Where are we at this stage?

 

CNA is dedicated to peacebuilding, by striving to achieve social change towards a justful society. A society that does not negate the existence of conflicts but uses them to achieve progress, a society which does not deny differences, but affirms them building on it a part of it’s identity, a society which responsibly deals with it’s own past, for the sake of future. In the past seven years, we have given our contribution to this change, by building bridges among people across the region and investing in those who were willing to fight injustice, change things and be brave enough to express solidarity even with those on the other side of the dividing borders. We worked mainly on education in nonviolent conflict transformation and peacebuilding, a work that has mainly remained invisible in public, so called “silent work” which is based on capacity building of groups and individuals.

After 2 years of work with ex-combatants, we have widened our horizons and embraced new methods of work, such as public appearances, reaching out to far more people. We have decided to share our capacities in the years to come, between: the work on education and strengthening of  peacebuilding capacity of individuals and groups; and to work on the promotion of the peacebuilding and dealing with the past process in wide public.

 

Dealing with the past work enfolds public forums with ex-combatants, 11 of which were held (in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina) and further 3 to follow in Autumn this year. A publication containing thoughts from a number of people across the region, about the challenges of reconciliation and dealing with the past process. Currently we are finalising a documentary film, that we produced, about ex-combatants. Another documentary films will follow next year. Titled “Simulated dialogue”, two films a bout Bosniak-Serb, and Serbo-Croat relationships will be produced. The films are meant to provide a base for better understanding of the views and backgrounds of people from the “other” side, give insight into needs and assumed preconditions for a true process of reconciliation.

 

All of these activities will be conducted with the support of people who were previously participating at our educational programmes, who are links in the informal network of people, gathered around the idea of regional cooperation and peacebuilding, across the region, from Macedonia to Croatia. Hereby we will be mobilising the existent network, using our capacities jointly.

 

We are also thinking of a coordinated joint action in several dozen towns, which would be against the ethnic hatred and the speech of hatred.

Educational work, which we’ve done so far, has produced a base for our current public engagement in the issue “dealing with the past”. We will continue with educational work, preparing new programmes, such as Basic training for ex-combatants and Advanced Training in Nonviolence and Peacebuilding.

 

In 2005, we will also publish a translation of our Training manual in Hungarian language and we are preparing a concept of a further publication which will gather experiences, lessons learnt, failures and accomplishments in the field of peacebuilding and dealing with the past work in the region.

 

 

 

criticism concerning this report and our general work.

Your thinking along helps us!

Thank you.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

BASIC CNA TRAINING 4

Basic Training in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation – Tivat, February 2004. 4

Basic Training in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation – Ulcinj, April 2004 5

PROGRAMME TRAINING FOR TRAINERS 6

Programme Training for Trainers 2003-2004 6

REGIONAL NETWORKING MEETINGS 10

Regional meeting with the subject of “Dealing With The Past” 10

Regional Meeting of Activists in the Field of Peace Building 11

DEALING WITH THE PAST 12

Panel Discussions «four Views: from the Past – haw I found myself in War – towards the future – how to reach sustainable Peace» in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro 12

Training for ex-combatants, Part I 12

Regional meeting with the subject of “Dealing With The Past” 14

Documentary About People in the War 14

PUBLICATIONS 15

Training documentations 15

A FEW ACTIVITIES WE JOINED 16

«Telering», TV Show on OBN TV Channel, Sarajevo October 30, 2003. 16

Conference «Models of Dealing with the Past in Bosnia and Herzegovina» 16

Seminar «Gender Equity in Development Projects» 16

Launch of the book edition ‘People in War’ 17

Regional seminar “Documentation, Truth, Responsibility” 17

QPSW Conference 17

State Conference on Conflict Prevention and Peace Building in Bosnia and Herzegovina 18

Off the Beaten Track: Reflection 18

EVALUATION 19

EVALUATION OF CNA WORK 19

Evaluation of the Training for Trainers 2003-2004 Programme 22

THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXT WITHIN WHICH CNA WORK 24

Bosnia and Herzegovina_ 24

Serbia and Montenegro_ 25

Macedonia_ 27

Kosovo_ 28

Croatia_ 29

WORK PLAN 31

 

 

BASIC CNA TRAINING

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.

 

 

 

Tivat / Montenegro, February 19 through March 1 2004.

 

Our seventeenth training in non-violent conflict transformation was held from February 19 through March 1 2004 in Palma hotel in Tivat. The training was organised by CNA Belgrade office, and prepared and lead by Ivana Franovic of CNA Belgrade, Nedzad Horozovic and Sanja Deankovic of CNA Sarajevo and Predrag Azdejkovic of Social Democratic youths who was a participant in our last year’s Training for Trainers.

 

More than 174 persons applied for taking part in the training, which is one of the signals that the need for this type of peace education really exists in the region of formerYugoslavia, while at the same time the ever decreasing donors’ readiness to financially support this type of activities is worrisome.

 

The large number of application made it possible for us to, bearing in mind the expressed motivation, form a rather heterogeneous group. The differences in the group (age, professional orientation, different experiences related to the war…) and their impact on the work in the training is something that is a specificity of this training. Age difference and a division that formed within the group based on that criterion was particularly pronounced, which at times made the joint work more difficult, but was also a challenge and very inspiring for the work on dealing with differences.

 

The impression after the training was that the national identity, relation towards one’s own national identity and the relation to national identity/ies of others is something that raised the most questions and different standpoints. Also, making the prejudices linked to these national identities conscious, as well as dealing with them, was a strong mark of this training.

 

The unusual thing was that we haven’t noticed the ‘NGO tourism’ syndrome, which is quite frequent and which we are constantly looking to diminish – quite the contrary, most of the participants were highly interested in the subjects of the workshops and related to them personally.

 

More information on the training is available in the training documentation “Tupilo od nekuženja”, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian language.

 

 

 

 

 

Ulcinj / Montenegro,  April 16-26. 2004.

 

Eighteen people fromMacedonia,Kosovo,Serbia,CroatiaandBosnia and Herzegovinaparticipated in the training. This time, exceptionally, there was no one fromMontenegro, due to the lack of applications. The training team included: Blerim Jashari from Centar za Balkansku saradnju – LOJA (Centre for Balkan Cooperation – LOJA),Tetovo, Macedonia and Ivana, Milan and Nenad, all three from CNA Belgrade office.

 

With respect to the concept of the training, the training team is very satisfied with the following:

–          The impression that the group’s needs were overall well met, due to the implementation of the flexible training concept and the adjustments of the work plan in accordance with those needs;

–          The impression of a high level of sensitization to violence in society and recognition of the need to act against it;

–          Noticeable and numerous examples of the awakening of need for concrete action, with the strong impulse to act in one’s social environment;

–          Group’s obvious motivation to work intensively, which was also evident outside the official, workshop part of the training;

–          The impression of a deep work being done on the themes of dealing with differences and discrimination, especially those against minority groups as well as about personal responsibility for discrimination.

 

It is surprising that participants of the training have already joined together, organized themselves and collaborated together in some cases, which is not usual for the basic training. Time will tell how sustainable is the energy and motivation that this training has aroused.

 

The following points indicate to the need to reconsider possible weak points of this concept:

–          Understanding of conflict as a chance and a signal for change was brought in rather late on the level of contemplation within the group, therefore the question remains how deep it was covered;

–          There was not enough discussion about understanding, expressing and respecting of needs, earlier in the course of the training, which would contribute to a more thorough work on understanding of conflict;

–          Time dedicated to the individual feedback during workshop, wasn’t used in a way the training team had expected, but on the other hand there was an opinion that it was the round of feedback that opened up some space and provided a frame inside which  numerous individual discussions about various, awaken, painful issues took place.

 

Training documentation entitled “Ma nek’ ide život” (92 p.) is also available at request. The training was financially supported by the German Ministry for Development and International Cooperation (BMZ).

 

 

 

PROGRAMME TRAINING FOR TRAINERS

 

 

 

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-AnnualReport2003.pdf

 

 

Phase III, ten-days training

 

Bjelašnica / Bosnia and Herzegovina, August 22 – September 1, 2003.

 

The third phase of the Training for Trainers Program was held in The «Maršal» hotel, in Bjelašnica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Several individuals were few days late, and some left earlier, but all of the trainees were present at the training which had not been the case in some of the previous programs.

 

Ten-day training gave participants a chance to implement workshops that they had prepared during the follow-up meetings, and also to get feedback about their work from the group and from the members of the training team. The first part of the training consisted of workshops conducted by the participants while the second part offered a discussions about the trainer’s work, role of the trainer, motivation, strategic planning in peacebuilding, talks about the following phases of the Training for Trainers program etc.

Teams of participants that were formed in the first phase of the Program, prepared and implemented their workshops on the following themes: teamwork, leadership, conflict, prejudices, national identity, gender and identities.

 

The other part of the training covered quite thoroughly the analysis of trainer’s work, difficulties in work and dilemmas the group had with respect to training events and peacebuilding.

 

Training was generally successful and with a lot of work done, many open questions, looking ahead and noticing capacities for the phases of the program that were still to come.

 

More information on the training is available in the training documentation “Il’ si lud ili kuću praviš?”, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian language.

 

 

Phase IV, 5-days training

Ulcinj /Montenegro, 17-22.10.2003.

 

The fourth phase of this year’s Training for Trainers Program was held in the «Dvori Balšića» Hotel, in Ulcinj, Montenegro, in October 2003.

 

Iva Zenzerović from Centre for Peace Studies (Centar za mirovne studije), Zagreb, Croatia, joined the training team as a guest trainer in this phase. She facilitated workshops on project proposal writing and budget making.

 

The fourth phase of the expanded concept of the Training for Trainers (TfT) Program (which was introduced last year, for the first time) opens up a new segment of group work that focuses on planning concrete future activities.

Main themes of this part of TfT were the following: presenting ideas for participants’ activities, forming teams that were going to carry out those activities in the future and gaining basic knowledge in project proposal writing.

 

Participants presented 16 ideas, 6 of which were refined in the process of forming teams. Those were the ideas for training events with various target groups around which 6 teams gathered.

 

The whole process of forming teams was completely left to the participants, since the intention for this advanced phase of the program was to give participants a chance to make their choice as well as to take over responsibility for further work.

 

Having in mind that this is the second TfT Program with this kind of concept, it is much easier to us to notice some limitations that such a demanding program brings along. First of all it’s quite a short period of time that is left to complete a large number of demanding processes of group and team work, all done under the time pressure. Again we were under the impression that «we should have had one more working day».

 

Finally, six ideas were refined for several-day training events with various target groups (activists, educational workers, journalists, state administration employees, trade union members) that were going to take place in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro.

 

 

Phase V, follow-up meetings

 

Oktober 2003.

 

During this phase of the Training for Trainers Program, six follow-up meeting were held inSarajevo,BelgradeandSkopje.

 

These meetings with teams of participants were focused on the following three points: look back at team work and difficulties that emerged in the process of project proposal making (including both the draft and the budget), detailed work plan, distribution of responsibility respectively and guidelines for project proposal writing.

 

Participants’ teams gathered around the following ideas/proposals for trainings:

 

Training for youth of different ethnicities inUlcinj,Montenegro

Training for educational workers inBosnia and Herzegovina

Training for educational workers from Serbia and Macedonia

Training for youth from Macedonia

Two regional training events in nonviolent conflict transformation

 

It was important to us to support participants’ great motivation to work on problems they experience to be pressing in local communities, but also not to neglect the value of regional work which we try to promote and strengthen.

 

It was our recommendation that each team includes one person from CNA training team, to offer support to participants who were going to have their first training in the role of trainers, and also to get a clearer insight into the approach and the methods used on these trainings.

 

 

Phase VI, 5-days training

 

Vogošća /Bosnia and Herzegovina, December 5-10. 2003.

 

Although it was time-limited and very short, this training was at the same time quite ample and informative. The first segment of the training was related to development of public presentation skills of participants’ trainings and activities. Special attention was given to the way we carry the message to a wider public and to the values we promote.

 

The next segment was dedicated to the analysis of the group’s work up to date, along with some parallel reviews of real life and values of nonviolence and what they mean to us. This analysis created some additional space for transparency and confrontation amongst people in the group which is very important not just for trainer’s work, but also for the work in the field of nonviolence.

 

One of the most important points, not just of this phase, but also of the entire Program, is work on social context and dealing with the past. The group initiated a visit to the Cultural Centre in Vogošća where the documentary “The Last Circle–Let’s Not Forget, Let’s Not Repeat” was being shown. It’s a documentary about the suffering of the citizens of Vogošća during the 1992-95 war inBosnia and Herzegovina.

 

Almost the entire group went to see the film, which was a good opportunity to experience firsthand the context and the atmosphere surrounding this kind of work. Film initiated an open discussion about personal responsibility, but also raised a question of collective responsibility for everything that was going on in this region in the nineties. The group’s awareness was raised on the need for constructive dealing with even the most painful issues concerning wars, as well as participants’ sensitization for the developments and problems in other societies in this region.

 

Documentation of the phases IV and VI entitled «Superbugarin» (65 p.) was released in December 2003.

 

 

Phase VII, participant’s project

 

January – May 2004

 

In December 2003, immediately after the sixth phase of the Training for Trainers Program was completed, teams of participants who had gathered around their joint activities – training events, started the preparations and organization of those activities. In addition to designing the training events and facilitating workshops, trainees also took over the responsibilities with respect to the organization of the training as well as making of the financial and narrative report.

 

Six activities were implemented all together, in the period from mid – March to mid–May, when the last training ended. They were the following:

–          A six–day training for educational workers inBosnia and Herzegovina

–          Regional six–day training in nonviolent conflict transformation

–          Regional six–day training in nonviolent conflict transformation for activists

–          A five–day training „Together Against Discrimination” for people fromUlcinj,Montenegro

–          A six–day training for youth fromMacedonia

–          A six–day training for educational workers fromSerbiaandMacedonia

 

Every one of these training events gathered 18 to 20 participants, except for one, where there were 16 of them (when people from Kosovo were unable to come due to the crisis outbreak). It adds up to a total of over hundred people who went through the educational activities organised in the seventh phase of this program.

 

Another important characteristic of this year’s program was the fact that all the ideas that were shaped in the previous phases of the program, were implemented and none of the trainees gave up, even though the entire process was highly demanding (which is especially the case with the training itself), therefore all of them went through some kind of “trainer’s initiation”.

 

There is also a feeling that many people came out of the whole process with lot more awareness about the need that exists for peace work and empowered to work on social need[N1]  with a nice feeling that a great job was done.

 

 

 

 

Phase VIII, Final Training / Evaluation of the Program

 

Ulcinj, Montenegro, May 27-28, 2004

 

The last – eight phase of the Training for trainers in Nonviolent Conflict transformation Program was held inUlcinj,Montenegro, from May 21 to 25, 2004.

 

During a three–day training, we looked back together at the previous, seventh phase (implementation of training events, organized and facilitated by the trainees) through an exchange of experiences, difficulties and learning points. Together, we did the evaluation of the entire program and at the very end there was some kind of look forward, part of which was the exchange of ideas and plans for participants’ further peace engagement.

 

Unfortunately, during this phase some people came later and some left earlier than planned, which disturbed the work dynamics all along and significantly lessened motivation for work during workshops.

 

Having in mind our last year’s experience, the training team decided to spend most of the time (whole working day) in an exchange of information and experiences participants had gathered during the training events they had conducted themselves, in order to meet the need that ensued the seventh phase of the Program. While we were looking back at the seventh phase, we went through every one of six training events with a special review on the things that had been experienced as nice, as well as to the difficulties that had occurred and ongoing dilemmas that remained after the activities were finished.

 

What was somewhat lacking in the evaluation of the Training for Trainers concept was an insight into the role of the whole program in the processes of peace building in the region, and with respect to that, a more focused discussion about capacities and limitations of the program for various peace processes in this region. It is to a certain point understandable, because trainees had a hard time stepping out of the role of the participant, while the program was practically still going on and trying to look at it from another, wider point of view.

 

Documentation of the whole programme Training for trainers (238 p.) was released in July 2004.

 

 

REGIONAL NETWORKING MEETINGS

 

 

 

Banja Vrujci, December 16-22, 2003

 

A regional networking meeting of individuals working or intending to work in the field of confronting the past in the regions of former Yugoslavia took place in Banja Vrujci , near Ljig, Serbia, from December 16 through 22 2003.

 

We organised the meeting with financial support from the Development Ministry of  Federal Republic of Germany (BMZ).

 

The idea for this meeting came through our work in this field and stemmed from the need to analyse in more detail the possible approaches to this subject in the context of peacebuilding, and also to exchange feed-back on the projects/programs done so far, as well as the potential new ideas and possibilities of mutual support. One of the more important objectives of this meeting was by all means to reconsider the important missing pieces in the approaches used so far in the work on opening the process of confronting the past and its continuation in our countries, as well as to understand different visions, strategies and needs of the work in this field, both regionally and at particular local levels.

 

A total of 23 persons were present at the meeting, persons from Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, active in the following organisations: Zene u crnom (Women in Black), Belgrade; Peace Studies Centre, Zagreb, Youth Centre Postpessimists of Montenegro, Podgorica; Documentation Centre “Wars 1991-1999’ Belgrade; International Committee for Missing Persons (ICMP), Sarajevo; Altruist Centre, Split, Citizens’ Initiative Board, Nis; Trauma Centre, Novi Sad; Centre for Education through Drama of BH, Mostar; Eko Centre, Latinovac; Peace and Human Rights Centre, Osijek; Quaker Peace and Social Witness Sarajevo, Living Without Firearms, Belgrade, Tolerance Society, Backa Palanka; and Centre for Non-violent Action, Belgrade/Sarajevo.

 

Throughout the meeting we analysed the notion of “dealing with the past”, we talked about personal motivation for work on that process, about language and terminology we use, about advantages of regional approach to the work, about need for networking and what we want from it, we were also exchanging information what had been done in this field etc.

 

Our general impression is that the meeting was very useful, and that we have managed to cover most of the objectives of the meeting. We have tried to elaborate and initiate the thought process on many aspects of the work on facing the past and its relation to building the lasting peace in the Balkans. We are quite pleased with having had the chance to express and hear different opinions and needs related to this field, primarily in the sense of looking back on the non-violence context, personal responsibility and activism and their links to the near and not so near past.

 

The complete version of this text is available in our Six-month Report, September 2003 – February 2004.

 

Documentation from the meeting in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian language, containing the description of workshops, as well as the minutes of the meeting, is available on our website www.nenasilje.org

 

 

 

Banja Vrujci, Serbia, March 5–10, 2004

 

«Well, if cooperation is so great and important, how come there’s so little of it?»

(Quotation of a participant)

 

After almost five years of planning, designing, fundraising, repeated attempts to somehow «squeeze» it into a this year’s agenda, CNA Belgrade organised a networking meeting for peace activists from the region of former Yugoslavia who are engaged in peace education or who are interested in that area of work.

 

Meeting was attended by 15 activists from different organisations from: Skopje (Macedonia), Podgorica (Montenegro), Belgrade, Novi Sad, Sombor (Serbia), Zagreb, Karlovac, Grožnjan (Croatia) and Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

 

Meeting was originally aimed to gather a heterogeneous group of people from the region of formerYugoslavia, who were engaged in peace education, using different approaches and methods. Unfortunately, due to multiple cancellations of those who had been invited, it was impossible to gather a mixed group of people with extreme differences with respect to the approach and value orientation towards peace education. Therefore, the concept was changed in the course of the meeting, and the majority of the group were the people who had in various ways cooperated with CNA already. As a result, there was a lack of diversity of values and approaches, thus missing a chance to criticize each other and give and receive opinions from outside to what is currently being done in this field.

 

During the four days of work, we discussed what was it that peace building included and what were the priorities in our societies, with respect to that; about values that were important to us and the approaches we represented. We asked ourselves (once again) why we were doing this, presented our work and had many discussions about cooperation between organisations and between individuals and organisations …

 

The documentation from this meeting in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian language is available on our web site www.nenasilje.org.

 

 

DEALING WITH THE PAST

 

 

 

 

During 2003/2004 we continued with the programme «4 views», which was broaden and improved due to the detailed evaluations we did. We organised two public forums in Bosnia and Herzegovina, three in Serbia and two in Montenegro.

 

Very informative report about the programme was published in our Six-month Report, September 2003 – February 2004. It is also available on our web site: www.nenasilje.org

 

A few publications were published as special adds to daily newspapers, also available on our web site:

 

Public forums in Bosnia and Herzegovina(in Zenica and Banja Luka) held in March 2003. The publication published as a special add in newspapers Nezavisne novine and Oslobodjenje in April 2003.

Public forums in Serbia(in Vlasotince, Novi Sadand Kraljevo) held in 2003. The publication published as a special add in newspapers Danas 22.11.2003.

Public forums in Montenegro(in Bijelo Polje and Podgorica) held in 2003. The publication published as a special add in newspapers Dan and Pobjeda in December 2003.

 

We compiled a multimedia CD about this programme, which is available at request. A number of recordings of the forums and accompanying TV and radio shows are also available in our offices

 

 

 

 

Bjelašnica / Bosnia and Herzegovina, 06 – 12.08.2004.

 

From August 6 – 12, 2004, the Training for Combatants of Wars in the region of formerYugoslaviawas held, in Bjelašnica, nearbySarajevo,Bosnia and Herzegovina. That was the first of two parts of the training with the group of participants made of 12 former combatants fromBosnia and Herzegovina,SerbiaandCroatia. Some of the participants are active in various veteran’s associations and nongovernmental organisations (Altruist – Split, Croatia; Centar za Edukacije i Treninge (Center for Education and Training) – Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Udruženje Bošnjaka branitelja domovinskog rata (Associaton of Bosniak Defenders of the Homeland War) – Sisak, Croatia; Žene u crnom (Women in Black) – Beograd, Serbia; Udruženje RVI (Association of War Veterans) – Novi Beograd, Serbia; Udruženje boraca rata (Association of War Combatants) – Vlasotince, Serbia). Four participants came fromBosnia and Herzegovina, six fromSerbiaand two fromCroatia. The members of the training team were fromBelgradeandSarajevooffices of CNA.

 

This was the second training organized by CNA, for the population of former combatants therefore our last year’s experience of work with this segment of population was highly useful in the process of organisation and implementation of this training. Just like the last year, the organisation of the training came out from the need to continue our work on dealing with the past and to gather an extended group of former combatants from this region, primarily as a part of the program of forums named «4 Views» which we planned to implement in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the end 2004. The main objectives of the training were to include former combatants in peace activities and peace building and to sensitize and raise their awareness for violence in society and social responsibility of an individual for it.

 

We encountered some difficulties in the process, with respect to the search for participants who were motivated to take part in the training, which was not a surprise having in mind the context of this target group, because of their difficult economic position, traumatisation and in many cases radical nationalistic position. It complicated the selection process and search for persons willing to accept the demanding work this training brings along. We were especially challenged by the lack of people fromCroatiaand from Croatian part ofBosnia and Herzegovina(members of Croatian Army and Croatian Defence Council), which resulted in the constellation of the group that was lacking few more people with Croat identity.

 

The following themes were worked on during the training: communication, violence, personal experiences and views of war, peacebuilding, exercises in public appearance and the analysis of emotions that appear in the process of dealing with the past. The work process was quite intensive with respect to the activities of all participants in the group and their readiness to discuss «hard» issues related to war. There was no avoidance of painful issues and dilemmas. Ever since the very beginning of the training, one could feel that most participants were highly motivated to work and discuss various themes and that rather early in the process the safe space was established within the group for open discussions and personal stories and experiences with a distinctive emotional tone. It seemed that most participants found it important to get a chance to meet people from «the other side». Some of them showed a noticeable progress in reexamination of their personal attitudes and adopted collective views and perceptions of past wars in this region. The fact that people with the identity of former combatants were in the group, resulted in very important issues connected to the dealing with the past which were revolved about during workshops, like: role of the victim, dealing with the crimes committed in «our» name, motives to go to war and so on, all of which added a certain heaviness and importance to this kind of training. One could get an impression of an actual and deep heaviness and the dimensions of horror of war events, which provoked emotions and caused mutual empathy within the group.

 

There were certainly some restraint and dilemmas within some individuals therefore the process of reexamination wasn’t going on in the same way for all the participants, since some previously adopted mechanisms and stereotypes proved to be difficult to change. There wasn’t enough understanding and emphasis on personal responsibility, for past and present violence in society, and with respect to that, recognition of the need for concrete ideas and activities in the field of peacebuilding, for what this group definitely had potentials, credibility and especially responsibility. Four working days that we had, certainly was not enough for an elaborate exchange and analysis of many themes related to problems of violence and conflicts, inherited from the wars in this region.

 

The important aspect of the training was participation of two participants who had already had experience of this kind of education as well as experience of participation in public forums inSerbiaandBosnia and Herzegovina. We invited them to the training to give us support and contribute to the process, which turned out to be a very good idea, because they contributed to the intensity of work and confronted with the group when it was necessary.

 

A one-day excursion to Mostar that was planned for the day off, was just right for all and it further influenced building of the group and dealing with the past, since Mostar is one of the towns that suffered most heavily in the last war and it has remained to function as an ethnically divided community.

 

In the evaluation of the training, all the participants said that it was an extremely important experience which encouraged them to think, motivated them for further work and learning in this field and that they were sure that they would come to the second part of the training which was going to take place in Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzegovina at the end of September 2004.

 

We are already looking forward to the training in Jahorina and we think that we’ve done a good job here.

 

 

 

 

 

See page 10.

 

 

 

 

 

CNA is currently preparing a documentary about the people who were on three previously confronting sides in the past wars. It is an entirely independent production of CNA. Eight people are interviewed in the film. Four of them are ex-combatants from Vlasotince (South Serbia), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Split and Zagreb (Croatia), and for each one of them there is one person who they are close to, from those towns.

 

The material was filmed in May and July, and the interviews were done by A. Grujović, a journalist fromBelgrade, who was also a participant of CNA’s basic training in nonviolent conflict transformation. About 12 hours of material was recorded and the editing of the material is in the final phase. The first version of the film has been finished already and it is a 56 minutes long documentary film.

 

The film carries a message of peace which is sent by the people who either fought in the war or experienced it as civilians, and it contains a critique of the actions of one’s own side in the war and of the current social situation in these countries.

 

We intend to offer the film to different TV stations from the region of formerYugoslavia. Judging by some initial feedback we have received after showing the film in some closed circles, we expect that to be feasible.

 

As soon as the pot begins to boil we will spread the cloth and report about it in one of our regular three month reports.

 

 

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Training documentations published since September 2003:

 

Tupilo od nekuženja	documentation of the CNA Basic Training held in Tivat/Montenegro in February 2004
Ma nek’ ide život	documentation of the CNA Basic Training held in Ulcinj/Montenegro in April 2004
Il’ si lud, ili kuću praviš	V programme Training for Trainers, phase 3
Superbugarin	V programme Training for Trainers, phase 4 and 6
5. program trening za trenere/ice iz nenasilne razrade konflikata	documentation of the whole programme
Dokumentacija regionalnog sastanka Suočavanje s prošlošću	documentation of the Regional meeting about “Dealing With The Past”, Vrujci, December 2003.
Dokumentacija regionalnog sastanka za ljude aktivne na polju izgradnje mira	documentation of the Regional Meeting of Activists in the Field of Peace Building, Vrujci, March 2004.

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

A FEW ACTIVITIES WE JOINED

 

 

Sarajevo/Bosnia and Herzegovina, 30.10.2003.god

 

On October 30, Adnan Hasanbegović, member of CNA Sarajevo team, appeared in «Telering» TV show which is broadcast live Thursdays, on OBN TV channel.

 

The show was entitled «Living together and peace building in Bosnia and Herzegovina», hosting other guests besides our colleague: Romeo Zelenika from Mostar and Dušan Šehovac from Sarajevo.[N2]  The idea for the show came out primarily as a reaction to the public forums called «Four Views», organised by CNA inBanja Luka andZenica,Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the spring of 2003.

 

 

 

Organized by International Commission for Missing People

Ilidža / Bosnia and Herzegovina, 10.12.2003.god

 

International Commission for Missing People (ICMP) organised a one-day conference on the subject of «Models of Dealing with the Past in Bosnia and Herzegovina» in Ilidža, Bosnia and Herzegovina on December 10, Human Rights Day.

 

The conference gathered quite a colourful group of participants: most of them were representatives of various associations of family members of people missing in 90-ties wars in this region, associations of detainees, representatives of several NGOs from Bosnia and Herzegovina that are in different ways engaged in dealing with the past. Conference was also attended by representatives of different international organisations active in this field.

 

The first part of the conference was dedicated to presentation of the existing models of dealing with the past, part of which was also a presentation of CNA’s project. In the second part, there was plenty of time for debate, which was at some moments quite tempestuous and bitter.

 

 

 

Organized by Norwegian People’s Aid

Sarajevo / Bosnia and Herzegovina, 27-28.12.2003

 

On December 27 and 28, a seminar on the theme of Gender Equity in Development Projects was organised by Norwegian People’s Aid. The seminar gathered 17 representatives of nongovernmental organisations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, amongst whom was CNA’s Nedžad Horozović. The aim of the seminar was introduction to the gender roles, as well as presentation of the GEA approach – Gender and Empowerment Impact Assessment. It’s a method that enables an assessment and measurement of influence of a certain project or activity on the change of socially imposed gender roles.

 

The GEA evaluation method which was presented at the seminar seems like a useful instrument for each phase of the project analysis including planning, with some necessary adjustment and improvement.

 

 

 

Organized by Documentation centre Wars 1991-99

Belgrade / Serbia, January 16 2004, the Media Centre

 

Documentation centre Wars 1991-99 (DCR) fromBelgradeorganised a promotional event of its book edition ‘People in War’ on the occasion of first two books (out of the planned 20 books) from this edition within the project Oral History of the Wars 1991-99 being published. The titles of these books are ‘Warfare’ and ‘Civilians’ Destinies’. The books contain transcribed interviews lead by DCR associates with direct or indirect participants in the wars taking place during the previous decade, as well as of what preceded them and what came out of them.

 

This edition contributes greatly to the process of facing the past and at a very individual level, both with the interviewees and the readers.

 

Speakers at the promotion were Drinka Gojkovic (of DCR), Nenad Vukosavljevic (of CNA), Milica Mihajlovic (of Jewish Hisotry Museum of Belgrade) and Nebojsa Petrovic (of the Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade).

For more information,please contact DCR,

e-mail: office@dcr.org.yu

 

 

 

 

Organized by Humanitarian Law Centre

Vukovar / Croatia, February 20-21 2004

 

A regional seminar ‘Documentation, Truth, Responsibility: Creating conditions for facing the past in formerYugoslavia’ was held in Vukovar Institute for peace research and education on February 20 through 21 2004. The organiser of the seminar was the Humanitarian Right Fund (FHP). Invited by FHP, a CNA member participated at the meeting (Milan Colic Humljan).

 

The seminar was conceived as a continuation of the process of the work on networking people in former SFRY territories and establishing co-operation on creating a central database on war crimes of the wars of the previous decade. As was presented, the final product of this work should be creating a Centre for documentation and research, the database of which (most likely virtual, an internet database) would be accessible to all who have the need for such data. The organisations directly involved in the process of establishing such a centre are: FHP, Centre for Peace Studies (Zagreb), Centre for Peace, Non-violence and Human Rights (Osijek), State Committee for Collecting Facts about the War Crimes (Sarajevo) and others.

 

For more information and reports from the seminar, please address the Humanitarian Law Centre at www.hlc.org.yu, office@hlc.org.yu

 

 

 

Organized by Quaker peace and Social Witness

Vogošća / Bosnia and Herzegovina, March  27-28 2004.

 

Quaker[N3]  peace and Social Witness Sarajevo office organized a two-day meeting/conference for the people fromBosnia and Herzegovina who either worked or were planning to work on some activities in the area of dealing with the past. The meeting was organized as a part of the project to offer support to organizations that were engaged in dealing with the past that was conducted by QPSW.

 

After the research, done in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was meant to offer an over-all picture of the situation in the field of dealing with the past, in all three countries, this conference was envisioned as an opportunity to present research in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and also to set up some framework for future cooperation between QPSW and the organisations whose members took part in the research.

 

Besides the presentation of research completed inBosnia and Herzegovina, we had a chance to hear how it went inCroatiaandSerbiaandMontenegro, by which the meeting gained in quality, because there was a chance to compare the situation in neighbouring countries to the one inBosnia and Herzegovina.

 

 

 

Organized by Nansen Dialogue Network BiH

Mostar / Bosnia and Herzegovina, April  29-30  2004.

 

Nansen Dialogue Network Bosnia and Herzegovina with its centres in Mostar, Sarajevo and Banja Luka organized a state conference on conflict prevention and peace building.

 

The idea for such and activity came out as a result of the recommendation which was a part of the United Nations General Secretary’s report on prevention of armed conflicts.

 

State Conference in Bosnia and Herzegovina was held in the “Bristol” hotel in Mostar. It gathered about 30 people from different human rights and peace organisations fromBosnia and Herzegovina, representatives of several ministries and the international community. Work of the conference was organized as a combination of plenary discussions and working groups assembled by certain themes. Primary goal of the meeting was to offer a summary and a picture of the current conditions with respect to peace building and conflict prevention in the country as well as to give recommendations for further activities and for the regional conference, which will be a next step in this project.

 

More information about the conference is available at Nasen Dialogue Centre, on the following e-mail addresses:

mustafac@ndcsarajevo.org , www.ndcsarajevo.org

 

 

 

Organized by Queker peace and Social Witness

Grožnjan / Hrvatska, June 24-27 2004

 

 

Since peace building, work on dealing with the past and the events related to the wars that had happened in this region in  the nineties, “digging” in the darkness of our recent history is a very demanding, complex and sensitive work[N4]  QPSW organised a seminar entitled «Off the Beaten Track: Reflection».

 

The aim of the seminar was to take a look at our work from a different perspective, to re-examine our own practise and the way of thinking and to hear some new and original thoughts from both the practise and theory, in a safe and friendly surroundings of the town ofGrožnjaninIstria.

 

Nedžad, Tamara and Helena took part in the seminar, while the facilitators of the workshop were Tamara Mihalić, participant of the Training for Trainers Program in 2000 and Paul Stubbs, an external collaborator of QPSW. The workshops were dedicated to the following subjects: «Peacebuilding Scripts – Silent organisers of Peacebuilding Practice» (how much the «invisible» factors, such are convictions, prejudices, society’s unwritten rules, etc. influence peace building, and how much are we aware of them), which was at the same time a presentation of Tamara’s master theses: «Talking Up, Talking Down, Talking Across, or Talking Nonsense?: reflections on peace scenes, communication and the public sphere».

 

It was very important to us not only to get an insight into the practice of others, but to connect it with the theory as well. Besides that we learned a lot, got plenty of empowerment and had some rest.

 

 

 

 

EVALUATION

 

EVALUATION OF CNA WORK

 

 

Activities

 

During the past year, in the period from September 2003 until August 2004, CNA’s main areas of activities were the following:

 

–          Organisation and implementation of Basic trainings in nonviolent conflict transformation

–          Organisation and facilitation of the Training for Trainers in nonviolent conflict transformation program

–          Activities in the field of dealing with the past:

a)   Preparation and organisation of the forums entitled «Four Views: From the Past – How I Found Myself in War, To the Future – How to Reach Sustainable Peace»

b)Organisation and implementation of the training with combatants of wars in the region of formerYugoslavia

–          Networking meetings.

 

Although the programs that are enlisted here above function each for themselves, they are also connected and intertwined, starting from the themes, to objectives, and finally with the people who take part in them. For example, besides the forums and training events for ex-combatants, work on dealing with the past, was present in our basic training events, as well as on networking meetings, and in the Training for Trainers program. Some of the participants of the basic training events, who were also former combatants, are interested to work in this area and later to take part in the training events for former combatants and in organisation of forums.

 

Since we were engaged in several activities simultaneously, we would hardly manage to accomplish all of it, if it wasn’t for the great support of our collaborators, and especially of those from the informal network made of people who completed our Training for Trainers program, who took part in those activities with great motivation.

 

Basic training events

 

In this period, only two basic training events were implemented, both of which happened in the first half of 2004: one was in February (Tivat) and the other in April (Ulcinj), both in Montenegro. Since the end of last year was very busy, with a plentiful of activities, we weren’t able to organise a basic training as well, therefore we didn’t plan it either, while it was very difficult to get financial support for the basic training this year (see more under the subtitle «funding»).

 

Both training events we implemented were very ample, with groups of participants highly motivated to work even during the informal time. We changed the application forms which potential applicant fill in when they apply for the training, and we believe that the change resulted in a more accurate picture we get about the motivation of potential participants, although we are aware that very often only the application forms cannot give a realist picture. Anyway, a lot of people continue to apply for the training events. We are especially glad to receive a great number of applications from Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is different from the recent situation when we had received only a few applications from these regions. We are also very happy to receive an increased number of applications from people who work in education, media and who are active in political parties since we’ve been trying to include as many of them as possible into our activities, because they have an extremely important role in the process of peacebuilding. Unfortunately, applications NGO’s activists often indicate a certain “touch” of tourism, without an indication of a true motivation for work.

 

Training teams on both basic training events, included people we collaborate with, former participants of the Training for Trainers program 2002/2003, which was not only important but also a true pleasure, because we were able to work with people with whom we shared common values, supporting each other in such a way.

 

Although we perceive that some of the participants of the basic training events have a lot of potential for the Training for Trainers program, having in mind such a small number of training events that have been implemented so far, we didn’t organised the program this year. We plan to implement it in 2005.

 

Training for Trainers

 

The second extended Training for Trainers program ended this May. It lasted for a year and consisted of 8 phases all together.

 

It is difficult to evaluate the program since more reference points are lacking (there is only one other program like that that we completed, so far), but we consider that it fulfilled its basic objectives – it empowered a lot of individuals from the group and offered some space for people to take certain steps in their own communities. The question remains how much the goal was fulfilled with respect to the networking, especially of the regional type.

 

While we weren’t satisfied with the first part of the Program, the other part however, met trainees’ needs to the great extent and those were the phases of the program during which the greatest individual progress was made by the people from the group. The fruits of that labour were six activities-training events, organised and implemented by the participants of the program. Training events were organised inBosnia and Herzegovina,Macedonia,Montenegro, with the target groups made of educational workers, youth, on both regional and local level.

 

We must point out that all the ideas were implemented within this program and that none of the participants gave up in the process, even though the program was highly demanding.

 

With all the difficulties and challenges this program brought along, there is also a feeling of satisfaction that a great and a valuable job has been finished and a wish to meet again with many people from the group, to work together as well as socialize. A more thorough evaluation of this program follows further in this text.

 

Networking Meetings

 

A long time has passed since we first started to think about organising a networking meeting. There were a lot of obstacles: time, lack of funding, limited capacities … therefore we are satisfied to say that we managed to have two regional networking meetings, in the past year, organised on two different subjects:

1. Dealing with the past
2. Approach to work in the area of peace education (for peace activists who are either active in     that field or are interested in peace education).

 

Although the basic idea, the goal and the methodology of both of these training events were very similar, they are quite different with respect to their content and the way their specific goals were met.

 

There was quit a lot of interest for the regional networking meeting on the theme of «dealing with the past». The meeting was very ample since the participants were people who either worked on it or were interested in this area of work, but had completely different approaches to it. The networking meeting on the theme of peace education was far less fruitful. It was primarily aimed to gather as much as possible a heterogeneous group of people from the region of formerYugoslavia, who apply different methods and approaches in their work in peace education. Unfortunately, due to many cancellations from those who were invited, it was not possible to gather a diverse group with distinguished differences with respect to their value orientation and respectfully, their approach.

 

These meetings gave us a more clear picture about the civil scene from our area and about the situation with respect to peacebuilding. While there’s quite a lot of interest for dealing with the past, peace education is not that attractive, to put it bluntly, and even less appealing are discussions about values it is based upon. The question remains how much all this has to do with the «instructions» from the donors who are more prone to support financially those programs that are related to dealing with the past than those related to peace education.

 

It turned out, however that regional meetings on those subjects are absolutely necessary, because we can hardly take part in peacebuilding as lonely individuals or organisations. Besides, these meetings created a space for a more intensive exchange and strengthening of support amongst participants which is very much needed to this type of work. After these initial gatherings, we still need to see if there is some other initiative out there and the recognition of the importance of this kind of work.

 

Dealing with the Past

 

During the fall of 2003, the series of five forums were implemented inSerbiaandMontenegro. In August 2004 we implemented the training for former combatants.

 

Three forums were held inSerbia(in Vlasotince, Kraljevo andNovi Sad) and two of them inMontenegro(in Bijelo Polje and Podgorica).

 

These five forums inSerbiaandMontenegrowere planned and organised after the learning points and  valuable experiences we had gathered from the previous series of forums. Therefore we may say we are satisfied with the things we’ve done and the results we’ve accomplished.

 

Local partners played a highly important role in the process, and the motivation was proportional to the accomplished results. We could not have achieved something like that if it wasn’t for the great efforts of the local partners who provided a good media coverage and high attendance of forums. There was a feeling that we shared common values which was very helpful in the entire strenuous process of organising forums and in some way eased the stress we were exposed to on a daily basis.

 

Media were mostly affirmative in their presentation of the activities here mentioned, which is extremely important so the work on peacebuilding becomes visible and valued as useful for the society.

 

Preparation workshops/meetings with all of the local partners and some former combatants which were done in timely manner, turned out to be crucial with respect to the encouragement and motivation for the entire process, which was particularly the case with the preparation and the training events for ex-combatants who were later speakers on the forums.

 

While this report is being released, preparations for the forums that will take place inBosnia and Herzegovinain October and November  2004, are in progress. As a preceding phase of these forums, another training for former combatants have been implemented, as it was already mentioned in the beginning of this text.

 

Other activities

 

We found it important to take part in various other activities, besides these main ones, where we were able to get an insight into some additional knowledge and to exchange work experience with others (participation in the conferences «Society Without Soldiers? Militarism and Alternatives», regional seminar «Documentation, Truth, Responsibility», «Models of Dealing With the Past in Bosnia and Herzegovina», seminar «Gender Equality» etc). Visit to our «sisterly» organisation and friends from Kurve Wustrow and BerghofBerlinin May, was valuable for both our organisations. Besides, we were also present in the media (through participation in book promotions with our own views of the material – promotion of the edition «People in War», as well as taking part in TV shows that treated the theme of dealing with the past – in the «Telering» show on OBN TV channel, in Sarajevo).

 

External Evaluation

 

In October 2003, an external evaluation of the following programs of CNA was conducted:

–          Training for Trainers. Evaluation of the new concept that consists of eight phases and lasts for an entire year, unlike the previous one that consisted of five phases and lasted for six months. Evaluation was done by Natascha Zupan, peacebuilding adv[N5] iser forBosnia and Herzegovina,Macedonia andSerbia andMontenegro.

–          Dealing with the Past (4 Views). That is, of the peacebuilding program in cooperation with former combatants from the region of former Yugoslavia. Evaluation was completed by Dr. Oliver Wils, from (Berghof Research Centre for Constructive Conflict Management).

 

Evaluation of these two programs is available on our web page: http://www.nenasilje.org/publikacije/pdf/evaluacija/JointReportEvaluation2004.pdf.

We consider constant re-examination of what we do to be an important part of our work. The picture of what we’ve done we get from our own evaluation, evaluation of participants of the activities and from external evaluation, too. This report has pointed out to some elements we often think go without saying in our work, therefore it is another impulse to remind ourselves. Besides, we got a better picture of our programs and their influences; since the external evaluation was done several months after the program was ended, it was clear that participants made progress with respect to the sensitisation to violence, and empowerment for further work in their own communities.

 

Funding

 

Unfortunately, there is still a tendency that it is easier to get financial support for the activities related to dealing with the past, unlike the peace education programs that we haven’t received any financial support at all from the organisations we applied at, for quite some time. That is the reason why we had to postpone the basic training which was to take place in July 2004.

 

On the other hand, with the help from BMZ (German Ministry for International Cooperation; Civil Peace Service program) we managed to cover many “holes” in our finances and if it wasn’t for this source, we would hardly manage to implement two basic training events and regional meetings.

 

In the past year, besides BMZ, we were also financially supported by German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Berghof Stiftung, Mennonite Central Committee.

 

During the implementation of one activity which was financially supported by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, some difficulties occurred with respect to the feeling of hindered communication with the representative of the German Embassy inSarajevo. It was our impression that there wasn’t enough space and trust for communication with respect to some misunderstandings and their causes. We felt highly pressured due to the situation here mentioned, since we care deeply about maintaining honest relationships with the donors with whom we feel to share some common values and about constantly advancing our mutual relationships.

 

 

 

 

Evaluation of the Training for Trainers 2003-2004 Programme

 

 

The fifth Training for Trainers Program started in July 2003 and was completed by the end of May 2004. It consisted of eight phases, just like the last year’s program.

 

The concept of this Training for Trainers Program, which is the fifth in a row, and the second extended one, was quite good and it is our impression that with an insufficiently built and not very activist group it helped us to «get the job done». It was important that during these eight phases many individuals were sensitized for violence and empowered to work on it and therefore to act in their societies. There is still an open question how much the goal of networking was met, especially on the regional level. Besides, the question remains regarding the compatibility of certain parts of the program with the existing situation in most parts of our region (for example, should we engage in writing of project proposals when the donors leave the region, and they are less and less willing to support educational activities). Of course, this does not mean that there is no need for the Training for Trainers Program, but one should keep in mind that such program must follow what is going on in this region.

 

The dynamics of group work oscillated during the year. With respect to its dynamics, it seemed that the Program consisted of two parts: the first part (phases I to V) and the second one (phases VI to VIII).

Some of the basic characteristics of the group’s work during the first part of the Training were: the group was insufficiently built and there was a lack of safe space, there were some reserves with respect to expressions of one’s own identities, unreadyness to «open» the existing conflicts (which is why many conflicts remained only half transformed), a distinctive unwillingness of some individuals to take over responsibility, starting the Program with superficial and unclear motivation. In the second part of the Program many individuals showed noticeable growth and progress since their motivation changed and became fuller and more ample, therefore there was more initiative and interest for work.

 

An especially important moment of the Program in general, was work on the social context and dealing with the past, when an initiative came out from the group to watch the documentary entitled “The Last Circle–Let’s Not to Forget, Let’s Not to Repeat”, in the Cultural Centre in Vogošća. The documentary deals with the suffering of citizens of Vogošća, during the 1992-95 war. Film initiated an open discussion about personal responsibility, but also raised a question of collective responsibility for everything that was going on in this region in the nineties. At the same time this is an impulse to us to rethink whether we should implement something similar into the future program and in what way.

 

The Training for Trainers Program resulted in the implementation of six activities-training events which were organised and conducted by the participants. The training events were organised inBosnia and Herzegovina,Macedonia, andMontenegro, for the following target groups: educational workers, youth, on both regional and local level.

It was a great surprise and a pleasant one as well that all the people from the group persisted during all eight phases of the Program even though they had different other engagements, private matters, problems etc.

 

The work in the training team was filled with support and mutual understanding that was even more important since that was almost the only source of support throughout the entire Program. We went through different stressful and frustrating moments together, and there were moments of burnout too, we were too tired and our motivation dropped quite a lot, especially after the phase IV. There was an occasional feeling that we needed more concrete knowledge about certain points (making of project proposal and budget), but for each of us it was certainly useful to go through this Program for the sake of determining some points that were important for the trainer’s work. We are in front of an open dilemma whether our own disappointment and exhaustion during some phases of the program, contributed to the milieu of «mediocrity» within the group?

 

Here are some of the basic learning points and some more reflections and questions we have after this Program:

–          Stronger confrontation in front of the group when it comes to certain types of behaviour (instead of confronting individuals, one on one, mostly outside the workshops). With respect to that, more attention should be given to the group and the processes inside of it, than to the actual themes planned to be worked on.

–          More work on building of the group in the beginning of the Program. We are under the impression that we didn’t build the group enough, and that the phase I was particularly important with respect to that.

–          More work on social contexts. We think that participants still do not know enough about the social and political situation in this region, which is necessary for the regional work.

–          Adjusting the concept to the group, especially phases IV, V and VI, instead of having one and only program that is already determined which we had already seen working excellently with the group from the previous Training for Trainers Program

–          Adjusting the concept to the group, especially phases IV, V and VI. We have the experience of last year’s extended Training for Trainers Program and we were often guided by it. However, since in this year’s program the group was entirely different, we were at some points confused how to act.

–          Think about the possibility of the second round of selection after the phase III.

–          How much space does the Training for Trainers Program leaves for something else other than training events that participants implemented in the phase VII? How ready are we to support that, what are the criteria for it and what is our possible role in it?

–          It is necessary to have more working days during the phase IV because it turned out that 4 working days was not enough.

–          Think about whether there should be a longer break between the phases III and IV

–          Invite a guest trainer in all four phases and that person should be present in the phase III of the Program (for one or two working blocks) because this gives the participant an opportunity to see different work methods.

 

 

 

 

THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXT WITHIN WHICH CNA WORK

Notice: The articles about the situation in Macedonia has been written by our colleague Ana Bitoljanu from Skopje. The article about Kosovo has been written by our colleague from Gnjilane, Gazmend Murseli.

 

 

Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

The year that has passed (September 2003 – August 2004) in Bosnia and Herzegovina was abound in a variety of events, acts and decisions that may be judged and evaluated in different ways, from the context of peace building. Writing a report like this, even once a year, bears a high risk of superficial judgements and falling into a trap of «black and white» clichés in observing society and the processes that are happening in it.

 

Without any desire to offer either a rose coloured or black painted picture, once again we must express aloud what is already well known:Bosnia and Herzegovinais still a country with very unfavourable social conditions, low respect of human rights and even lower degree of responsibility that both its politicians and citizens are willing to accept. At the same time,Bosnia and Herzegovinais a country that simply cries out for peace activities and promotion of peace values. No matter what different power circles may think – whether they are on the local or international level.

 

Even people who are quite poorly informed about the situation, are able to list the main problems that have been present in Bosnia and Herzegovina for years already: difficult economic situation, corruption, crime, weak and inefficient system institutions, heavy burden of past wars (ethic hatred and mistrus, problems of refugees and displaced persons, sustainable return, search for the missing); relationships between Bosnia and Herzegovina and international community, etc.

 

None of these things enlisted above have changed during the past year. Critical problems remain intact, mutually entangled and intertwined. Dealing with one of them in a constructive manner leads to the progress in other fields too, while neglecting any of them obstructs the progress with respect to the solutions for other painful issues. It seems that this simple fact remains unimportant for both local politicians and international factors, therefore they tend to believe too easily that it is really possible to make a break in economy without respect of human rights, or that it is possible to protect their own so called national interests with the help of discrimination and disregard of the needs and interest of the «others» (or someone else).

 

There are certainly things that deserve to be praised, like the Law on protection of National Minorities and the Law on Gender Equality that were passed in the Parliament while the Law on Witness Protection is being prepared. It is however, necessary to raise a question whether these laws are being obeyed and implemented which is really the core of the problem.

 

Huge, split up administration functions out of the framework of many standards and one can get an impression that the set of several governments this country has, is actually a bottomless hole that looks even deeper and darker because of its corruption, negligence and irresponsibility.

 

If we paraphrase an old idea about the permanent revolution we may say that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the country of «permanent preparation for reforms» (for example: the tax system, educational system, even of the governmental structure) that «are just about to begin».

 

Additional value tax (VAT), still hasn’t been adopted even though it has been the subject of discussions for the past several years while the proposed solution was strongly criticized by both the experts and ordinary citizens.

 

Reforms of the education are also on hold, until the level of knowledge and quality of educational institutions become priorities instead of national badges. Until thenBosnia and Herzegovinacontinues to be a happy country with three semiliterate, however nationally aware, empowered and liberated nations. Nobody is counting «the remaining ones» anyway.

 

European initiative for stability came out with the proposal for change of the governmental structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to which the Republic of Srpskawould become a federal unit instead an entity. The proposal was bitterly criticised in the Republic of Srpska, because according to the critics, it meant a disruption of the Constitutional Agreement which was agreed in Dayton. And that is not to be touched, under any circumstances.

 

Special segment of the whole story is devoted to the relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the international community, whose incarnation is High Representative, Paddy Ashdown. His concept of cooperation with national/nationalistic parties SDA, SDS, HDZ ended in fiasco, along with the oaths that the «people’s will» was going to be obeyed. Numerous decrees and acts that are being issued show that, when the push comes to shove, everything is abandoned, without any difference whether it’s people, democracy or «responsibility of local politicians» (which is a frequently used phrase). It is obvious that the approach of the international community is seriously flawed and that they are exclusively concentrated on work with politicians and official authorities ofBosnia and Herzegovina. There is no aspiration to strengthen a wider circle of influence, made of groups, organisations and individual who could use their own civil responsibility and really be able to make the institutions of system and political parties act in their capacities in at least a similarly constructive manner. This way, instead, we have irresponsible politicians for irresponsible citizens, and the other way round.

 

Relationships with the United States remain somewhere between tragedy and comedy, although there is an decreasing number of those who can laugh to this relations of power. The latest decision about sending the soldiers from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Iraq, provoked many stormy reactions. There were many voices of protest, like from journalists, intellectuals, some political parties, human rights activists…

 

Finally, what was new, with respect to the area of dealing with the past in the last year?

There’s definitely some progress, but it raises a lot of new questions undermining at the same time some already established clichés about the war and crimes that are widely accepted because they are brainwashing. Dragan Čavić, admitted the crime committed in Srebrenica and called it «a black stain on the history of Serb people». An undoubtedly important political gesture is diminished when put into the context of political games and pressures. New collective mass graves are being discovered almost on daily basis, while their number and locations (nearby main roads, in city centres) make the horribly superficial story that it was all done by «some people with sick minds» completely exposed and absurd. It turns out that the problem is «slightly» bigger and deeper, and it goes all the way to those who consider themselves to be the «healthiest ones». And also blissfully irresponsible for everything that happened and that is happening in the present.

 

 

Serbia and Montenegro

 

When we look back at the situation in Serbia and Montenegro in the previous year, we will mostly see the elections. Presidential elections were held two times and there were also extraordinary parliamentary elections and local elections. We will not count how many rounds each of those elections had and how much it all cost. However, problems have remained and even doubled and very little of them were solved.

 

Let’s start from the beginning – from the political situation. After the presidential elections in November 2003 had failed, parliamentary elections were held. They provoked quite a stormy reactions and feelings because Serbian Radical Party won big number of seats in the parliament. At the same time it sounded as an alarm – where was the society of Serbia heading to and the political situation as well? One might say – into the direction of radicalism, especially in the autonomous region of Vojvodina. After that, it took a long time for so called parties of the democratic orientation to come to an agreement and form the government under the «patronage» of the Democratic Party of Serbia, with Vojislav Koštunica as the prime minister. The new government inherited a lot of problems, but also caused many new ones, starting with the dismissal of people on all key positions, not just in the Government, but those on other important positions, too.

 

It is important to emphasise that the turnout of voters in the elections keeps getting less and less, which is no wonder: people are tired of frequent election campaigns and elections. Besides, the economic and social situation continues to worsen, and often gives an impression that people are discouraged and not motivated to vote.

 

Ever since the new, still actual government has stepped onto the political scene, certain people whose behaviour and statements promote hate speech have been introduced. Besides that, officials from the Ministry of Education and Sport continue to confuse those who work in the education system with their «reforming of reforms», but the absolute peak was the decree of the Minister (who resigned in the meantime) according to which she abolished Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

 

Autistic behaviour has spread during the mandate of this government, while the Prime minister continues to do the «invisible work» and puts his efforts into promotion of a «two-way cooperation» with the Hague Tribunal which remains a thorn in many politician’s side.

 

And while the treat of a new sanctions is hanging over our heads, unless the government delivers those indicted for war crimes, the National Council for cooperation with the Hague Tribunal is about to be formed. Nothing concrete has happened so far, and it is very uncertain when it will. It is forgotten however, that delivering the indicted persons is not the point, but that condemnation of crime is. One of the things worth mentioning in this context is the statement of Vuk Drašković, the minister of foreign affairs of the Serbia and Montenegro. He has made public and visible the crimes committed by the Serb side in Kosovo, which caused a unanimous disapproval amongst certain circles.

 

As for the processing the war crimes in country, they don’t seem to echo quite as much as those that are taking place in Hague. The attention is mostly drawn to the process for the crimes in Ovčara, which started this spring. Although, domestic courts are qualified and prepared for the trials for war crimes, it is worrying that our law still do no regulate chain of command.

 

This period was marked with the passing of The Hague Defendants and Families Support Law which is a shameful act. What gives us hope are the reactions coming from citizens, nongovernmental organisations and some (very few) political parties who stood up to it aiming to at least temporarily suspend the law. Besides, if there wasn’t for the public pressure, it is very likely that Charles Darwin would really be purged from the school curriculum.

 

While the questions related to legitimacy, need and the future of the State Union of  Serbia andMontenegro continue to be raised, all through its territory unrest keeps happening. It began in Montenegro, by the end of last year. There are strong tensions in the south ofSerbia, and there was an escalation of violence in Kosovo on March 17, 2004, which caused some serious consequences in Serbiatoo. Mosques in Belgrade and Niš were burned down by a crowd, whereby police did very little to hinder them. Dozens of stores owned by non-Serbs, were demolished in Novi Sad. Whereby the city governemnt of Belgrade financed the renovation of the mosque which was completed at the begining of the holy month of Ramadan, in Nis, the local authorities failed.

 

In general, there’s an increasing trend of radicalism and violence that continues to spread, and it is possible that nothing can put an end to it unless people who are in the leading positions in this country, condemn such events, like the destruction of ancient Muslim tombstones, fascist graffiti, some statements and slogans, «incidental» clashes etc. There are more and more attacks on anything «different» and «other», and the latest events in Vojvodina confirmed how little was done to stop them. Unfortunately, instead of dealing with the existing problems in an adequate manner, they are left to be solved on their own, thus making some space for the internalisation of the interior, all of which has significantly damaged the credibility of democracy in Serbia in front of international institutions.

 

What else marked the past year?

Great insecurity, unemployment, interference of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the political sphere, frequent strikes and road blocks that continued for weeks, caused by some unrealistic promises and demagogy, and finally the president-elect of Serbia, after three times that the elections had failed. And we still need to see what the actual local elections bring along. After the second round is finished, of course.

 

 

Macedonia

 

In the period from September 2003 until September 2004, several events that happened were especially important for the Republic of Macedonia. The first one is the aircraft accident in which President of Macedonia Boris Trajkovski, the members of his cabinet ant the crew of the aircraft were killed. The investigation of the accident and the information related to it, were mostly non-transparent and unclear, all of which lead to the various conspiracy theories amongst many citizens ofMacedonia. It was often speculated that “someone from outside, that is from the West” is rearranging the political map ofMacedoniaand that the country had no powers to stand up to that force. The first president of Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov, survived an attempt of assassination, while his succesor was killed in an aircraft accident. This kind of thinking additionally increased an overall feeling of insecurity. Sudden death of Boris Trajkovski, resulted in his post human rehabilitation. All of a sudden, for many citizens of Macedonia, he was resolved from any responsibility whatsoever for the situation inMacedonia, while the media portrayed him as a politician whose primary issues were peace and inter-ethnic life together. Presidential elections that followed brought the victory of Boris Crvenkovski, the leader of Social-Democratic Party (SDSM) who ran for the presidency while he was holding a position of a prime minister. It was rather unclear why he ran for president because according to the laws of theRepublicofMacedonia, president has far less powers than the prime minister, and he is a more of a protocol figure.

 

By the end of August, former interior minister of the Republic of Macedonia Lj. Boškoski was taken into custody, in Pula, Croatia. He was accused of the «Raštanski lozja» case, when in 2002, seven economic migrants were killed in an incident. He had tried to present them as terrorists in an attempt to acquire a more favoured position and improve relations with theUSA. The day before he was indicted, Boškoski ran away from Macedonia and hid on his estate in Croatian province of Istria. Since he is also a citizen of the Republic of Croatia, he will not be extradited to the Macedonian authorities, but will be charged in front of the court in Croatia. Bringing charges against somebody from the very top of the political leadership gives us hope that it is possible to have a state of law and the independent judiciary system. There is still a potential danger that this case is misinterpreted and treated as a clash between different political parties (because Boškoski is a member of the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE).

 

Currently, the hottest issue in the country is the new Law on territorial division which was passed by the ruling parties. According to this law, rural settlements were adjoined to towns which resulted in the change of municipality borders. This means that for instance the town of Struga, will become a municipality with the majority of Albanian population, whileSkopjewill become a bilingual town. The law provoked some stormy reactions and apparently a very clear, black and white division: Macedonians were against it, and Albanians were in favour of the law. For Macedonians, it means the division of the state, the “albanisation” of it and nurtures the fear that new municipalities with the Albanian majority may unite with Kosovo. For Albanians, this law is one step further towards the fulfilment of their rights, referring to the Ohrid Frame Agreement. Macedonians claim that such a municipal divide is equal to the ethnic division which is in discord with the Ohrid Frame Agreement. One can get the impression that foreigners and foreign organisations active inMacedonia, generally support the implementation of the new law and that they consider that if the law is refused it may result in a serious threat to peace and stability in the country.

 

After the law was accepted in the Parliament, the days that followed brought public protests and an initiative from the World Macedonian Congress, supported by the majority of the opposition parties, to schedule a referendum on territorial division. In a very short period of time 180 000 signatures of support were gathered (it takes 150000 signatures for the initiative to be accepted) and the referendum was set on November 7, 2004. Local elections that were supposed to take place mid-October were postponed for the end of March, next year. It remains uncertain what will happen after the referendum takes place, with respect to the implementation of the Law and the security of the country, but it is possible that Macedonia is heading (or already is in the middle) of the new heavy crisis.

 

Talks with the members of other ethnic groups in Macedonia, point out to two new problems: one is their feeling that for years already, everyone’s focus of attention has been the problem of Macedonian-Albanian relations, like no other group either lives in the country or has any problems at all; the other problem is that they have constantly been under pressure to openly declare who they are loyal to, either to Macedonians or Albanians.

 

Even those Macedonians who do not feel they have a particularly strong national identity find it difficult to accept the implementation of the proportional representation of Albanians in state administration, because of the country’s poverty, while the additional tensions are caused by massive dismissal of employees in factories and companies, increase in prices (like phone bills), frequent cases of contagious diseases in children’s hospitals and other, everyday problems that also fuel escalation of violence and mistrust.

 

One may notice a small positive trend in the beginning of change of political generations. For example, in VMRO-DPMNE, for quite some time, an inter-party conflict has been going on between so called older and younger generations, resulting in an increasingly open clash of two different visions of Macedonia, while the undisputed authority of some older party members and those who remained in the party for a long time is seriously undermined. The change of different political generations might have a positive effect on the current state of total disinterest of most citizens when it comes to the process of decision taking or public appeals to taking over the responsibility of the elected, ruling structure, because according to the words of a member of the Turkish ethnic community from Macedonia: “so far, we have tried every political party, and we know all about every politician in this country, and none of these options are any good”.

 

Ana Bitoljanu

 

Kosovo

 

In December 2003, the document called “Kosovo Standards” was accepted along with the forming of working groups tasked to implement the plan. Kosovo Serbs followed the orders from the authorities from Belgrade and boycotted the implementation of this plan with an explanation that it was a path towards the independence of Kosovo.

 

Direct dialogue between Belgrade and Priština began. Two out of four working groups met in Priština in the beginning of March: the energy group presided by the European Commission and the Missing Persons Group, under the guidance of the International Red Cross.

 

Although the progress made in respect to the establishment of mutual trust and the process of return of the displaced persons, became more obvious, horrible events that had happened in March, obstructed all processes and efforts invested during the last five years by both the international community and Kosovo local institutions.

 

The most important and at the same time the worst event that happened this year was certainly the escalation of violence which took place all over Kosovo on March 17 and 18. Albanians attacked Serbs, Roma, Aškalija, their houses were set on fire and their property was ruined. Also, religious buildings were set alight: churches, monasteries and other cultural monuments.

International representatives of UNMIK were also targeted.

 

The consequences of violence were tragic: nineteen people were killed, eleven of which were Albanians and eight Serbs.

More than 700 houses that belonged to non-Albanian, solely Serb population was damaged, burned down or destroyed.

What preceded these events, were the mass demonstration of Albanians, organized on March 16, against the arrest of former KLA leaders who became members of Kosovo Defence Corps.

 

All Kosovo leaders expressed their strong condemnation of violence that escalated and the Government of Kosovo gave 5 million € for the reconstruction of houses that were damaged and set on fire.

 

Several incidents preceded the riots. The first one happened on March 15 in the village of  Čaglavica, nearby Priština, where a young Serb was wounded. After that Serb population from the local villages set the road blocks on main roads Priština-Skopje and Priština-Gnjilane. The other incident happened on March 16, when three Albanian children drowned in theIbarRiver, close to Zubin Potok (in the region of Mitrovica) under the unknown circumstances. Two bodies were found right away, while the body of the third child was found only 4 months later.

 

Biased media coverage of the March riots added up to the escalation of violence, and whatever trust that had existed before was gone, while Albanians and Serbs continued to live in their separate communities.

After these horrible developments, everything stopped, including the dialogue between Priština andBelgradetogether with the process of return of the displaced persons. The Government of Serbia passed a declaration in the Parliament and asked the international community to secure political and territorial autonomy for Serbs from Kosovo.

 

In February, and explosive device blown off the car of the Minister of ambiance and planning, injuring the minister and three of his associates. In the beginning of March, a hand grenade was thrown at the residence of Kosovo president, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova.

 

This year, we are facing the parliamentary elections which will be held on October 23.  It is still unknown weather Kosovo Serbs will take part in the elections although great efforts are being made by UNMIK and the government of Kosovo to enable participation of Serbs so that they are included in the political activities in Kosovo.

 

Kosovo standards are supposed to be met in the year 2005 which is a subject of many discussions in Kosovo, in the circumstances of difficult economic situation and high unemployment rate.

 

Gazmend Murseli

 

Croatia

 

The most important event that influenced the reality of everyday life inCroatia, in the period from September last year, until today, was the change of the ruling party and the fact that HDZ won parliamentary elections. The new government was formed in the beginning of May with Ivo Sanader on the position of prime minister.

 

Many people inCroatiaand all over the region were surprised with the HDZ’s reformed rhetoric which was bursting with words like democracy and democratic values. However, the analysis of this rhetoric may raise a question whether it is a result of a real turn over in HDZ’s policy or just an adjustment according to the standards imposed to Croatia before joining the European Union.

 

It resulted in a positive response from the European Commission with respect to the beginning of talks about the Croatian status of future candidate for a full membership in the European Union.

 

Return of the Serb refugees to the areas of Krajina and Eastern Slavonija is still hindered by various forms of pressure and discrimination. Serbs who are willing to return to Croatia, are forced to sell their property very cheap thus supporting the systematic settlement of Croatian refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina in those areas, which additionally complicates the process of return and certainly has a destructive effects to the inter-state and inter-ethnic regional conflicts, further nurturing the principle of ethnically «cleansed» areas. In Eastern Slavonija there are towns like Vukovar, for example, that have still remained divided, while the Croatian public, chooses to ignore it as if it was happening somewhere else.

 

Certain changes have happened with respect to the attitude of the political elite towards the II World War and the ustaša movement. For the first time, after Croatia had become an independent state, Croatian prime minister gave a speech and condemned the crimes committed in the Jasenovac concentration camp in the ceremony after the renovation of the Memorial complex Jasenovački cvijet.

 

Without questioning any further whether it was just a declarative act or the result of pressure and fear of the foreign disapproval, it was nevertheless an important step in the beginning of the process of dealing with the past (at least, considering the World War II). It is certainly a significant step because it came from the leader of the party that had tried to create an ethnically cleansed Croatia, during the war, using the promotion of ustaša heritage as one of the instruments to support such politics.

 

The fact that Marko Perković Tompson, «big Croatian pop star» continues to tour football stadiums with his repertoire of such songs like the «hit» that glorifies slaughters committed by ustaša, called «Jasenovac i Gradiaka Stara» and promoting hate speech against anyone non-Croatian, testifies how Croatian public supports the prime minister and his efforts.

 

The attitude towards the Hague Tribunal has also changed on the state level and there are more and more high military commanders that are being extradited to Hague. However, the most wanted fugitive, retired general Ante Gotovina still remains at large. It is inevitable to raise the question whether Croatian political leadership really doesn’t know where the «popular national hero» has been hiding or it really means the implementation of a two-way policy of flirting with the Tribunal and the majority of Croatian people, while the support to the «great liberator» continues to strengthen. As a response to that situation and the warrant issued for the arrest of general Gotovina and the reward promised for his capture, towns of Croatia are covered with posters which suggest that he is not a criminal, but a hero, T-shirts with slogans like the following: «I help general Gotovina – for free» that were preceded by the petition under the same motto.

 

These kinds of reactions give the impression that for the majority of Croatian citizens the «Homeland War» remains something sacred, which should not be touched or reexamined. This way, war crimes are given legitimacy and declared “democratic and human» because they were committed for the purpose of defence.

 

The verdict to the members of so called Gospić group: Mirko Norac, Tihomir Orešaković and Stjepan Grandić became final, which was followed by complaints and protest of many “patriots” throughoutCroatia. Still, the verdict was confirmed by the Superior Court of the Republic of Croatia and we hope it would become one of the most important moves in the process of re-examination and dealing with the past wars, and moreover that it would help in further condemnation and processing of war crimes committed by the Croatian Army on the territory of Croatia. Recently an addition of the Criminal Law has passed in the parliament, that abolishes glorification of totalitarian regimes and the use of totalitarian symbols as a reaction to the monuments built in memory of ustaša icons:

Francetić and Budak, which were later destroyed under government’s instructions.

 

Although it was never openly explained that these regulations are related to the ustaša regime, the content of the addition to the Criminal Law was subject to various interpretations, according to which anti-fascist partisan movement might also be categorized as totalitarian, which is something many politicians of “democratic provenance” and ordinary citizens might agree with. The government has escaped to take over responsibility for defining the parameters of totalitarianism and turned it over to someone else, while formally, everything appears to be all right.

 

But, is the abolition enough since it fails to clarify an actual belief that ustaša movement was an attempt of establishing the Croatian state, but “unfortunately” with the wrong allies? Let us hope that this is just a first step in that direction, after which public debates will follow together with systematic awareness raising and education of Croatian public about everything that the ustaša policy of A. Pavelić brought to Croatia and to all those who weren’t Croats.

 

Some occasional, lonely voices come from individuals and organisations who are aware of the need for a wider condemnation and accepting of responsibility for everything that was happening “in our name” ever since the World War II,  to the “Homeland War” and until today. However they are not loud enough and don’t have real institutionalised and mutual support in order to make some bigger changes and more concrete moves.

 

Let us hope that the ambitions of Croatia to become a member of European Union will be an impulse that will create some space for strengthening the movement of responsible citizens who are willing to demystify the untouchable and condemn and re-examine war crimes committed in the past war, as well as to raise their voices against any kind of discrimination and violence which is inspired by national, religious or any other basis, thus justifying the position that Croatia is currently holding amongst European circles, as the most democratic country in the region (whatever that means).

 

 

WORK PLAN

 

 

 

 

 

Basic Trainings in Nonviolent Conflict Transformation

 

29.10-8.11.2004 – Basic Training, Tivat, Montenegro

10-20.12.2004. – Basic Training, Vogošća, Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

 

 

 

Public forums «Four views»

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

 

In November and December 2003. we are going to organise 3 public forums in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that represent the continuation and development of public forums already held in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina (11 public forums). The guests of the forums will be people who had participated in wars in the region of former Yugoslavia, fromBosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro.

 

The forums will be held in:

19.11.2004. – Nevesinje

30.11.2004. – Gornji Vakuf/Uskoplje

11.12.2004. -Sarajevo

 

 

 

Adnan Hasanbegović

Helena Rill

Ivana Franović

MilanColić Humljan

Nedžad Horozović

Nenad Vukosavljević

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

Ana Bitoljanu

Berghof Stiftung & Berghof Research Institute for Creative Conflict Management

Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung

Blerim Jashari

Cara Gibney

Committee for Conflict Transformation

Danas-u

Danica Novaković

Diana Francis

Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft Vereinigte Kriegsgegner – DFG VK Bielefeld

Dokumentacioni centar “Ratovi 1991-99”

Drago Frančišković

Društvo za nenasilnu akciju

Dževad Budimlić

Eleonora Čabradi Šijačić

Gazmend Murseli

Goran Božičević

Gordan Bodog

Internationale Ärzte zur Verhütung des Atomkrieges – IPPNW Deutschland

Iva Zenzerović

Katarina Katanić

Kemal Bukvić

Kurve Wustrow

Martina Fischer

Menschenrechtsreferat des Diakonischen Werkes

Mennonite Central Committee Sarajevo

Miloš Marković

Natascha Zupan

Nermin Karačić

 Nina Vukosavljević

Novica Kostić

Porodica Zeković

Predrag M. Azdejković

Quaker Hilfe

 Quaker Peace and Social Witness London

Quaker Peace and Social Witness Sarajevo

Radomir Radević

Roland Salvisberg

Sanja Vujasinović

Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Udruženje boraca rata ’90 Srbije

Udruženje boraca rata ’90 Vlasotince

Zoran Leković

all training participants