continues in this 12-month period with a significant increase of activities in regard to their intensity and quantity. We organized two panels in Bosnia and Herzegovina (in Zenica and Banja Luka) and conducted two training events with former soldiers (in Ulcinj, Montenegro and in Bjelašnica, Bosnia and Herzegovina). The preparations for the next five panels that are going to take place in Serbia and Montenegro are under way. We plan to implement them in October and November 2003.

Besides an invaluable experience, the intensive work in the field of dealing with the past has brought us a great “burden” of responsibility on several levels: towards the communities we work with, towards people and organizations who are willing to participate in this process with us and in respect to the participants of these activities and ourselves, due to the fact that it is wearing us out.

We have also become aware of the need to have even closer cooperation with the media who have immense power to deliver the message of peace to the wider public. We are aware that the crucial part of this activity is related to our cooperation with local partners, and that it is necessary to include people with whom we share the same values and involve them in the process of organising the panels. Because of this, the decision was made to choose local partners who have participated in some of our educational programs, throughout the five towns of Serbia and Montenegro where the panels take place. This aspect was missing during the development and implementation of panels in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that is certainly one of the vital points of our future work – to find individuals or organizations from all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who have the capacities and willingness for long-term cooperation in this field.

One way to accomplish this is through training events for former soldiers, which have started in the past year. They were very useful for both establishing closer connections with this segment of the population and for providing resources for potential panel debates and other activities tied to dealing with the past.

A special part of that work is related to the need for the exchange of experiences and ideas between organisations and people from this region who work in the field of dealing with the past. That is why at the end of this year CNA intends to implement a networking meeting of people from the region of former SFRY who either work or wish to work in this field.

Other activities

Members of CNA team participated as trainers on several smaller training events and workshops organized in different towns in the region (Hajdučke Vode, Neum, Prijedor, Banovići, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Vlasina, Serbia; Mavrovo, Macedonia), with various target groups (young people, Muslim women, trade unions activists, teachers, etc.). These small activities are important to us because they give us a chance to work with target groups we don’t really get to work very often (like trade union activists or religious women).

Manual in Albanian language

In 2001 our manual «Nonviolence» was translated into Macedonian, this year we published it in Albanian («Padhunshmeria»). The situation in Kosovo and Macedonia, points out that it is necessary to strengthen peace work and the nonviolent approach to the problem. Publishing the manual is one step towards that which can make work easier for local people and bring the idea of nonviolence closer to a wider circle of individuals interested in it.

Postponed/delayed activities:

Although after quite some time we managed to get resources for the implementation of a meeting of peace activists from this region, the activity was postponed until the end of the year due to CNA’s very tight work schedule. Two basic training events were also postponed because of the lack of financial support. The uncertainty regarding the funding of these training events still remains, and it is completely vague whether they are going to be implemented or not.

Capacities

The intensity and the nature of the activities implemented so far has raised quite a lot of questions in respect to the present capacities of CNA. Although our team is strengthened with one additional team member, so our team consists of eight persons now, during this year there was the constant feeling of fatigue, over-exhaustion, and potential burn-out due to the great amount of stress. In the future we should pay attention and more involve our partners, specially those from our informal network of people who attended the programme Training for Trainers, in the activities we organise and implement.

Funding

The main characteristic of the past year was the very uneven process of grant approval in respect to the type of the activities that funders are willing to support. While it was relatively easy to raise funding for the activities in the field of dealing with the past it was not the case with training events (which additionally deal with the present and future). This is the main reason why the number of basic training events was reduced to just 2, one of which CNA financed from its own resources. This is where most of our dissatisfaction comes from, since the Sarajevo office does not have its running expenses covered. Our members’ fees are the only source of finances for our Sarajevo office. There are several reasons for such a complicated process of fund raising – the global political situation, the economic crisis, uneven standards and fees for trainers’ work as a consequence of a shallow understanding of this work, and a lack of established criteria and rules in this segment of social activity. However despite this CNA Belgrade in cooperation with KURVE Wustrow received significant financial support from the German Ministry of International Cooperation and their Civil Peace Service Program, from the beginning of this year. During the past year we have been financially supported by: the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the German Ministry for International Cooperation, and GTZ – Gesellschaft fuer technische Zusammenarbeit and Berghof Stiftung.

Because of the high costs involved in maintaining 2 offices we have reason to be worried about the future. We therefore carry a great responsibility to find new sources of funding and refresh the old ones. In the midst of this we need to keep a balance between our response to the recent situation with the donors, and the need to maintain CNA’s recognizable identity  that we all care for very much.

Evaluation of the Training for Trainers 2002-2003 Programme

based on QUESTIONNAIRES

Participants: Fifteen participants completed the programme out of twenty-one who entered it. There were ten female and five male participants from: Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro and Kosovo, eight of which were NGO activists, three activists of political parties, two journalists, one pedagogue in an elementary school and one person from an international government organisation.

Two months after the end of the programme, participants filled the evaluation questionnaires (we received 13 questionnaires from 15 participants who had completed the programme).

All of the participants who filled in their questionnaires expressed their great satisfaction with the concept of the programme, emphasizing that the sequence of phases in the programme suited them and that they were well combined and complemented each other:

“I think that the concept is well designed and that all phases progressed well into each other and complemented each other. This was very important to me. There was not any idle speed, as well as any unnecessary or pointless activities. I congratulate you on that, especially since it was a very long programme!! It seemed quite exhausting at times, but I thought it paid off eventually. The follow-up meetings were a hit, and in my opinion a lot of work was done there that we didn’t have time for

during the training events.”

”I think that this concept of a Training for Trainers programme was well set out  and that each of the eight phases had its place in the whole process. I liked how those eight phases logically continued one after the other”.

“I liked the concept very much, amongst other reasons because it somehow followed my work … Therefore, after each phase I had a chance to apply what I had learnt and to recognize it – because I wasn’t quite aware of it while the actual phases were taking place … I look at this training as one complete totality”.

”The duration of the training (programme) suited me and the time table, too. It enabled me to make a link between simulations we did in workshops and real-life situations I have encountered in my work.“

“I think the programme was well created and that all the important segments were covered, starting with the preparations to enter the role of the trainer (I mean the first three phases), up to the introduction to the entire process: “from initial idea, throw whole process, ending with financial report of the activity”. It was important to me to find out how it all continued from the moment the first initiative appeared, to the last step of the implementation.”

„All the phases were put together in such a way that they fully complemented each other. Follow-up meetings were a bit exhausting because they required quite a long trip for a short period of time, but eventually it was all good.“

There were no suggestions for major changes and improvements to the programme. The training team is also very satisfied with the concept and we therefore recommend that this concept is adhered to.

Six people stated that they were very interested in “dealing with the past” and that they would like to be more involved with it. Because of this, several participants suggested that more time and attention should be given to this issue within the concept of the programme. This point had also become apparent to the training team, and we therefore recommend that this subject be given more time and attention early in the programme.

Three people stated that they needed to work longer and more thoroughly on writing project proposals and drawing up the budget. Those topics were worked on for a day and a half during the training and in the follow-up meeting as well. Having in mind that most of the participant teams did not come to that meeting with a prepared draft version of their project proposals, it was not possible to cover this topic as thoroughly as planned. The team recommendation remains not to extend work on this topic during the course of the training, but to explain to the participants why it is important that they try to make a draft version of the project proposal for the follow-up meeting.

Feedback on the workshop on presentation of peacework suggested that a more relaxed approach was used, and that more time for preparation was built in. One person suggested more work should be invested in developing facilitation skills. Several people stated that in the last phase of the programme, more work should be done on exchange of experiences gathered during the organisation and implementation of each participants’ training events. The training team did prolong the last evaluation training for a day, which turned out to be a very useful decision as it gave people more time for the exchange of experiences. The recommendation remains to keep that one extra working day in the last phase of the programme.

In most cases participants stated that phase VII was their most important experience of the entire programme, when they implemented the activities that they had autonomously created and organised. Here is what they said:

„The most important experience for me was that of being a trainer, as I realized that «I can do it». For me it is just perfect that I went through all the trainer’s duties, starting with writing  the project proposal, sending invitations, selecting applicants, preparing workshops, buying materials, taking care of finances, conducting a training and workshops, etc.“

„The possibility to look at many things from a different point of view, to think about the causes and consequences of some things and phenomena that have happened and that are still happening in  society, to see myself and to look at my potential and capacities in this entire context, to pass onto  others knowledge and skills, using all the things I’ve learnt during this programme, and there’s so much of that.”

„For me the most important thing is that through the entire programme I kept re-examining myself, working on myself, learning… and I may say I’ve changed (hopefully, for the better?). I’ve been through this great work on myself, and I hope it won’t stop …”

„…I’ve learnt to win my own space, I’ve learnt how to listen to other people when they talk to me, and how to talk myself, I’ve learnt about the necessity of self re-examination, I’ve learnt to speak from “I”, I’ve learnt that nothing should ever be taken for granted, I’ve learnt to look at things “wider and deeper”, I know what I want and what I don’t want and why, I’ve started to truly love and respect myself, I’ve learnt how to deal with what I am and how to become better, I’ve learnt to understand others, I’ve learnt to write a project and draw up a budget, I’ve learnt to do a financial report, I’ve slightly opened a door and I want to open them wide. People, was I supposed to write just ONE of the most important experience, here?”

„I’ve felt the power of grass root activism, and what is really amazing, my place in all that. I’ve always given priority to philosophising and the high politics. Even, in the party, I loathed “infantry” jobs and did it quite rarely.”

„In this moment, it seems that my most important experience is that I’m ready to change myself and that I want to influence the changes of the society around me … The entire process I’ve been going through, as a part of the group is a great experience of a team work, with the training that I took part in by organising and implementing it. It is definite proof that team work needs a lot of investment but that it gives great results.“

„The training helped me to define more closely my place in social processes, how I can participate in them in some new ways, the realisation that conflict is approached  can contribute to the transformation of it.”

When asked what they particularly liked during the programme, participants mostly mentioned phase VII of the programme and their satisfaction with the teamwork, while some of them stated they very much liked the selected literature they received after each training event, and some stated the following:

„I would especially like to emphasise the work methodology, openness and sincerity of the people.”

„Facing extreme emotional and various other situations, even when it was least expected. Then, re-examination of the responsibility of the TT (training team), how far can one go in situations like those etc. I liked hanging out with people and the group development scale?? and the communication amongst us because it was open. I liked the programme because it gave plenty of new, empirical situations one could learn a lot from”

„I liked the places in which the training events took place.”

„Support. The support from the group was exemplary; however the support from the training team was incredible, almost surreal. I’m actually ashamed I needed to consume it to such an  extent.”

„The dedication of all participants (including the training team) gave me strength, when I was weak and encouraged me when I wanted to quit. I also liked the cooperation between teams who were doing different training events, the exchange of experiences, encouragement, and support.”

Participants gave various answers to the question about things they were bothered with or those they missed:

„I didn’t have enough time for both work and socializing, just because I was so satisfied, motivated and happy that I wanted it to last for a bit longer.“

„I was bothered with the way the training team was handling emotionally stressful situations. Although it is clear to me that all the time they insisted on both collective and individual responsibility, double standards were applied because the training team had the right to open up some very painful issues, but when an accident occurred they said “it’s his/her problem”.”

„I very much missed some people who had to drop out of the programme.”

„I was bothered when we were worn out due to bad accommodation … As for the last phase and our meeting in Ulcinj, I missed discussing more about trainers’ experience, issues that came up, and there wasn’t more time to talk about it.“

In this evaluation, we paid special attention to the VII phase of the programme (training events done autonomously by the participants), since that was the biggest improvement of the programme, in comparison to the previous Training for Trainers. Here’s what participants said, what it meant to them:

„…The most valuable practical experience. In this phase, I felt I was ready to work as a trainer of nonviolent conflict transformation and I was happy to feel?? the group and to deal successfully (together with the training team?) with problems. I think it was the starting point of my more conscious work on peace building.”

„What else should I say, but: a GREAT experience. It meant a lot to me. First of all, because I got the chance to work something I considered to be important and that you had so much trust in me/us to make it possible for me/us. I am glad I could do it all from the start, down to the writing of a project proposal and budget, preparation of a training and then the implementation. I’ve gained a great experience, one I could not get simply?? through the workshops.”

„That phase had a tremendous value and meaning in this entire programme, and I had a chance to learn and encounter for the first time a bunch of new stuff, like writing a project proposal, a narrative report after the training, participating in the making of a financial report, and of course the actual training. I consider that training to be a very valuable one because I had the chance to work with the target group (teachers) which is very close to me and which I see as a driving force that needs to be worked with and the one I want to work with.“

„It meant a lot to participate in the whole process, from the beginning of an idea to the implementation of the activity, in all the segments. It was very important to me to experience team work in the true sense. (What I used to call team work until then, actually wasn’t really it).”

„I’ve learnt inexpressibly much, it’s finally clear to me now. I know that learning from your own experience is painful but why did I have to learn so much on my first training? It would have been much more human if that lesson was stretched to, let’s say, four training events… Amongst other things, my previous comprehension has deepened and enhanced. After (the training in) Kolašin, I wrote: »I’ve realised that a good team moves mountains«. In Macedonia, I’ve realised that one does not find a good team but builds it.”

„That phase meant so much to me. From all the phases I’ve been through, I think that very phase influenced me the most and I changed the most in that particular phase. Besides that, practise is practise!!!”

All the participants who did their own training events with one CNA team member in their teams emphasised that it was very important to them to have the presence and support of that person. Many recommendations were made to keep up that practice, which is also the recommendation of the training team. Most participants also find it important that people who went through some previous Training for Trainers programmes joined their teams.

What did their active participation in this programme mean to the participants? Apart from general impressions such as “it meant a lot”, “an immensely important experience”, “I learnt a lot”, some answered more precisely:

„This training has definitely had a crucial influence on my expertise, readiness to work, development of certain attitudes and recognition of my own needs. Today, I have more self-esteem to get involved and to comment publicly on processes that are going on in my environment. At the same time, Training for Trainers has opened up many issues and areas of action and it would have taken me a lot more time to do it by myself.”

„I would like to distinguish the fact that I am now confronting prejudices much more, and I work on them and that makes me proud. I am more active and braver than I was, which means a lot to me. I say openly when I do not agree with some things, and I don’t let others walk all over me. I condemn violence aloud!”

„After Training for Trainers I feel I am more mature, stronger, more experienced and more confident in my everyday work. Although I’ve worked in an NGO, it wasn’t quite clear to me what activism was and I used to hate the word “politics”. Now, it is not the case and I’ve realised that for years with my actions I have been the creator of politics…”

„I have become more aware as a citizen and an individual. I have found my space for action within the silent role (still waters run deep:). Things that surround me are much clearer to me now, I’ve learnt to call them by their real names and I gained some strength and willingness to either stand up to them or support them. I have more self esteem, because it seems to me that the things I do have results.”

„…This training has shown me how strong and brave I can be and all the things I can and want to do. I am sure that this training has changed my life and helped me look at the world from all sides, and not just from one. The thing that is especially important to me is that this training has helped me to find friends for life.”

„These days, I wonder how I was able to be a journalist without an experience like this … Of course I  realised this at the end, after thinking about all the issues we were working on. Now I look at  social phenomena as an individual who wants to influence them, change them, to be active, while in the past I was just a carrier of information from its source to the readers, or an observer of the events I thought I had nothing to do with, although I did have, and as a person who felt powerless because I couldn’t recognize ways to react … At the beginning of Training for Trainers programme I had many doubts about why I was participating. The basic training meant a lot, but I thought that the Training for Trainers was for people who either had already been active or those who wanted to be active in an NGO or political parties. Now I want to be active too, and I see my place, as well as the place for other journalists in the Training for Trainers programme, because I no longer think that this profession means just “broadcasting” news.”

How prepared do participants of the programme feel for independent work, and what else do they need? Most of them stated that they need various forms of support:

„Of course I need support … Whether it’s going to be pat on the back or an email, a phone call, literature, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I know it’s there.”

„I want to work, but it seems that for independent work I need many things. More concretely, to work in the local community I need to have the support and interest of individuals. I would also like to have a person who went through the Training for Trainers – it would mean a lot to me”.

„I am fully prepared and willing to work. Activities are in progress and all I need now is some moral support”.

„Well, there are all kinds of things I need, although most of it I’ve already got! I am ready for further work and I’m not afraid of the inevitable obstacles”.

„I have a desire, strength and ideas for further work. I lack logistics (for instance the organisation) but it doesn’t seem like it’s unsolvable”.

We received many ideas for future activities. Some are still quite general and undeveloped, some are being developed; some have already been transformed into some concrete ongoing activities. However it is obvious from the evaluation questionnaires, as well as from the mailing list, that the ideas that are being developed include several participants, for instance on the training for teachers of a mixed school in Skopje, Macedonia. Five participants of this programme founded and registered a peace organisation. Five participants are actively involved in the organisation of the panels “Four Views” with former soldiers from different sides.

At the end of the programme a few participants commented that although the concept of the programme predicted eight phases, they did not feel that it was the end of the programme, but rather like the start of its “ninth phase” that was without any time limit and with working at full steam.

Judging by the ideas for future activities and participants motivation to be involved, the “ninth phase” already begun.

 

The Political and Social Context within which cna works

 

Macedonia

Two years ago the Ohrid Agreement was made which contained constitutional changes created to minimize the discrimination of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia and provided them with a position of constitutional nation (beside Macedonians) in the country.

The Agreement foresees the proportional representation of Albanians in public services, regulates the right to use Albanian language in communication with public services etc. The former military leader of the Albanian rebellion has become a leader of the strongest political party, gathering Albanians in Macedonia (The Democratic Union for Integration -DUI), building a ruling coalition with Macedonian social-democrats (SDSM). This has caused much anger among ethnic Macedonians, who consider him a terrorist. However the politics of the DUI has been a surprise to many people because they have principally stood up in favour of Albanians and Macedonians co-existing in the country. The corruption and criminality that blossomed and became ubiquitous under the rule of the previous coalition of Albanian and Macedonian parties has been significantly reduced during the mandate of the new government. The former practise of giving key positions in the administration to local party officials has also stopped for the most part.

Even though, or just because the prosperous criminal business has stopped, armed incidents, bomb explosions, kidnapping and assaults on police are still ongoing.. A group of renegade Albanian militants, who call themselves the Albanian National Army (ANA) continues making occasional attacks, thus keeping up tension amongst citizens and sustaining a high level of distrust between the two ethnic communities. During his recent stay in Macedonia, the author of this article could hear random shooting from automatic rifles and guns, coming from different sides, on some nights just several hundred meters away, on the outskirts of the Macedonian capital, Skoplje. It is understandable that people from all ethnic groups who live there are upset and anxiously wait for what may happen. It was touching to hear people who have been building their house for 15 years or so, when they describe how they are preparing themselves emotionally for the possibility of leaving their house and losing their property. It is difficult to keep calm in a situation like that. Why neighbours of those who are shooting at night don’t react – that question so far remains without answer. Do they fear for themselves, or support these harassing actions (it doesn’t go further that that, for now) or is it something else?

Even the changes of system, like proportional representation of Albanians in public services, creates tension. This is because young Macedonians are wondering why they are losing their jobs to people who are perhaps less qualified. It is difficult to be sensible or sensitive? in a situation of uncertain existence and extreme inter-ethnic distrust. The country’s economic weakness makes the situation worse, because everyone’s share gets smaller instead of bigger.

During recent events in Macedonia two policemen were kidnapped and soon after were released in a police action; the next evening, bombs exploded in front of the Government Building in Skoplje and in front of the Court House. The news was released that the police had set off for the village of Aračinovo, nearby Skoplje, in search of the kidnappers. I spoke with an Albanian from that village, whose father was killed and house was destroyed while he was severely physically abused even though he was not a member of the Albanian military structure, during this police action that had happened two years ago. He was “kidding” when he told me that in case the police came to his village again, he had just one alternative and that was to “grab a gun”. I hope he will not do that today.

 Montenegro

The Montenegrin ruling structure approached the forming of a State Union of Serbia and Montenegro unwillingly, and under pressure from the European Union. That is a new name for the country previously called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which inevitably sends Yugoslavia back to history. The referendum on Montenegrin independence is delayed for the next 5 years, which was justified by the authorities of Montenegro with the pressure from abroad. They promise independence after the moratorium on independence expires.

The politics of the Montenegrin government quite irritates the Serbian public, because it is interpreted as an intentional obstruction of agreements that are supposed to be the basis for an accelerated process of association with the European Union. It seems that such a strategy is not unintentional, because public surveys? in Serbia indicate the increasing number of people? in favour of an independent Serbia and in favour of breaking up the union with Montenegro. Such policy might look like making a rod for your own back, but if we keep in mind that the main goal of the ruling elite of Montenegro is independence, it is quite effective. From the standpoint of association with the European Union, it is damaging for both republics.

The President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović (Democratic Party of Socialists – DPS) decided, after two presidential mandates, to run for the position of prime minister instead of the presidential position for the last, third time (as the Constitution of Montenegro foresees).  He has twice been in the position of prime minister, during the period when the Montenegrin and Serb armed forces invaded southern Croatia (the surroundings of Dubrovnik). The court from the Italian city of Naples has pressed charges that include organized crime and the smuggling of tobacco from Montenegro to Italy against the gentleman in question, who is in most parts of Montenegro considered to be a beloved leader. He denies all of the charges.

The unprincipled opposition coalition has failed in their attempt to replace the ruling coalition of DPS-SDP. Former disciples of Milošević who have just slightly changed their facade are still flirting with Serbian nationalism. Their support continues to decrease, remaining still in the north of Montenegro, in those parts close to the border with Serbia. The other large opposition party (the Liberal Alliance) is strongly in favour of independence. However thanks to their lust for power, they managed to lose the support of those who once considered them capable of changing the autocratic and corrupt DPS regime.

The impression remains that the process of democratisation in the country is stagnating, while the economic situation gets even worse and the friction between the government and the opposition do not manage to draw public attention away from the burning problems that remain unsolved. What will distract people once the country becomes independent, remains to be seen in four years from now. In four lost years?

 Serbia

After the assassination in March of the Serbian prime minister, Zoran Đinđić, a state of emergency was declared. It lasted for two months during which the police conducted a search for those responsible for his killing. The life of a man in a key position in Serbia, was once again taken violently. Although he wasn’t very popular his tragic death united most of the citizens of Serbia in their anger. Some opposition leaders reacted to the news almost triumphantly, failing to show any respect to this man and his horrifying destiny, however popular or unpopular he had been.

This was a great setback in the process of transformation in Serbian society. It had a destabilizing impact and multiple negative consequences on the political, social and economic level. The action of exposing the criminal network tied-in with powerful figures from the former regime, including the investigation of their connections within the police, and the courts, and the economy, is almost finished, and it offers results that leave us unclear in respect to how complete it really is. On the other side of the coin we should also mention that some political assassinations that happened during the regime of Slobodan Milošević have been cleared up, and the results have pointed to the same people who were involved in the killing of the prime minister. These are the people who came from the special police units, and they are the same ones that Đinđić tried to settle accounts with shortly before he was killed.

At this moment, six months after the assassination, the political scene in Serbia is full of mutual accusations of corruption between the ruling coalition and the former expert group that turned into a political party called G17 Plus.  According to opinion polls this is the most popular party, rated above the Democratic Party of the late Prime minister Zoran Đinđić, and the Democratic Party of Serbia headed by the former Yugoslav President, Vojislav Koštunica.

The process of privatisation has been followed by several scandals in which government officials are being accused of setting up public auctions. The unexpected success of the privatisation of the tobacco factories brought in over 600 million € to the state budget. This improved the results of the privatisation process, which had practically stopped after the killing of the Prime Minister. However the economy still shows no signs of growth, while the unemployment rate increases. In protest against this there were several road blockades across Serbia this summer, which seemed to be the favourite form of protest for workers and farmers.

The turmoil caused by the demand from the European Union for the harmonization of tax rates between Serbia and Montenegro seemed to last forever, thus endangering the feasibility study on the association with European Union, which was supposed to be implemented in September.

Numerous examples of horrifying acts of violence against Serbs in Kosovo that go on unpunished are illustrated in the most striking way by the murder of an entire family and by an attack on a group of children in which two of them were killed and six were seriously injured. After a break of several months armed attacks in the south of Serbia, near the border with Macedonia and Kosovo, have started again, with bomb explosions in front of Mosques and schools, and a mortar attack on an army barracks.

The Serbian Prime Minister has recently offered 1000 soldiers to the American government to participate in “peace missions” that include Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places where American troops are involved. It is obvious that Serbia is looking for closer relations with the US in order to gain their support when it comes to the future status of Kosovo. The US warmly accepted this gesture, which caused nervous reactions among Albanian politicians, who have been the main allies of the US so far. Instead of opening dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, a political battle has started aimed at winning powerful allies.

Serbia has officially accepted the right to conscientious objection, while the process of the transformation of the Army of Serbia and Montenegro has started by forcing a large group of generals known from the former regime into retirement.

Kosovo

At the end of July, Michael Steiner, the former UN administrator, left Kosovo. This, in his opinion, finished his mandate. It has been difficult to notice positive changes in Kosovo during the past year. It seems that the systematic campaign of assaults against the Serbian minority have been intensified lately, therefore on the very day the new UN administrator in Kosovo, Harry Holkeri, began his term, the above mentioned attack was made on a group of Serbian children, with dreadful consequences. One man who drove the injured children to hospital was forced to stop his car and then was attacked by a group of Albanians, while a group of Serbs attacked and beat up an Albanian woman afterwards. The cruelty of these events over-shadowed the killing of an entire Serbian family that had happened several weeks before, while another Serb was hit by a sniper bullet and severely injured in the meantime. None of the perpetrators of these crimes have been arrested so far, while several Albanian witnesses in court trials against former members of UCK (Albanian war guerrilla) have been assassinated. Ordinary citizens have every reason to fear for their lives, so it is no wonder that the local population do not co-operate with UNMIK police forces in Kosovo, in their search for people responsible.

Four years after the war has ended, people in Kosovo live with power supplies for just 2-3 hours a day; therefore most of the houses are equipped with generators. The reason for this is the embezzlement of funds which were supposed to be used for the reconstruction of power plants. The people responsible for this scam were one foreign expert (German) and one local manager of the Electrical Power Company. After the scandal, donors stopped further payments of aid for reconstruction. In conditions like these, with a devastated infrastructure and constant ethnically motivated violence, it is hard to imagine a revival of the economy. The situation gets additionally difficult because of the complicated relations concerning the property of companies in Kosovo (plenty of which are owned by Serbian companies), which are for the most part blocking the privatisation process.

It is difficult to offer a constructive suggestion to the solution of problems in Kosovo. The political representatives of Serbia insist on the approach described as: “first standards, than status” which means protection of the rights of minorities. Albanian representatives give priority to the resolution of the status issue explaining that it is the absence of a permanent solution that causes problems. It seems that corruption and organized crime are the only areas making a profit out of the present situation. It is therefore necessary that ordinary people in Kosovo, especially Albanians with their special responsibility of the majority, start resisting the extremists and show clearly that they refuse to use violence against minorities in Kosovo. Political representatives should have the leading role in that process, but so far they have shown reservations towards it, fearing that they might lose their political ratings.

Croatia

The past period in Croatia was marked with significant changes in legislation. Besides the new Family Law and the Gender Equality Law, Croatia has also adopted a Homosexual Partnership Law, the first law to regulate the rights of homosexuals.  People of the same sex who live together in a partner relationship are by this law guaranteed the right to support their partner, and the law also regulates property rights amongst them. Hence, when it comes to property rights, a homosexual partnership is equal in front of the law to the extramarital partnership of a man and a woman.

Although the original idea was to include articles on the rights of partners in homosexual partnerships in the new Family Law, a separate act was prepared because the conservative political parties, lead by MPs from the Croatian Peasant Party, insisted that such articles did not belong in the Family Law.

Tihomir Orešković, Mirko Norac and Stjepan Grandić were found guilty of war crimes against the civilian population of the Gospić area, which happened in Autumn 1991. They were sentenced to 15, 12 and 10 years of imprisonment, respectively.  According to facts established in the verdict, Orešković and Norac gave orders to take civilians out of their homes and murder them, while Norac himself killed one woman. It was also proved that at least 50 civilians were killed in the Gospić area, even though they did not in any way take part in the armed conflict, nor did they provide support to the enemy forces.

This verdict irritated a section of the Croatian public. At first public protest was organized in front of the Court house in Rijeka, and later on in many other towns in Croatia.  This is a historic event, because it has been the first time that the Croatian court has convicted anybody for a war crime committed on behalf of the Croat side. However this was just the first-degree decision which still hasn’t become final. Therefore, what remains to be seen is whether the Supreme Court will confirm the verdict because this court is authorized to rule in case of appeal.

One of Croatia’s most important political problems is the escape of the retired general Ante Gotovina, which has meant that he cannot be extradited to the Hague tribunal. That is the reason why Great Britain refuses to ratify the document that would start the association of Croatia to the European Union. The general’s escape did a lot of damage to Croatia, according to what some representatives of the Croatian government and the international community were saying. Ivo Pukanić the owner of the «Nacional» weekly, published an interview with general Gotovina last spring, in which the accused general expressed his willingness to give his testimony to the Tribunal, but that was the last we heard of him. Foreign diplomats and statesmen claim that Gotovina is in Croatia. The government claims that they don’t know anything about his whereabouts, while many analysts say that even if the Government knew where he was, they simply would not have dared to arrest him. All of this makes Croatia spin in a closed circle with a lot of damage done to the prosperity of this country.

The Government of the Republic of Croatia made a decision to allow the citizens of Serbia and Montenegro to travel to Croatia without a visa in the period from April 10^th to December 31^st, for the tourist journeys up to 90 days. This decision, which started last year, has been the furthest step in the process of liberalization of the visa regime. We hope that it’s an important step towards creating quality surroundings for resolving other issues that are important for the improvement of relationships between the two countries.

This year the most exposed political event in Croatia has been tensions in relations with Slovenia. The reason for this is that Croatia announced it would declare an industrial zone which would deny Slovenia access to international sea-waters. As a response,  officials in Ljubljana indirectly threatened to stop the process of association of Croatia to the European Union.

Since the beginning of this year, 44 Croat soldiers from a military police unit, under German command, have been participating in operations in Afghanistan, as a part of the mission called ISAF (International Security Assistance Force). This has been the first time that Croatian soldiers have been sent to take part in a military operation outside the country.  Croatia has no political or historical ties to Afghanistan, except that this “peace mission” will cost 6 million dollars per year, because Croatia has to pay for such military operations on her own.  The Croatian Government claims that by doing so, Croatia proves its loyalty to the anti-terrorist coalition, thus increasing its chances to join the NATO.  One cannot understand why this matter was discussed in Croatian Parliament for just one day, somewhat in passing, in an afternoon session which was not broadcasted on TV, while on the other hand the German Parliament discussed their decision for 4 days.

The Government of the Republic of Croatia refused to sign the agreement about not delivering American citizens to the International Criminal Court for War crimes, regardless of pressures from the US administration. Because of this it seems that Croatia will be deprived of 19 million dollar worth of military aid for the equipment and the education of the military personnel.  It is completely absurd to ask Croatia to sign the agreement while at the same time the US requires that Croatia respects the agreement signed with the Hague Tribunal and extradite those individuals indicted for war crimes.

The pre-election activities and talks have begun. The right-wing coalition is likely to run in all the voting districts. The post-electoral coalitions include various combinations on the left and on the right of the political scene as well as amongst them. These coalitions usually are not based on the closeness of political concepts but purely on their goal to take over power.  According to the results from the latest polls, the Croatian Democratic Union has the best chance with 20%, while the Social Democratic Party has 5-6% less, the third one rated is the Croatian National Party, and the Croatian Peasants Party has less than 10%. All other parties are going to try to exceed the electoral census which is 5%.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The overall social atmosphere and the context of our work in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2003 remains under the strong influence of the following conditions created during and shortly after the end of the war which lasted from 1992-1995: the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina into two entities with very little mutual communication and understanding amongst them; relationships between three “constitutional” nations that are over burdened with the heavy load of the past war, as well as the incompetence of the ruling elites to establish healthy communication; and the disastrous economic situation which makes Bosnia and Herzegovina the poorest of all European countries. The role of the international community and especially of the High Representative Paddy Ashdown is yet another segment of the whole story, because it seems they simply do not know what to do with this hot potato called Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is difficult to make a general assessment of the situation without falling into the trap of shallow statements and superficial remarks. It would be an exaggeration to say that there was no positive change whatsoever, but the fact remains that it is difficult to notice them from the entire mesh of violence, discrimination, corruption and scandals. It brings us to the conclusion that instead of making progress, Bosnia and Herzegovina is going backward in many areas.

The so-called national/nationalistic parties from both entities: the SDA (Party of Democratic Action), the SDS (Serbian Democratic Party) and the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) won last year’s elections. For many citizens it was a reminder of 1990 and the situation that had preceded the war when those parties were in power. On the other hand the fact remains that the number of votes they get on the election has steadily continued to decrease since 1996. The only problem is that those parties keep maintain a high voter turnout, which is confirmed with the very low percent of those who vote (55% in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and just 51% in the Republic of Srpska). Those 54% have defined the structure of the administration for the next four years. However this time the international community has fostered cooperation with the national parties, explaining it with the need to respect the results of democratic elections. The number of those who criticize the position of the OHR and the High Representative is constantly increasing and they belong to the groups of “independent” intellectuals and media who have warned that this means the protection of criminals and war profiteers who are the grey eminence of all three parties of the so called “Bosnian Triad”. Still, there’s no shortage of criticism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, although sometimes it’s rather questionable how constructive it is. What is missing is a clear articulation of a new different concept, which is one of the key problems of the society of Bosnia and Herzegovina. One would have to be extremely good-hearted to take on board the clichés about “tolerance, multiculturalism and multi-ethnicity” that the domestic and foreign politicians from different sides (female politicians do it far less however) keep repeating.

As an echo of the events that take place in the central political arena of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are more frequent cases of extreme violence (killings, bombs, street clashes) and in some cases they are ethnically inspired. The citizens respond to it with silence and fear (like in the case of a recent killing in the central pedestrian zone of Sarajevo, after which none of the witnesses came to give their statements, even though the incident happened around 7 PM, when there were many people out on the streets), all of which show how little people believe to the institutions of system.

At this moment another crime wave is happening in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with killings, assaults and threats to returnees in both entities. In which ethnically and religiously inspired violence and discrimination, and encouragement and violation of human rights is taking place; and in which the representatives of the international community and local authorities have a prominent role.  It is a paradox that in this very moment there are, more than ever, talks about reforms and the reformist course of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

At least two big reforms have either started or have been prepared. One of them is the reform of the education system, although it would be more precise to say reforms (because these processes are not synchronized in both parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina), which is about to start with the beginning of a new school year. Judging by the way things are going in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially those populated mostly with Croats, it is going to take quite a lot of effort and time for a unique, reformed school curriculum to be accepted. For now the beginning of a new school year is marked with numerous protests and rallies of teachers, parents and pupils, and most of the schools have not started working to full capacities.

The other reform which has been announced is the tax reform, i.e. passing a law on additional value which is one of the six goals set by the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paddy Ashdown. The bill is being prepared, and both the High Representative and the local authorities share the opinion that the law should bring some order into the tax revenue service, while the immediate consequences should be “bringing some order into the market and economy, more favourable loans, regaining trust in the local economy, more money in the budget for financing infrastructure, health care services, education, etc.” Far less is being said about the risks that the introduction of a value added tax might bring, the most important of which is the possibility that the prices of domestic goods might go up, which is going to be a major shock for the present, low standard of living in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Since the local economy is completely unprotected, we welcome the campaign “Let’s buy our own – for a strong economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, which has, according to some polls, significantly increased the consumption of goods made in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The campaign is to be continued…

The very special and a crucial segment of this whole story is related to the war and its consequences. The Bosnian story is very complex and it sometimes reminds us of the crab’s walk with its “two steps forward, two steps backwards”. Steps forward, at least symbolic ones were Biljana Plavšić’s acknowledgement of guilt in the Hague Tribunal, as well as confessions and testimonies of  Momir Nikolić and Dragan Obrenović, two Bosnian Serbs who testified about their participation in the planning and execution of the massacre in Srebrenica. We should also mention the arrest of Naser Orić, considered responsible for crimes in Serb villages nearby Srebrenica.

On the other hand, Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić are still at large, with the other “untouchables” from all three sides, who are in different ways connected to war crimes. On the other hand there’s not even a hint that state institutions should in any serious way get involved with dealing with the past.

The opening of the Potočari – Srebrenica Memorial & Graveyard is an important symbolic gesture, as much as it is the presence of the highest representatives of the Republic of Srpska on this occasion, which gives the impression that they have abandoned the custom of the minimization and ignoring of the crimes that were committed in that area. However it seems impossible to talk about crimes today in Bosnia and Herzegovina, without politicising it and setting up a certain “balance of crimes”. Therefore several events that have happened at the same time remained in the shadow of it: such as the tearing down a mosque, and the state television of the Republic of Srpska ignoring the whole event, the fact that the former president of the USA Bill Clinton was invited to open the memorial centre, all of which shows that the actual understanding and condemnation of any crime even on a purely human level is still far away from this part of the world.

Finally, Bosnia and Herzegovina has signed the agreement with the USA about not delivering American citizens to the international courts for war crimes. Reactions were either nonexistent or weak.  It was done under the motto “what cannot be cured must be endured”, while the proper analysis of the consequences of such an act for the society of Bosnia and Herzegovina are still.

 

WORK PLAN

for the period october – december 2003.

 

Training for Trainers in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation (2003-2004)

17-22.10.2003. – Phase IV, 5-days training

November-December 2003. – Phase V, follow-up meetings

5-10.12.2003. – Phase VI, 5-days training

 

Public forums «Four views»

from the past: How I Found Myself In War?, towards the future: How To Reach Sustainable Peace?

In October and November 2003. we are going to organise 5 public forums in Serbia and Montenegro, that represent the continuation and development of public forums already held in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The guests of the forums will be people who had participated in wars in the region of former Yugoslavia, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro.

The forums will be held in:

24.10.2003. Vlasotince, Serbia

28.10.2003. Novi Sad, Serbia

11.11.2003. Kraljevo, Serbia

29.11.2003. Bijelo Polje, Montenegro

2.12.2003. Podgorica, Montenegro

 

Networking meeting

16-22.12.2003. Networking meeting with the title «Dealing with the Past» with organisations and individuals from the region of former Yugoslavia who are interested for the theme.

 

 CNA TEAM

Adnan hasenbegović

Helena Rill

Ivana Franović

Nedžad Horozović

Nenad Vukosavljević

Milan Colić Humljan

Sanja Deanković

Tamara Šmidling

 

 

Many thanks to all of those who are supporting

The project of KURVE Wustrow – Centar za nenasilnu akciju,

financially or through their engagement that made this project possible and helped to secure its implementation and all of those who are with us in their thoughts.

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

 

Auswärtiges Amt – German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Berghof Stiftung & Berghof Research Institute for Creative Conflict Management

Biro za ljudska prava Tuzla

Branko Todorović

Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung

Cara Gibney

Celia McKeon

Centar za informativnu dekontaminaciju mladih Banja Luka

Centar za mirovne studije Zagreb

Committee for Conflict Transformation
Conciliation Resources

Dokumentacioni centar “Ratovi 1991-99”

Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft Vereinigte Kriegsgegner – DFG VK Bielefeld

Goran Božičević

Gordan Bodog

Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)

Internationale Ärzte zur Verhütung des Atomkrieges – IPPNW Deutschland

Iva Zenzerović

Jasmin Redžepović

Martina Fischer

Menschenrechtsreferat des Diakonischen Werkes

Miloš marković

Miodrag Živanović

Natascha Zupan

 Nina Vukosavljević

Omladinski centar Gornji Vakuf – Uskoplje

Quaker Hilfe

 Quaker Peace and Social Witness London

Quaker Peace and Social Witness Sarajevo

Roland Salvisberg

Sezam Zenica

Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Uno Stiftung

Ursula Renner

all training participants