Centre for nonviolent action
building peace
crossing borders
learning from the past
CNA
Sarajevo | Beograd
War Veterans and Peace Activists Visiting both Ahmići and Trusina Today
A group of peace activists and war veterans will attend the commemorations on 16 April 2024 both in Ahmići and in Trusina
Life’s Boundaries – On the Study Trip to Kosovo
The study trip to Kosovo for team members of the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo – Belgrade and some of our associates was organised from 6 to 10 November 2023
People, Not Places
by Nedžad Novalić | Aug 18, 2020 | Personal Views, thoughts, work with war-veterans
Three stories about people from Bilovode, Zecovo and Prijedor
What Will Prijedor Do with Its Past?
by Amer Delić | Aug 7, 2020 | activities, work with war-veterans
Commemorations in Brisevo and Zecovi, Prijedor 25.07.2020.
War Veterans Pay Their Respects to Victims in Briševo and Zecovi near Prijedor
by CNA | Jul 25, 2020 | activities, work with war-veterans
War veterans from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, former members of the Army of RBiH, HVO, VRS and HV, attended commemorations and paid their respects to victims in Briševo and Zecovi near Prijedor where 25 July 2020 marked 28 years since the crime committed there against Bosniaks and Croats from the area.
Map of Unmarked Sites of Suffering in BiH Presented in Banja Luka
by CNA | Jul 21, 2020 | activities, exhibitions and public events, marking unmarked places of suffering
On 21 July 2020, the peace initiative Marking Unmarked Sites of Suffering (ONMS) and the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo-Belgrade presented their activities and website in Banja Luka, with documentation on actions to mark unmarked sites of suffering related to the 1992-1995 war in BiH.
Activists mark sites of suffering in Central Bosnia and around Sarajevo
by CNA | Jun 17, 2020 | activities, marking unmarked places of suffering
With the support of the Centre for Nonviolent Action, in June 2020, a group of activists continued their activities to mark unmarked sites of suffering in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Five sites were marked: Hotel Igman and Hotel Maršal, Bilivode near Zenica, Miletići near Travnik and the site of the attack against the Tuzla Convoy of Salvation near Novi Travnik.
We joined White Armband Day and attended commemorations in Vitez and Mostar
by Nedžad Novalić | Jun 17, 2020 | activities, organised by others
We continued our activities, while abiding by the relevant recommendations regarding the pandemic.
26th Annual Report Published
We have published the 26th Annual Report of the Centre for Nonviolent Action. We look forward to your comments, suggestions and feedback about this report.
Second edition of the study “On the Trail of the Danube Swabians in Vojvodina”
We published the second expanded edition of On the Trail of the Danube Swabians in Vojvodina in German in 2023
The collection of short stories from the Biber 05 regional contest has been published
The fifth Biber Contest ran from 10 December 2021 to 1 June 2022. A total of 473 stories were entered anonymously. Twenty stories selected for the collection were chosen by the jury made up of: Lejla Kalamujić, Kalina Maleska and Olja Savičević Ivančević.
Documentation: The Present of Our Past
The Present of Our Past study trip included visits to marked and unmarked sites of suffering in the wider Jasenovac and Novska area in Croatia, as well as Donja Gradina, Kozara, Prijedor and Sanski Most in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Special Report: Peacebuilding in South Asia and the Western Balkans – Insights from an Unusual Encounter
A special report about an extraordinary encounter with our colleagues from South Asia.
25th Annual Report Published
We have published the 25th Annual Report of the Centre for Nonviolent Action.
We look forward to your comments, suggestions and feedback about this report and our work.
Documentation: South Asia – Western Balkan Peacebuilding Exchange
The encounter within the project “South Asia – Western Balkan Peacebuilding Exchange” took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 26 March to 2 April 2022. The exchange included two parts: optional study trip in Mostar and the workshop held in Sarajevo. The participants of this exchange programme came from India, Manipur/India, Bangladesh, Germany, North Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
24th Annual Report Published
In front of you is the 24th annual report on the activities of the Center for Nonviolent Action. As always, your feedback would mean a lot to us.
War Veterans and Peace Activists Visiting both Ahmići and Trusina Today
A group of peace activists and war veterans will attend the commemorations on 16 April 2024 both in Ahmići and in Trusina
Prison Camp Survivors and Peace Activists Visit Sites of Detention in Herzegovina
Together with prison camp survivors, supported by peace activists, reporters and war veterans, from 9 to 11 March 2024, the Centre for Nonviolent Action visited former detention facilities in the area of Konjic, Mostar, Istočni Mostar and Jablanica
Meeting of War Veterans in Daruvar – Keeping up the Peace Work
In a relaxed working atmosphere in Daruvar, war veterans discussed the need for joint planning and next steps and reviewed their work over the past period.
War Veterans and Peace Activists at the Commemoration in Rogatica: Victims welcome all support
Invited by the “Suza” Association of Families and Friends of Missing Persons from Rogatica, a mixed group of war veterans and peace activists from the region attended the commemoration to mark 31 years since the start of persecution of non-Serbs in the Rogatica area
War Veterans and Peace Activists at the Commemoration for Civilian Victims in Lozje near Goražde
At the invitation of the Goražde Prison Camp Survivors Association, a group of war veterans and peace activists attended a commemoration for civilians killed in Lozje near Goražde
Prison Camp Survivors and Peace Activists Visit Sites of Detention Together and Issue a Public Appeal
Together with prison camp survivors, supported by peace activists, reporters and war veterans the Centre for Nonviolent Action organised a joint visit to mark four silos that were used as sites of detention in the area of Tarčin near Hadžići, Kaćuni near Busovača, and in Žepče and Derventa
Three Decades since the Crime in Sjeverin near Priboj: Families Still Waiting for Justice
On the thirtieth anniversary of the abduction and killing of 17 civilians from Sjeverin near Priboj, a funeral service was held and a commemoration in memory of the victims. The commemoration was attended also by peace activists and war veterans from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia.
Meeting of War Veterans – We Remain Steadfast on the Path of Peacebuilding
From 6 to 10 June 2022, in Blagaj near Mostar, we organised a meeting of war veterans and peace activists
War Veterans at the Commemoration to Children Killed in Vitez: We Can Learn from the Painful Past
It has been 29 years, yet no one has been held responsible for the deaths of eight children in Vitez, killed on 10 June 1993 by a shell fired from the positions of ARBiH. A mixed group of war veterans and peace activists from BiH, Croatia and Serbia visited Vitez today to pay their respects to the child victims.
Joint Visit and Honouring of Victims in Trusina and Stupni Do
For the first time, representatives of the two communities and families of victims visited both monuments and paid their respects to the victims on both sides.
Kruševo Republic of Tears and Laughter: 45th Basic Training in Peacebuilding
The Basic Training in Peacebuilding, its 45th edition, was held in Kruševo, in the south of North Macedonia from 6 to 16 October 2023.
Fifth Peacebuilding Training for Students from BiH: Generation Change
Report from the fifth Peacebuilding Training for students from Bosnia and Herzegovina that held from 22 to 28 July 2023 on Mount Vlašić
44th Basic Training: Days when Years Happen
The 44th Basic Training in Peacebuilding organised by the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo/Belgrade was held in Ulcinj, Montenegro from 14 to 24 October.
“Introduction to Peacebuilding”, Mir-Paqe-Мир 2022
Many topics and questions discussed at the training are taboos in our societies, they are not spoken about, not even in the most intimate circles
The Courage and Openness of Twenty-Year-Olds
The fourth Peacebuilding Training for students from Bosnia and Herzegovina was held from 22 to 28 July on Mount Vlašić.
Powerful Chairs — 43rd Basic Training in Peacebuilding
The training is an opportunity to open up grievances and discuss the things we hold against people “from the other side”, but also to see which topics we are forbidden to open inside our societies.
“Introduction to Peacebuilding”, Mir-Paqe-Мир, Kruševo, 10 – 19 May 2019
Overcoming official borders, but even more so, those that exist in people’s heads is the biggest challenge when it comes to peacebuilding in the region. Over its nine days of intensive activities, the Mir-Paqe-Мир training becomes a space for free exchange of opinions and for re-examining your own views. The Mir-Paqe-Мир training requires courage of the participants in deciding to face up to accepted and unconscious stereotypes imposed by our societies so as to transform them (at least) in their own minds.
Third Student Training in Peacebuilding: Generational Responsibility?!
The third peacebuilding training for students from BiH is complete. We identified the need for this type of peace education geared at students for the first time four years ago, when we organised the first peacebuilding training for students from BiH.
Kosovo 2.0 portal about CNA peace work and activities with war veterans
Portal Kosovo 2.0 published an article about the peace work of the CNA, especially about our working with war veterans
Swiss television SRF: War veterans from the region at the commemoration in Prijepolje
The report was recorded on February 26 and 27, 2020, during the participation of war veterans from the region at the commemoration in Prijepolje, for the victims in Štrpce.
A REPORT THAT SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN WRITTEN: They used to shoot at each other, now they donate blood for their “enemies”
Lupiga.com about war veterans action in Prijepolje in february 2020.
Centre for Nonviolent Action among the Winners of the Krunoslav Sukić Award
The official awards ceremony was held on 12 December 2019 at the Croatian National Theatre in Osijek
Media: As veterans honour Ahmici victims, activists criticise Croatia’s silence
While veterans from the region were paying their respects for the victims of the 1993 massacre in the village of Ahmici, Croatian activists were criticising their country’s leadership for not participating in the April 16th commemoration.
Members of the BiH Presidency Should Visit Sites of Atrocities Together
Mirza Dajić writes in Oslobođenje (6 January 2019) about the need for political officials to jointly visit sites of suffering, following the example of, among others, war veterans from the region who have been visiting sites of atrocities together for 10 years now, under the organisation of CNA.
Reconciliation does not mean forcing individuals to reconcile
The strategy aims to offer guidelines about the lessons to be learned from the wars. Primarily about how to re-examine the national past, which is presented as black-and-white in the dominant narrative.
Reconciling Histories!?
Reflections about Conference organised by the Centre for Nonviolent Action (CNA), Sarajevo 15.-17.5.2018.
Kosovo, from a different perspective
The people of Kosovo are far from reconciliation, but it remains a common desired goal. Luan Imeri, a columnist of Рацин.мк wrote this reportage a few days after visiting Kosovo with a group of friends – peace activists from the former Yugoslavia, led by the Centre for Nonviolent Action
Going deeper
Political and social contexts in which we live
SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR AWAY: On the severed ties between BiH and Kosovo
Starting from 1 January 2024, citizens of Kosovo will be able to travel visa-free anywhere in Europe, but not to BiH, for which they will need to obtain a visa either from Zagreb, Podgorica, Tirana or Skopje
BETWEEN DENIAL AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Who and what does the Kazani memorial serve?
BETWEEN DENIAL AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Who and what does the Kazani memorial serve?
Commemoration for Killed Children Not Focused on Killed Children
Nedžad Novalić, member of the CNA team, in a text published by the ResPublica portal writes about the commemoration for killed children in Sarajevo
Monetary fines and prison sentences are not the worst that can happen
Vanja Stokić, a reporter and activist from Banja Luka, writes about the impact of the draft law adopted by the Republika Srpska National Assembly criminalising slander and libel.
Life in Europe’s Waiting Room
Political and social contexts in which we live
Bulgaria is the New Greece
Political and social contexts in which we live – from Annual Report 2021
Trainees Testimonies
CNA team
our websites