As some of you already know, in March 2022 we had an extraordinary encounter with our colleagues from South Asia. The encounter was within the project “South Asia – Western Balkan Peacebuilding Exchange” that was largely supported by Brot für die Welt.
After publishing a short report and an extensive documentation about this encounter, we are glad to announce a special report about this project „Peacebuilding in South Asia and the Western Balkans – Insights from an Unusual Encounter“, edited by Martina Fischer with strong support of Edda Kirleis and CNA team. This report is compiled mainly for international readers who did not participate in the exchange but may be interested in learning more about the advantages, opportunities and methods of a multi-regional peacebuilding encounter.
In the Introduction, Martina Fischer stated: „People who engage for peacebuilding and human rights around the globe face a number of shared challenges: many of them are working in very complex social and political settings in which peacebuilding rarely proceeds in linear processes but in loops, with deviations and setbacks. As a result, they sometimes feel that they are moving two steps forward and then three steps back. Peacebuilders often see themselves confronted with a Sisyphean challenge and therefore need an extremely high level of self-motivation and resilience to resist frustration. In many places, activists have to cope with harsh opposition or even repression and are constantly weighing up the risks to their own and their families’ lives. Most of them are familiar with the feeling of being overloaded and worry that they are running out of time. So why should peace activists from India, Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia and Croatia, who come from very different cultural, socio-political and geographical settings, travel around and come together somewhere in the middle of Bosnia-Herzegovina?…“ If you want to read more, please follow one of the links: