text:
Time Does Its Thing. Are You Doing Your Thing, Man? | Balkan Diskurs
Slobodan Blagovčanin
February 11th, 2019
“It was the winter of 1996. The month of March. It was cold, very cold.”
“It was the winter of 1996. The month of March. It was cold, very cold.”
I don’t really remember how it used to be. I’m retelling it how my mom and dad usually talk about it. Back then, we lived in a place near my hometown of Ilijaš. In Podlugovi[1] – the place that artist Zdravko Čolić sings about in his song about the railway station. During our final months there, the population in this small town changed drastically. People changed their places of residence, all of them. We were the rare and unfortunate ones who were still waiting for a truck to load our things in so we could move away.
The anticipation of that truck’s arrival was so great that we weren’t actually living in our house at the time. Instead, we were living in the attic of the neighbor’s house, which everyone knew had already been vacated.
“We lived there? Well, we really not “living”. You and your sisters were just kids back then. It was Dad’s friend, Izet, that placed us there, convincing us that we would be safer, but it was an extremely small space. But we were able to bear it, having in mind that your safety was our greatest concern. Izet did a lot for us back then,” Mom recalls.
Dad had left our house to Izet for safekeeping, but it later turned out that Izet ended up selling all the home’s radiator tubes and roof tiles. In any case, he might be one of my earliest childhood memories. There was this one time when we were absolutely famished, and he brought us a bag full of everything you could imagine. It even contained Eurocream! Mom never mentions this, but I remember it. And I remember him as a man who was dear to my heart.
When asked if they ever left the attic, they said every so often, even if they were afraid.
“Everyone was aware that we didn’t do anything, but you still never knew who had lost someone and how they would perceive things. Once, when I went out into the yard, I remember seeing an old grandma. She was dressed in a long, colorful dimije (traditional baggy trousers) and was twirling her hands while holding a pair of sandals as she walked down the street towards me,” says Mom.
She recalls their conversation.
– Good afternoon!
– Good afternoon gran! How are you?
– I’m fine, thanks for asking! I’m just looking for a house to move into because I had to abandon my own.
– Oh gran, here, move into any of these you like. All of the houses from here to Zenica are empty and free for the choosing!
– Well, my dear. I don’t want to claim just any house; I want one for which I will be given halali (forgiveness) for taking it.
We somehow found the money for the truck and Dad’s brother was put in charge of picking it up and loading all my parents’ personal belongings from the last 34 years onto it. They had so much stuff when they moved for the second time in their mutual lives. Later, we would move five more times.
Dad and Uncle were loading the truck, and, according to Mom, it went awfully slowly. Dad had an excuse for the slow process – after he was injured during the war, a doctor had told him he shouldn’t do any manual labor.
“We were lucky that we covered the trenches with railroad ties. At least we had an abundance of those here. This makeshift cover saved our lives hundreds of times. Once, during the shelling, a grenade hit the trench we were in, landing on the railroad ties directly above us. We survived that grenade explosion thanks to those ties, but we were jolted by the detonation. It was after that incident that the doctor told me I shouldn’t lift anything heavier than a spoon,” Dad remembers.
Unfortunately, the soldiers would soon arrive to our town. I say (un)fortunately because they were likely the enemy soldiers, so that’s why we had to move. With minimal conversation, we began loading our stuff onto the trailer of the green truck.
– Where will I put this?
– On the left, right next to the armoire.
– Here?
– Meh, you can also put it there, f*ck it!
Thus, as the free space in the truck disappeared, so did our hopes that everything would end. A few moments later:
– No more. It’s full.
– Full to the brim.
– Can you, at least, put this tepsija (baking dish) in?
– Let’s try.
– Nope, not a chance.
“It was a fine tepsija. I often made bread and pie in it,” Mom says about the tepsija she left behind. As I gazed at her, she excitedly and proudly continued: “And then I took that tepsija and tossed it as far as I could over the fence. Oh, how many times I had used it.”
As the conversation continues at the dining room table, Mom is putting dough in a blue tepsija. The dish was a bit sooty at the bottom which reminded her of the one she abandoned.
– It was similar to this one.
– It was similar?
– This one’s not exactly the same. The other one was bigger.
– Well, Mom, it’s pretty much the same size as the dish you left behind.
– You don’t know anything.
What I also didn’t know was whether that sad grandma ever found halali (forgiveness) for taking a house. And I still find it hard to believe that railroad ties could really protect you from grenade blasts. I don’t know how many will either judge Izet or understand him like my dad does, as he believes that everyone, deep down, is good by nature. What I know for certain is that Mom has at least 10 new tepsijas. However, every time I come home on Saturdays and we bake pies, she tells the same story about the tepsija that she’s never gotten over and is still mourning the loss of to this day.
Now, the forlorn migrants that are passing through Bosnia and Herzegovina, who are fleeing war and looking for a better life, are collectively referred to as “a migrant crisis and a danger to society”.
When I think about it, I wonder how many of their own blue, sooty tepsijas they’ve had to abandon when they were forced to flee their homes. How many of their fathers’ lives were not spared by the rudimentary protection of railroad ties? How many enemy soldiers have forced them to emigrate? We were never animals until the very end. We do not need to be animals now either. In our country, time has done its thing, but we are always reminded of that unlucky war through the stories of our parents. Time has done its thing. What are we doing?
[1] Ilijaš is a settlement and a municipality located in Sarajevo Canton, northwest of the city of Sarajevo. It consists of several settlements. One of those settlements is Podlugovi.
This publication has been selected as part of the Srđan Aleksić Youth Competition, a regional storytelling competition that challenges youth to actively engage with their own communities to discover, document, and share stories of moral courage, interethnic cooperation, and positive social change. The competition is a primary component of the Post-Conflict Research Center’s award-winning Ordinary Heroes Peacebuilding Program, which utilizes international stories of rescuer behavior and moral courage to promote interethnic understanding and peace among the citizens of the Western Balkans.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

created: February 11th, 2019

author: Slobodan Blagovčanin


text:
Life Gets Hard in the Winter Time | Balkan Diskurs
Sara Velaga
February 13th, 2019
Toilets, bathrooms, buses, stairs – all of these present obstacles for people with disabilities who are living in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“There are steps outside of every building that pose an insurmountable obstacle for someone in a wheelchair or on crutches. At the University Clinical Center in Banja Luka, neither the toilets nor the bathrooms are adapted for people with disabilities, not to mention the fact that deaf people don’t have a sign language interpreter at their disposal in important state institutions,” says Borislav Boban Đurić, the executive director of the Coalition of Health Care Organizations of BiH.
Đurić is himself disabled, which has come as a result of inadequate treatment for a rare disease he has called hemophilia B. In addition, doctors infected him with hepatitis C “by mistake”, which he fought for a long time, but has managed to overcome. It has all cost him a lot, both financially and mentally, he says. And when asked how he feels when he goes to an institution that isn’t accessible to the disabled, he responds: “Ugly and powerless.”
“One of my worst experiences was when I entered the public library in Mrkonjić Grad. I slipped on the slick tiles and had to spend months in the hospital due to injuries to my ligaments. I also slipped and fell in the “Manja” pastry shop in Banja Luka once and broke my leg. Simply put, very little attention is being paid to the needs of people with disabilities. No one cares, and no one is held responsible. The state has done almost nothing to protect us,” says Đurić.
Đurić, who is also the president of the youth organization “The Center” in Mrkonjić Grad, additionally believes that schools and universities are unprepared and ill-equipped to meet the needs of disabled students. “One should not even begin wasting words on the conditions in the education system, because absolutely nothing is adapted for people with disabilities,” he states.
Single mother T.M. is on her own when it comes to dealing with her daughter’s education. She explains how she used to accompany her daughter to primary school: “I guided her, drove her, and carried her until she finished primary school. She didn’t get to enroll in the high school of her choice. Some schools didn’t want her because she was in a wheelchair, others just didn’t have the capacity to accommodate a child in a wheelchair. The only place she was welcome was at the Vladimir Nazor Center in Sarajevo.”
There are many challenges faced by BiH’s disabled persons when it comes to the inaccessibility of public spaces and institutions, but the hardships don’t stop there. People living with disabilities who live in their own homes also struggle with tasks and situations that many of us take for granted, such as the ability to shovel snow from our walkways in the winter, for example. Salih S. finds life exceedingly difficult during the winter time and explains: “In the winter, only the main roads are cleared. My house is 200 meters from the main road. What use is the driveway and the disabled access I’ve made to the house if no one clears it?”
The “Zagrljaj” (“Hug”) Association for Helping Children and Persons with Disabilities emphasizes that people with disabilities are the most vulnerable group in our society and, as such, are often marginalized. The disabled community has spent years fighting for the rights of its members and many people often turn to NGOs for help and support because they feel that the NGO community accepts them the way they are.
Rozeta lives on the fifth floor of a building with no elevator. Since her husband died, she has had to fend for herself. “I have no children and the family members who would normally be able to help me live far away. I don’t find it unreasonable that I don’t want to be placed in a care facility. I just want to spend the rest of my days here, where I’ve lived most of my life. In my own home. The ones that are helping me are the members of the Zagrljaj Association as well as a few good people who visit me from time to time, but they are the only ones,” she says.
“People with disabilities are just like everyone else. They need love, respect, and the right to education, employment, and a family life. All the things that are an integral part of life. Instead, our state treats these individuals like beggars who are supposed to be satisfied with the few breadcrumbs that those in power throw them in the name of “charity”,” Đurić concludes.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

source: news-balkandiskurs

created: February 13th, 2019

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Sara Velaga


text:
Journalism is Publishing What Others are Afraid To | Balkan Diskurs
Amra Džonlić
February 19th, 2019
The freedom of expression and media freedom are fundamental principles of democracy, but recent media reports often emphasize the online threats that journalists receive on forums and portals, which include death threats. In addition to the evident safety issues, the political structure in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and increasing financial pressures make the situation more difficult for journalists working in the country. This has all led to a major problem for journalism in BiH – censorship and self-censorship.
All of that didn’t stop Avdo Avdić who decided to confront the system and risk his own safety to write about the things that impact the everyday lives of BiH citizens.
Avdo Avdić, a journalist for the online magazine Žurnal, was full of passion when he talked about the importance of journalism as an educational and informative channel for all citizens. As a former public service employee, he was working at a job that he could happily have continued working on until his pension. But he still decided to go to a research media house where he could write about what he wanted to write about.
“I decided to take this uncertain step for the sake of my own freedom. I had a ‘safe job’ as a public servant where I could work for a decent salary until I received my pension, but I left to join another media house where I was free to write and publish what I wanted. I don’t have any second thoughts about my decision. I went from a place of certainty into one of absolute uncertainty, but if you want to write, and if you want freedom, you have to pay a price,” Avdić said.
According to him, there are many media that publish the truth, but the problem is that this truth is selective. “90 percent of things that are read on the internet portals can be considered as truth. However, the problem is that this truth is one-sided, it’s not everyone’s truth,” Avdić said, adding, “but I don’t criticize my colleagues when they are forced to sign off on some things they don’t personally agree with because it’s very difficult to find a job in this country.”
Although a number of reports on journalists’ rights and freedoms cite their exposure to various threats as a widespread problem, when inquired about the issue, Avdić stated that he feels absolutely safe.
“We’ve received numerous threats and threatening images. I informed the investigative authorities that they should take care of my security. I didn’t feel in danger at any time. There is a criminal offense of endangering one’s security and this is determined by the police, prosecutors, and judicial institutions,” Avdić said, pointing out that the essence of journalism is not to create personal promotion through the public disclosure of threats.
“The problem in our society is that journalists have become focused on themselves. If the purpose is to talk about your vulnerability, then you aren’t suited for this career because you are there to pay a certain price for your efforts to inform people. The public is not there to make judgments on your peril,” Avdić added.
Avdić also said that journalists cannot speak on being threatened because, “What about the miners who work in mine pits for the same salary?”
“Did you notice that the miners aren’t talking about the dangers of their job every day, rather only when someone is killed or injured? But the journalists’ vulnerability is talked about every day, which is not right or fair. We are becoming too focused on ourselves and I believe we should instead be talking about the people’s problems. Maybe then those people will appreciate us and then we will improve our status in society,” Avdić said.
Speaking about media literacy, Avdić said that we can exclusively talk about the general illiteracy of BiH society, citing the example that when he publishes a text that covers some mundane issue, his readership is higher.
“When we publish something deals with some of the major problems that can have far-reaching consequences for people, there are approximately five, ten, and up to 20,000 people that read it, however, when you announce that someone drove a car with fake license plates, the text is read by around 100,000 people. Unfortunately, this means that people are more interested in entertainment than in reality,” Avdić said.
When asked why he chose journalism, Avdić explains that he didn’t choose journalism; he simply did not want to do anything else.
“To say that I have chosen journalism would mean that I had more options available. I didn’t have any other options. I didn’t choose journalism, I just wanted to be a journalist,” Avdić concluded.
This publication has been selected as part of the Srđan Aleksić Youth Competition, a regional storytelling competition that challenges youth to actively engage with their own communities to discover, document, and share stories of moral courage, interethnic cooperation, and positive social change. The competition is a primary component of the Post-Conflict Research Center’s award-winning Ordinary Heroes Peacebuilding Program, which utilizes international stories of rescuer behavior and moral courage to promote interethnic understanding and peace among the citizens of the Western Balkans.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

created: February 19th, 2019

author: Amra Džonlić


text:
Mitigating the Adverse Impacts of Smoking; Are Excise Taxes on Tobacco the Solution? | Balkan Diskurs

February 22nd, 2019
Tobacco’s death toll continues to rise in BiH, while the tobacco industry remains insulated and the tobacco epidemic rages on with more than 2,000 children and 1,053,000 adults using tobacco on a daily basis.
Every year more than 8,600 people in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) die from tobacco-induced diseases. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, tobacco consumption contributes to a number of health-related diseases such as cancer, respiratory problems, and cardiovascular diseases, and evidence shows that there is also a causal relationship between second-hand smoking and cardiovascular diseases. Tobacco’s death toll continues to rise in BiH, while the tobacco industry remains insulated and the tobacco epidemic rages on with more than 2,000 children (ages 10-14) and 1,053,000 adults (ages 15+) using tobacco on a daily basis (The Tobacco Atlas, 2019).
The World Bank Group published a report in February 2019 titled “Time to Quit: The Tobacco Tax Increase and Household Welfare in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. The study, which was recently presented in Sarajevo, is part of a set of assessments that the World Bank has conducted in countries across the world. What makes this study unique, is that it is the first of its kind to be conducted in BiH. The economists that contributed to the study are hoping that the empirical evidence gathered will shed new light on BiH’s tobacco problem and inform the policy discussions on its tobacco consumption and excise taxes.
According to the World Bank’s senior economist, Alan Fuchs, the aim of the study was to assess the distributional effects of increasing the price of tobacco in BiH. This was done by examining the impact of three indicators: (1) the increase in the price of tobacco through tax increases, (2) the reduction in medical expenses, and (3) the increase in revenues due to the prolonged years of employment as a result of the higher life expectancy. In order to evaluate the relative impact of these indicators, the paper estimates the price elasticity of tobacco across different income groups and calculates the welfare gains in each group. The study concludes that more than 60% of the population will benefit from subsequent increases in the price of cigarettes.
In a nutshell, tax increases would raise the price of tobacco, leading to an overall reduction in its consumption, which would reduce the adverse effects of smoking in the long term. Interestingly, the study also reveals that the benefits for lower-income households are accentuated, as these households are more likely to react to price increases by cutting back on their consumption of tobacco.
The impacts of tobacco consumption extend beyond just health-related diseases, and issues such as the vast economic costs of smoking in BiH cannot be overlooked. The negative consequences on human capital development include an increased economic burden that results as a loss of labor productivity, lower earnings due to early mortality and morbidity, and an increase in the cost of healthcare expenditures, which currently total around 891 million convertible marks annually. Estimates suggest that the total economic costs attributable to smoking constitute 3.4 percent of BiH’s GDP (World Bank, 2019).
Reducing tobacco consumption in BiH has become a priority for the World Health Organization (WHO), not only because of the high health care costs but also because adjusting current excise tax policies is a necessity for the country’s accession to the European Union (EU). The continued harmonization of excise policy in line with EU standards is required by every prospective member to the EU, and BiH is currently only halfway to reaching the minimum EU excise duty on tobacco. However, the constant and regular increase in excise duties has resulted in consistent price increases on tobacco products, which, according to the  WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic (2017), has led to a significant decrease in cigarette smoking among both genders.
According to another report by the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, the prevalence of cigarette use among youth (ages 13-15) has also declined from 14.3% in 2008 to 12.7% in 2013. Another benefit of the excise taxes is that it results in higher government revenues, which may then be used to lower taxes elsewhere or for financing the necessary prevention and control of cigarette-related diseases.
One of the primary goals of the WHO is to reduce the consumption of tobacco by promoting the implementation of MPOWER control policies, which include tobacco monitoring, smoke-free policies, smoking cessation support programs, the provision of health advice and deterrents as well as taxation policies. Among these policies, tobacco taxation is considered one of the most efficient measures to reduce tobacco consumption (World Bank, 1999).
However, the World Bank’s Country Manager for BiH, Emmanuel Salinas, recognizes that taxation of tobacco is only part of the answer and that other solutions also need to be considered. The effectiveness of tobacco taxation additionally depends on how the tax increases impact the final price paid by consumers. The report concludes that an integrative approach to anti-tobacco policies that combine taxation and behavioral change policies is needed to yield positive social returns.
To sign the pledge of support for a smoke-free environment in BiH visit www.klimabezdima.com.

created: February 22nd, 2019


text:
A Krishna Consciousness Society: Religious Minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Part II) | Balkan Diskurs
Anja Zulić
February 26th, 2019
“Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare” – represents the maha mantra that the members of the Krishna Consciousness Society in BiH sing, both individually and collectively, in the city streets, which is why people colloquially call it Hare Krishna.
Hare and Krishna are two of the religion’s three names for God (Hare, Krishna, and Rama). When translated from Sanskrit, Krishna means “The one who is all-attractive” and, also, “The one who stops the continuous cycle of birth and death”. Hare is the vocative case of Har and represents the name of the Krishna inner energy of satisfaction. When translated from Sanskrit, the Maha Mantra means: “O God, o energy of God, please engage me in Your service.”
“We sing this maha-mantra to develop a relationship with God, to turn the focus of our lives away from ourselves and to develop our selflessness, dedication, and love towards God. This is recommended in the oldest writings of this world, which are called Vedas in Sanskrit. The writings explain that the cause of man’s suffering in this world is the attitude of “me and mine”, because, in fact, nothing truly belongs to us. Everything is created by God and we only use it temporarily while we are in this world,” a representative of the Krishna Consciousness Society in BiH explains.
Awareness of this is called the Krishna consciousness. Each day begins with a maha-mantra so one can remain aware during the day that everything we use is not ours, but that it belongs to Krishna. We should not tie ourselves to what we will have to leave behind after our lives in this world. In this way, we purify our heart from internal enemies that result from the excessive attachment to material goods – envy, lust, greed, anger, illusion, and madness,” the representative explains.
In the former Yugoslavia, the movement has been present since the 1970s and has existed in BiH since 1988. It was officially registered as a religious community in BiH in 2005 and has around 500 followers. There is an organized community in Sarajevo and there are also members in other BiH cities.
Some Teachings of the Krishna Consciousness Society
The basic teaching of Krishna consciousness is that we are not this body, but a spiritual soul.
“The soul lives in the body and perceives this world around it with material sensations, however, the sensations experienced through the body are not the happiness that most people believe it to be,” the society member said during an interview with Balkan Diskurs.
Members of this religious community believe that happiness can’t be experienced through physical things or consumerism of any kind, but that happiness is a spiritual feeling experienced only through spiritual activities.
“Bhagavad-gita, the central book of this spiritual science, recommends that singing Krishna’s names is a process for experiencing the spiritual happiness that humanity must follow. As soon as the soul experiences such happiness, it achieves a much-desired inner peace and satisfaction and there is no longer any need for excessive fulfillment of bodily requests to eat, sleep, reproduce, and defend more than is necessary to sustain the soul and body together in life while we are here in this material world,” the Krishna Consciousness Society representative says.
Our interlocutor also explains that the spiritual soul is all living things – humans and animals and birds and insects and plants. A spiritually self-aware person, thus, looks at all through equal eyes. It does not regard itself as a master and a person who enjoys the material nature, but rather respects her as a God’s creation and does not exploit her. It takes what it needs to survive from nature. It protects her, it leads a peaceful life as a vegetarian, knowing that animals are our four-legged brothers and sisters.
Gatherings in squares, parades, and singing of the maha-mantra on the streets are one of the ways that members of this group try to spread their teachings. They explain that the interests of people are different; whereas some are interested and want to know more, others are completely spiritually deaf. Anyone who becomes interested in this spiritual science joins voluntarily. There is no imposition, the religion’s followers respect everyone’s free will, and that’s the reason they don’t encounter any unpleasant or awkward situations.
“We give free lectures on spiritual science in our centers. We recommend that mankind read about it in the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, which are translated into more than 50 international languages,” the religious representative explains.
For members of the Krishna Consciousness Society in BiH, all these activities play a special role – the systematic promotion of spiritual knowledge in society.
“We try to educate people about the techniques of a spiritual life as a means to establish a balance of living values and achieve true unity and peace in the world. Therefore, completely free and as volunteers, we offer this spiritual knowledge to all people regardless of religion, race, nationality, sex, and economic or social status – because everyone needs peace,” the representative concludes.
This article is part of the “Religious Minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina” series, which presents information about various religious groups and communities in BIH that aren’t recognized as traditional religious communities but have a significant number of followers.
Read Part I, “Meet the Mormons”, here.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED)

created: February 26th, 2019

author: Anja Zulić


text:
Youth Heroes: Jajce Teens Halt Further Segregation in Schools | Balkan Diskurs
Neira Kadić
February 28th, 2019
The authorities did not take them seriously, but the youths’ persistence and courage, along with public pressure, resulted in the revocation of the decision to further segregate schools in Jajce.
The cantonal assembly of the Central Bosnia Canton tried to erect another school under the Two Schools under One Roof system in July 2016. This was heavily opposed by a group of Jajce teens who recognized this as an act of segregation and who began to protest against this decision. The authorities did not take them seriously, but the youths’ persistence and courage, along with public pressure, resulted in the revocation of the decision to further segregate schools in Jajce. Now, more than two years on, these young heroes continue to fight against the system and have received significant recognition and support for their hard work.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s educational system is a direct reflection of the country’s current post-war division. While schools in the Republika Srpska (RS) remain predominantly mono-ethnic, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) has 56 schools that operate under the “Two Schools Under One Roof” system.
“Two Schools Under One Roof” was created as a temporary solution to encourage the return of displaced citizens to their homes and as a systematic protection of their rights on a cultural and linguistic level. Nevertheless, these schools operate across the FBiH to this day, heavily concentrated in cantons that have had the highest number of returnees. The reports of international and domestic organizations say that this educational model further contributes to segregation and discrimination.
For years, there has been an on-going debate on why this system is still in place. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) educational sector representatives stated that a lack of political willpower to resolve this issue is one of the main factors. Criticism from international organizations has not stopped the Bosnian authorities from supporting the further division of high schools in Jajce, which are currently functioning under the Croatian curriculum.
Instead of segregating the schools to house two mono-ethnic sets of curriculum, a group of young activists from Jajce requested that students still be able to attend all classes together with the exception of the so-called “national” subjects such as language, religion, geography, and history.
Jajce’s group of student activists all agreed that the system does need to be restructured but dividing existing schools further would certainly not lead to positive changes. The compromise to accept some separate curricula, they concluded, is not an ideal solution but it’s better than complete segregation.
Fear and indifference permeate the community, as is often the case in post-conflict societies, and the group that stood up against the decision for further segregation received little public support during their protests.
“We did have some support, some people did encourage us to continue fighting, but when it came to tangible and strategic help, everyone remained silent and that’s where the problem lies,” stated Ivica who was one of the students that started the protests.
“My parents support our work,” Ivica’s colleague Ajla added. She also explained how many others didn’t support such activities.
The student protesters had attended several meetings with OSCE BiH representatives who had offered their support to organize a public debate as well as to help the young activists with further planning. These young people were beginning to recognize the power of speaking out.
“These schools have been built for us. They will remain as they are, because we demand it,” Nikolas, a Jajce high school student, explained.
The debate to further segregate the schools has shifted the focus away from the actual problems of both the quality of the educational system and the state of the physical buildings that students spend their time in. “It would be way more useful to fix the broken windows and to foster a more positive environment in our classrooms. Shame on them,” said Ajla.
Katica Čerkez, the Central Bosnia Canton’s Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, publicly stated that Two Schools Under One Roof is not a phenomenon but an implementation of Annex 7 of the Dayton Accords. She explained how the current dissatisfaction in Jajce is rooted in Croats’ fear of losing their language and culture after another school with Bosnian-based curriculum is created.
Ajla, Nikolas, and Ivica responded by saying that regardless of whether this statement is true or not, the group’s activism is free from any political influence. The group consists of young people eager to stop the ethnic divisions.
Many doubted that the fight of these high school students from Jajce would succeed but they did, indeed, win. The resolution was scrapped and the cantonal government has given up on full segregation.
A national group of subjects was introduced with the start of the new school year and, thanks to this fight, the students continued to attend most classes together.
“I hope the entire region will come to realize that these divisions won’t lead us anywhere. Why do children have to live this way? What have we, or the future generations, done to deserve this?” asked Nikolas.
“These schools are ours and we have the full right to reject segregation,” stated Ivica
Winning this battle has only inspired them to continue their activism. Ignored by the politicians and the local community alike, these young activists took matters into their own hands, spoke out, and made a difference. Now, aware of their strength and the power of their voice, they serve as a reminder to the younger generations of their power to influence Bosnia and Herzegovina’s path towards true reconciliation.
This publication has been selected as part of the Srđan Aleksić Youth Competition, a regional storytelling competition that challenges youth to actively engage with their own communities to discover, document, and share stories of moral courage, interethnic cooperation, and positive social change. The competition is a primary component of the Post-Conflict Research Center’s award-winning Ordinary Heroes Peacebuilding Program, which utilizes international stories of rescuer behavior and moral courage to promote interethnic understanding and peace among the citizens of the Western Balkans.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

created: February 28th, 2019

author: Neira Kadić


text:
The Stories and Places I Always Go Back To | Balkan Diskurs
Nevena Medić
March 5th, 2019
It seems that I am not able to resist going back to the ruined places of my childhood. They are there to break me, to shake me; they are a part of my identity. After all, they are here only to come to life again.
Photos and text by Nevena Medić
Our ability to narrate stems from the ability to deepen our conceptual understanding of a particular place. We are always somewhere; we live in, travel to, and pass through various places. We build our stories to try to reconcile our own existence through them. Stories make places important for us and places become deep vases in which we keep and preserve our life’s narratives.
In recently demolished and destroyed areas, the essence of humanity can incomprehensible and difficult to find, but such places carry their own special tales. It is difficult to pass through destroyed hotels and abandoned and demolished houses and buildings and not think of the human hands that built these structures. The same human hands that destroyed them. It’s hard to think about this and not feel the weight of belonging to a form that was both made by the creator and, at the same time, the destroyer.
Such places and stories exist in and around every corner of Srebrenica. They make up a part of my childhood, they are still a part of my life today, and they will, in many ways, determine my future. Sometimes I have the impression that life, up until the age of six, is obscured in some locked part of our brains, a part seemingly filled with dark basements, black coal, and moisture. What happened in those years of growing up left their strange mark on me, and, every so often, as with many of life’s determinants, I end up returning to these places and stories of my past, present, and future.
The day we left Ilijaš near Sarajevo and the day we first arrived in Srebrenica in 1996 were etched clearly into my memories. That day is brisk and returns as a brilliant flash – a reflection on the glass of my mind’s eye. The city was black and broken. The street we passed was no longer bi-directional. Garbage all around, broken armchairs on the road, beds and destroyed furniture, the path became narrow and dark. We could barely pass through it. For too long we have lived using makeshift nylons as a replacement for glass. But I was happy. The two slices of pâté, eaten while standing at the door, became the main delicacy of childhood skeletons. In abandoned lifts, we guarded the cheap footballs that we bought at the flea market. We wrote our initials on the walls of half-empty buildings, N + N, or some verse of a song from the new Nirvana album.
The expedition to deserted and destroyed houses was a paradise lost for children in the rainy days of autumn. The paradox is that we, the children born after the war, most liked to play the game of war. “Ra-tat-tat-tat” echoed across the decaying rooms of abandon. It’s as though the space had imposed its game on us, as if the war was the only thing we knew and the only thing we learned.
I lived a happy and carefree childhood. For many, it was the opposite growing up in difficult post-war circumstances, of which I was often unaware. Today, when I take a closer look, all the war and post-war occurrences were part of my identity and, a different life and childhood, I do not know of. I can’t and, sometimes, don’t want to imagine a different life and childhood.
I often walk through the abandoned places of my childhood, filled with the scent of dampness and humidity, with a dull feeling of emptiness as I recall the days of my childhood. I often think that I would like to return to this period of my life because, then, I did not know anything. I was, in some ways, indifferent. The departure from home is forgotten; all that remains are a refuge, a flashing bullet, and a mortar shell. Suddenly the main problem became whether the street light on the main street was working so that we could play late at night.
Not long ago I was given a school assignment to write a philosophy essay on the topic of “the hole in the wall”. I started by borrowing from Anna Karenina and adjusting it for the purposes of my essay: “All the holes in the wall look alike, only this particular hole in the wall is sad in its own way.” At the end of the essay, my hole in the wall took a more human form.
During the refugee period in New Belgrade, a man with a smirk approached to convince me that a higher celestial power was operating the lifts. He told me that somewhere up there, at the edge of the world, a group of people is constantly working to operate the lifts. I was fascinated. When I first saw this machine in the abandoned Domavija Hotel in Srebrenica, I thought the man had deceived me. But then I thought, “It doesn’t matter,” because Mama deceived me by saying that we would never leave Ilijaš and that my toy cupboard would arrive in another truck.
30 June 1995. Signatures in the Domavija Hotel shelter – even the walls remember. They remember the ones that are maybe no longer with us, those who have been permanently deceived for all time.
It seems that I will not be able to resist going back to these stories and places. They are there to break me, to shake me, and to make me face everything. After all, they are here only to come to life again.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

created: March 5th, 2019

author: Nevena Medić


text:
The Pursuit for Equality: Women and Business in BiH | Balkan Diskurs
Kristina Gadže
March 8th, 2019
It isn’t easy being a woman in today’s world, but the increasing differences in the treatment of women and men have a significant impact on the statistics on women’s employment in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Women are predominantly employed in lower-paying job sectors, such as education, social care, or retail. In addition, women work lower-paying jobs because they are positioned lower on the hierarchy spectrum,” M.Sc. Vesna Vučemilović, who wrote a paper on the topic titled “The discrimination against women in the labor market with a focus on the case of Croatia”, told Balkan Diskurs.
Gender inequality is especially pronounced in BiH, which is still dominated by patriarchal norms. According to data from the International Labor Organization, women earn 77% of what men earn and it would take seventy years to eliminate this difference, Vučemilović says.
Discrimination against women is also reflected in the division of men’s and women’ affairs, Dr. Daniela Jurčić claims.
“Women are engaged in activities that are less valued, but also lower-paid. Among the most common forms of discrimination against women in the labor market include wage differences, the unequal status of men and women in terms of access to employment, discrimination related to advancement within the organizational structure, and the like,” says Dr. Jurčić.
Even in the 21 century, women are still suppressed and all but excluded from a number of major social events in BiH. There is also an attitude of male domination over women that takes power away from women in a number of ways and, therefore, convinces them that they are the inferior sex.
“It can be said that the view on women has changed significantly compared to earlier times. However, our society is under the strong influence of stereotypes. In such a context, the status, significance, and work of women are often neglected and underestimated,” Dr. Jurčić says, highlighting patriarchy, communism, and post-war processes as important factors that have influenced women’s position in society.
The Association of Businesswomen in Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the few organizations in the country that is working to empower female entrepreneurs and encourage them to reach for higher positions.
“When talking about entrepreneurship, there is no male and female entrepreneurship; there is only entrepreneurship. The business world in BiH, and in the region, is traditional and conservative, but the moment someone decides to become an entrepreneur, the problems are the same, regardless of gender. It is then that you become just a person who is fighting for their goals and you forget about gender and discrimination,” says Aida Zubčević, president of the Association of Businesswomen in BiH, who believes that the Association’s primary task is to strengthen women’s perception and opinion of themselves to reflect that they can achieve anything they want to, regardless of gender.
According to Zubčević, data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2012 Women’s Report reveals that the rate of entrepreneurship among women is half that of men. The rate of female owners or company managers is 4%, while that rate is at 8% for men.
“It is necessary to consistently invest in knowledge, work, discipline, dedication, and innovation. It is all challenging, regardless of whether you are a man or a woman, and the problems are similar. What’s always on women’s shoulders, and what remains an additional burden, are children, elderly parents, and weak and sick family members in general,” Zubčević concludes, ending the conversation with the message that many of the problems regarding women’s entrepreneurship can be solved if the proper support is provided and strategic solutions can be implemented.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

created: March 8th, 2019

author: Kristina Gadže


text:
Smoking and Women’s Health: The Disproportionate Effects Among the Sexes | Balkan Diskurs
Jade Penancier
March 11th, 2019
In her book From Outrage to Courage, scholar Anne Firth Murray remarks: “Being born female is dangerous for your health. This reality may not be true for many readers, but for most women living in poor countries around the globe, it is devastating.”
In the same vein, most people are aware of the devastating consequences of tobacco consumption, though few people know that smoking unequally affects men and women. Smoking environments and the tobacco industry are particularly dangerous to women, whether they are active smokers or non-smokers.
Global health organizations systematically disaggregate their statistical data between male and female populations. Some primary reasons for this approach are that tobacco addiction provokes different health issues in men and women, and that smoking behaviors generally differ between the two sexes.  In a fact sheet on Gender and Tobacco published in 2003 by the World Health Organization, the authors remark that “[…] female smokers risk increased cardiovascular disease, in particular while using oral contraceptives, and higher rates of infertility, premature labor, low birth weight in infants, cervical cancer, early menopause, and bone fractures.” Due to hormonal factors, women are more prone to cervical cancers as well as complications due to the combination of contraceptive pills and tobacco chemical substances.
The difference between male and female smokers is also related to different “psycho-social aspirations” (WHO 2003). Distinct prevailing gender norms for men and women greatly influence reasons to take up or quit smoking. Gender stereotypes are fully exploited by tobacco industry marketing campaigns. For men, tobacco consumption is associated with virility, manhood, and adventure, values acclaimed as typically masculine. Conversely, advertisements targeting women associate tobacco with “seductive but false images of vitality, slimness, emancipation, sophistication, and sexual allure” (WHO 2003). In addition, many tobacco brands design so-called “light” or “slender” cigarettes, marketed as less harmful and aimed to attract non-smoking women and girls. The Tobacco Atlas points out that these marketing campaigns are especially harmful to gender equality. The website states, “[t]o appeal to more customers, the tobacco industry markets its products aggressively to women and children”.
At the global level, statistical data show a clear prevalence of male smokers. According to the Tobacco World Atlas “[g]lobally, 942 million men and 175 million women ages 15 or older are current smokers.” Charts presenting data for each country systematically indicate a higher number of male smokers, with some dramatic gender gaps in China, for instance, which has 236 million male smokers and 14 million women smokers.
Do these discrepancies mean that women are less in danger of dying from tobacco consumption? No, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. The high exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) makes female non-smokers particularly vulnerable to the side effects of tobacco consumption. For instance, the WHO fact sheet remarks that “lung cancer death rates in the European Union are nearly three times higher for female compared to male non-smokers, which researchers attribute to exposure from spousal smoking”.
The Bosnian and Herzegovinian context reflects overall global trends between male and female smokers. The Tobacco Atlas for BiH shows that, despite the recent progress made in tobacco regulation policies, Bosnian men smoke 48% more than in other countries with a High Development Indicator (HDI), while 30% of Bosnian women smoke more. This gender gap in smoking habits is a clear indicator of the gender economic gap in BiH. As highlighted in a Gender Analysis Report published by Measure BiH, gender inequality in employment is high in both of BiH’s entities. One oft-cited statistic is that two-thirds of the unemployed population in BiH are women. As a consequence, in most Bosnian traditional households and in rural areas, women tend to have lower—if any—incomes than their husbands and cannot afford to buy tobacco.
A closer look at the World Bank report on The Tobacco Tax Increases and Household Welfare in BiH published last February reveals other interesting facts about tobacco consumption and gender inequality in the country. On the one hand, men and women suffer equal mortality rates from tobacco-related illnesses. In 2015, out of the total of 20,267 recorded victims of direct tobacco consumption, 10,300 were men and 9,927 were women. On the other hand, charts showing the medical costs of treatment for tobacco-related diseases surprisingly indicate significant gender gaps. Overall, women spend much less money on medical expenses to cure their tobacco-related diseases (see Table 6, page 23), with around 68 million BAM spent on men and 24 million BAM for women.
These various facts and figures indicate that tobacco-consumption, as well as second-hand smoking, is not only a gender-related issue in BiH but worldwide. Access to healthy living environments is a basic human right, however, a great majority of women must suffer the side-effects of smoking, especially in poorer countries where there is still a lack of tobacco regulation.
One should also bear in mind that smoking is connected to mental health issues, which are still prevalent in post-conflict societies like BiH. In addition, depression and other mental health issues are important factors for taking up smoking for both sexes in poorer countries. Unfortunately, mental disorders and addiction issues are too often stigmatized and many women worldwide lack access to free and quality mental health services. So, what solutions are available? The first priority seeks to assure that non-smokers are protected from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke. In BiH, the World Bank has recently launched the “Klima Bez Dima” initiative to ban smoking in public spaces across the country. In addition, more services like those of Asocijacija XY, who provides local youth with psychological support and reproductive health counseling, should be made more broadly available to women and girls in BiH.
To learn more about the Klima Bez Dima initiative and to sign the pledge to protect BiH citizens from exposure to second-hand smoke, visit www.klimabezdima.com.

created: March 11th, 2019

author: Jade Penancier


text:
Don’t Stand in My Way: Improving Issues of Inaccessibility for BiH’s Disabled | Balkan Diskurs
Nataša Kondić
March 18th, 2019
In Bosnian society, persons with disabilities are not recognized as equals and are often treated with pity or fear.
Persons with disabilities living in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) often don’t have access to certain public spaces and institutions and information is often not available in the formats necessary to accommodate persons with different types of impairments. According to the Association of Youth with Disabilities “InfoPart”, some of the main obstacles related to issues of accessibility for the visually and hearing impaired include a deficit of audio literature and materials in braille, employees in public institutions who know sign language, and audio-tactile crosswalk and traffic light systems, to name a few.
Aleksandar Dukić, whose disability is the result a rare genetic condition called epidermolysis bullosa, points out that people with disabilities need personal assistance and home care services, first and foremost, but they also need infrastructure, transportation, workplaces, and educational institutions that are adapted to accommodate their needs.
A clear strategy is necessary in order to overcome these difficulties. Infrastructure cannot be changed in a short period of time, thus, medium-term action plans must be made and executed, while keeping in mind that there are some spatial adaptations that don’t require large financial investments.
As a result of institutional inaccessibility, the disabled are often forced to choose among only those schools and occupations that can provide at least some accommodation. Schools, cultural and sports facilities and administrative and judicial institutions in smaller communities are all often inaccessible, violating a broad range of rights for people with disabilities. Hospitals are typically the most accessible kind of institution, which, unfortunately, reflects the limited societal view of disability from solely a medical perspective.
Dukić, who moved from Prijedor to Banja Luka in 2013, confirms that the conditions in smaller communities and towns are, indeed, significantly worse.
“Banja Luka is at least somewhat adapted to allow for greater mobility for people in wheelchairs, unlike Prijedor which, at this time, isn’t even 5% adapted. I’ve heard that things are starting to move forward over there, but progress is extremely slow, almost insignificant. The situation in Banja Luka is far from ideal, but at least there is some level of accessibility,” says Dukić.
He emphasizes that, although there are still a number of places that don’t have infrastructure that has been adapted to people with disabilities, the situation is equally as bad in places that do have adaptations because they are either inadequately done or their functionality is not maintained properly.
“The lift in the city center that is supposed to transport the wheelchair-bound to the supermarket, a couple of restaurants, a cafe, and the cinema, is out of order. So, in addition to not having a cinema, we, the wheelchair-bound, also don’t have a discotech. Society and our government officials seem to think that disability and illness are one and the same and that the only place we need proper access to is the hospital so that we can see the doctor,” says Dukić.
Another sign that the authorities do not care about the needs of the disabled is when cables or pipes are repaired. Companies cut the asphalt and leave it in disrepair, which further complicates the mobility of people with disabilities.
“When I see a construction company doing some work, I make sure to write down their phone number so I can call and ask them not to leave the place worse than they found it. People often comply, but they need to be told,” says Dukić.
There are a number of associations that serve as mediators between the disabled and the public institutions. The president of InfoPart’s board of directors, Vera Bošković, stresses that InfoPart continues to launch numerous initiatives aimed to increase the implementation of existing regulations that guarantee the rights of people with disabilities as equal members of society.
“We’ve tried to increase the chances for people with disabilities to get beneficiary group status for obtaining housing loans and housing adaptation loans. We’ve also made an effort to promote the “Don’t Stand in My Way” campaign to show drivers and legislators the difficulties caused by illegally-parked vehicles,” says Bošković.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

created: March 18th, 2019

author: Nataša Kondić


text:
Open Fun Football Schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina | Balkan Diskurs
David Lander
April 4th, 2019
The importance of sports for children and young adults cannot be underestimated. Sports are a great way for children to learn essential life skills that will serve them in later life, such as teamwork, cooperation, and the principles of a healthy lifestyle.
For the last 21 years, the small team at the Cross Cultures Project Association (CCPA) has been working to re-engage people of different backgrounds in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) through sports, with an emphasis on football, to create safe “meeting places” to help people rebuild trust and breakdown hatred and fear. Since the program began in 1998, CCPA has engaged 66,950 children in BiH alone, and 244,451 children throughout the Balkans, in multi-ethnic football programs. Many of these programs’ past participants have returned as young adults to coach the next generation of children.
After working in BiH for the UNHCR during the war, Anders Levinsen decided to return to the country in 1998 to help rebuild. It was during that time that Levinsen came up with the idea to use football as an uncomplicated and relaxed way to rebuild trust and break down the hatred, fear, and animosity that lingered in communities that remained divided. Thus, CCPA was founded with a vision to utilize football schools and camp programs to create safe ‘meeting-places’ for BiH youth. Vildana Delalić-Elezović, CCPA’s Project Coordinator for BiH, described that, during those initial years, there was, “a lot of rebuilding in terms of new roads, new bridges, new infrastructure, new everything, but hardly anything was done to rebuild communities and the relationships between people.”
The organization’s main program is its Open Fun Football Schools (OFFS), which operates under the simple and powerful Cross Cultures slogan of “bringing people together” and offers children from across ethnic and social divides and from different regions and municipalities are offered a way to interact and build relationships through a shared love for football. The OFFS provide all-inclusive, five-day and one-day football programs for people regardless of their skill level, gender, and social, ethnic, religious or political backgrounds. Each event follows a “two-city approach” in which at least two municipalities of largely different ethnic makeups are brought together, engaging children from each community. In addition, rather than splitting the participants into two teams to play against each other as would be the case in a typical football match, they are divided into twelve groups by age, intermixing children from each municipality. The twelve groups of children then spend their time transitioning through twelve different stations to learn football skills and play games that incorporate various approaches to cooperation and teamwork. These games additionally allow the children to build relationships among peers within their age group by simply being on a team together.
The OFFS program not only encourages relationship-building among its youth participants but also adults from different communities, which begins long before the actual events take place. Using football as the central and primary focus, the OFFS program creates a safe space for adults from different societies and backgrounds to meet and interact with one another in positive ways. With incredible buy-in from the municipalities, the program has never had to pay or rent a football field for their programs, and, as a special bonus, CCPA donates all of the football equipment to the communities involved for continued use following the event.
The OFFS program has achieved great success over the past two decades. Since its inception in 1998, CCPA has led 325 five-day OFFS programs in BiH and 1,228 programs across the Balkans in Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Macedonia. These programs have not only engaged 244,451 children throughout the Balkans but have also inspired many of their former youth participants to return as counselors and coaches to replicate the lessons they learned and help build relationships similar to those they established as a result of their previous participation.
In addition to teaching young people football and how to be teammates with other children from different communities and backgrounds, CCPA has been able to impart other important lessons to those involved in their programs. During each OFFS event, the organization creates what it calls “Station 13”, which is dedicated to teaching participants about subjects outside of football. In the past, Station 13 has included lessons about landmine awareness, ecology, and efforts to reduce littering. These lessons delivered during play, physical exercise, and football matches help contribute to the holistic development of youth throughout the Balkans. In the future, CCPA hopes to use “Station 13” to deliver lessons about the dangers of smoking as part of BiH’s national Klima Bez Dima anti-smoking initiative. Several studies show that youth involvement in sports can greatly contribute to the prevention of tobacco, alcohol, and drug abuse. One such study of U.S. public high school students entitled ‘Her Life Depends On It III’ conducted by the Women’s Sports Foundation, found that those who participated in organized sports were 22% less likely to smoke cigarettes and that the more involved a girl was in sports, the less likely she was to smoke.
In August 2018, the OFFS programs were further expanded to include young migrant children living in BiH. During a five-day OFFS program, which was held in the Bosnian town of Cazin, CCPA-BiH, with the support of the International Organization of Migration (IOM), was able to engage migrant children from a nearby migrant reception center. One of the program’s trainers described how the migrant and local youth were able to actively socialize and build relationships despite the fact that they did not speak the same language. He described, “They have found a way to overcome the language barrier using the international language of sports.” Programs like these demonstrate the inherent willingness and desire among children to find ways to interact and build relationships with one another no matter their differences. Through their extensive football programs, CCPA has been able to teach children from different communities and backgrounds that they can become friends and teammates despite their differences.
An organization that originated in BiH is now not only replicating its football programs across the Balkans but globally in several countries within Asia, the Caucuses, the Mena Region, and, most recently, South Sudan. Through its efforts, CCPA has shown that even people who have once been at war with one another can use sports to help rebuild their communities and relationships and restore a culture of peace.
Beginning this summer, on 1 June 2019 in the BiH city of Doboj, CCPA will start their 21 season of creating a culture of peace by hosting their annual Mini Championship street tournament, which will coincide with the EUFA Champions League Final.

created: April 4th, 2019

author: David Lander


text:
Smoke Surrounds Us Wherever We Go. We Demand a Solution! | Balkan Diskurs
Marko Mlikota
April 10th, 2019
The activities of the Klima Bez Dima initiative were presented this week to a large number of visitors during the 2019 International Economy Fair in Mostar.
With the display of the creative “A Life in Smoke” installation, visitors had the opportunity to get informed about the goals of the initiative and to sign a petition to support the creation of a healthier, smoke-free environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
Initiators of Klima Bez Dima are persistent in their goal to implement amendments to the law on tobacco control in BiH, which would, in turn, prohibit smoking in public areas. To accomplish this, they need to gather 10 thousand signatures. The results of the initiative will soon be presented during World Anti-Smoking Day, which is celebrated on the 31st of May.
“This bill does not want to ban smoking, but to introduce order in public places so that tobacco smoke is not inhaled by people who do not consume tobacco,” said Adviser to the Minister of the Federal Ministry of Health, Vedran Marčinko.
Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Rašid Hadžović, believes that a healthy environment without tobacco smoke is absolutely necessary, especially for the people his ministry represents with – the young people.
“As a minister and a man who does not consume cigarettes, I consider this a good and positive initiative. All of our young people should turn to a healthy life without tobacco smoke, and to a healthy life in general. Given that we are surrounded by smoke wherever we go, I think that a law is needed to ban smoking in public places,” Hadžović said.
Sabina Memić from the City Administration of the City of Mostar points out that by supporting a change in the law we are also working toward the welfare and betterment of our children’s future lives.
“We are able to contribute to and present new perspectives to people about the importance of reducing tobacco consumption and promoting healthy lifestyles so that our country and our descendants can live as healthily and happily as possible,” Memić said.
Danijel Prgomet, a Croatian student who is living in Mostar during his studies, thinks that smokers’ behaviors towards non-smokers, and children especially, are inappropriate at best.
“I’m exposed to tobacco smoke every day, and I think it’s a health concern. It’s not right that people who smoke poison the people who don’t smoke. I’m also worried about the fact that children who are still developing are suffering in this regard,” Prgomet said.
Ivana Ćosić believes that with the implementation of legally imposed fines, the number of tobacco product consumers could be affected. “I think that such initiatives can bring small, but significant, changes to our society. Changes in the law would, indeed, contribute to improving the health of both active smokers and passive ones. The passive smokers are increasingly being exposed to tobacco smoke on a daily basis.” says Ćosić.
Andrea Raguž, a student from Mostar, agrees with Ćosić. She says that “this project is very useful for us and for future generations, and I hope it will be successful. All people, both smokers and non-smokers alike, deserve to live in a healthy environment.”
Klima Bez Dima is part of the “Reducing Health Risk Factors in BiH” project supported by the Government of Switzerland and implemented by the World Bank in BiH in partnership with entity Ministries of Health, entity Public Health Institutes, and other local stakeholders. To learn more about the Klima Bez Dima initiative and to sign the pledge to protect BiH citizens from exposure to second-hand smoke, visit bit.ly/klimabezdima

created: April 10th, 2019

author: Marko Mlikota


text:
Klima Bez Dima Multimedia Contest | Balkan Diskurs
Balkan Diskurs
April 10th, 2019
The Klima Bez Dima initiative invites youth from across Bosnia and Herzegovina to submit creative multimedia content that tackles topics related to smoking in BiH and its impacts and/or promotes the benefits of a smoke-free environment. The content submitted as a part of this contest will be featured across the Klima Bez Dima and Balkan Diskurs online and social media platforms in an effort to promote the amendment of BiH tobacco control laws and advocate for a healthier environment for the country’s citizens.
The following cash prizes will be awarded to three contest winners:
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 15 May 2019
The following types of multimedia content can be submitted:
The content you create can be in any tone – humorous, educational, personal, inspirational, emotional, etc. Just remember that it must cover topics related to smoking in BiH and its impacts and/or promote the benefits of a smoke-free environment. AND PLEASE FEEL FREE TO GET CREATIVE!
Please send your submissions to [email protected] with the subject line “KBD Multimedia Contest” and include the following information in the body of your email:
The top three contest winners will be announced at the end of May 2019.
FOLLOW KLIMA BEZ DIMA ON FACEBOOK (@KlimaBezDima) AND INSTAGRAM (@klimabezdima) FOR CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPDATES!
To learn more about the Klima Bez Dima initiative visit bit.ly/klimabezdima and sign the petition to support a smoke-free BiH.

author: Balkan Diskurs


text:
Mountains: Once a Place of Fear, Now a Beacon of Unity | Balkan Diskurs
Kaleena McKell
April 16th, 2019
Much of the fighting that took place during the Bosnian war of the 1990s occurred in the country’s mountains, hills, and countryside. Once littered with landmines that led to the destruction and decay of the hiking trails and mountain huts that served to connect the country and its people, Bosnia and Herzegovina is now re-establishing itself as a hub for outdoor and adventure tourism as it invites people to return to its mountains to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Dinaric region.
History of Mountaineering in BiH
Today, approximately a third of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s population is involved in mountaineering to some extent — ranging from committed mountaineers to those who get out and hike at least once a year. But mountaineering has experienced some significant changes over the past 30 years and the effects of the war in the 1990s still remain visible in both the city and the countryside.
During the time of Yugoslavia, mountain trails were interconnected and paths were clearly marked. There was an extensive network of mountain huts and lodges and everyone worked together to create a cohesive system. This all fell apart after the break-up of Yugoslavia and the war that ensued. With the dissolution of the former system, mountaineering has seen staggered growth in recent years. Many mountain huts and lodges were destroyed and, according to mountaineer Dalvin Kadirić of PD Željezničar Sarajevo, there is no longer one mountaineering union that represents each society and the mountaineering unions in BiH have struggled to adapt to the new conditions, which has resulted in a decrease in mountaineering association memberships.
“In earlier times, there was one mountaineering society in (each) country and one mountaineering union that served to represent all the different mountaineering societies that existed across the region,” Kadirić said. He went on to explain that although BiH has a national union – the Mountaineering Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina – it consists of three sub-unions: the Mountaineering Union of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Mountaineering Union of Republika Srpska, and the Mountaineering Union of Herceg Bosnia. Unfortunately, these internal divisions have made efforts to re-invigorate this particular area of BiH’s outdoor tourism a bit more complicated.
Despite the complications, mountaineering associations like PD Željezničar Sarajevo are doing their best to navigate the political obstacles and Kadirić remains optimistic that the country’s strong tradition of mountaineering will continue. “I think we are on a good path towards reinvigorating the population’s passion for mountaineering by offering something new,” he said.
Kadirić explained that the purpose of PD Željezničar Sarajevo, which has been around since 1950, is to provide people with opportunities to connect with other mountaineers, volunteer for the organization, and venture out into the mountains. The non-governmental organization not only provides these opportunities but also participates in a number of other important activities, including trail clean-up, restoration, and marking. The organization takes care of the trails in its municipality and leads monthly hiking trips, service trips, and more. In addition, the group has been involved in the Via Dinarica Project since its outset.
Story of the Via Dinarica
The Via Dinarica is a mega-hiking trail spanning seven Western Balkan countries from Albania to Slovenia. The project has been in the works for years and development of such an expansive, cross-country trail is no small task, especially when considering the region’s rocky past.
“Our aim was to explore the potential to connect point A to B to C to Z and so forth, as well as whether it was possible for one to walk the entire route. We were, of course, expecting to encounter some obstacles along the way,” Via Dinarica’s project manager, Božana Kaltak, said. “We were expecting to run into some neglected, and even non-existent, trails as a result of the region’s recent past,” she explained. However, Kaltak and her colleagues were hopeful that developing this mega trail would put the region on the international tourism map.
Following the war, there was a good deal of fear upon returning to the trails because of the large number of landmines that were still scattered across the country. According to a report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Mission to BiH (OSCE BiH), more than 300,000 square kilometers have been cleared of mines since 1996, however, although only 2.2 percent of the country’s landmass remains hazardous, it is estimated that 80,000 landmines are still buried. Many trails still exist in areas that haven’t been mined, but the trails that are currently in active use are mine free, and, thus, hiking in the region is generally safe. In addition, most documented mine-related accidents are not associated with hiking.
Many parties have supported the realization of the Via Dinarica project, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in BiH, which has helped various mountaineering associations and NGOs clean up and mark trails, eliminating any major safety concerns associated with venturing back out into the mountains.
Kadirić said marking and clearing trails results in a feeling of accomplishment. “It’s always interesting, it’s complicated, and it’s an adventure. It’s hard for me to explain it in a few words, but you get the sense that you are leaving something behind for other people to enjoy – for other mountaineers, and for people who love nature. It is a really good feeling.”
Following these tasks, the next goal was to reconstruct mountain huts and improve or establish other tourism infrastructure to expand services and increase capacities. Similarly, USAID took part in the project, thus far contributing around USD 900,000 to the development efforts said Vladimir Milan of USAID in BiH.
“Thus far, we’ve helped develop the minimum kind of infrastructure necessary. First, the trails must be marked, so we marked approximately 3,000 kilometers of trails,” Milan said. “You also need to certify that there are no mines along these trails. We then provided assistance with the operation of some of the facilities along the trails such as mountaineer huts and bed and breakfasts.”
In March 2019, it was announced that another USD 2.7 million investment will be made toward the Via Dinarica project by USAID, the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), and the Ministry of the Environment and Tourism FBiH. Some of the key project activities over the next two years will include the marking of an additional 500 km of trails along the Dinaric Mountains and the inclusion of new local communities.
Coming Together Under a United Cause
Because the Via Dinarica spans so many countries, stakeholders from across the Balkans have come together to realize the project. Often, the private sector proves more eager and cooperative to collaborate on such projects, but the public sector has demonstrated a willingness to join in.
“There is a very strong awareness on both sides (public and private sectors) that they must work hand in hand,” said Snježana Derviškadić, project leader of the Regional Cooperation Council in BiH’s Tourism Development and Promotion initiative.
According to the Via Dinarica Project’s project manager, Božana Kaltak, relevant ministries of tourism in BiH are among those within the public sector that have recognized the potential of the mega trail and have provided their support. The three main institutions supporting the project include the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of the State of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism, and the Republika Srpska Ministry of Trade and Tourism.
“So, the top three institutions dealing with tourism immediately got involved and provided support, recognizing the potential for outreach to the rural areas and the opportunities for touristic and sustainable development in these areas,” Kaltak stated.
Green Visions co-founder, Thierry Joubert said, “One of the key successes of the Via Dinarica is the willingness from different groups to say, ‘Okay, it clear that we are working towards the same goal, so let’s open up. Let’s just be human and come together. Sometimes the parties agree and sometimes they don’t, however, they all realize the importance of working together.”
Joubert helped establish the Via Dinarica Alliance – a group of outdoor adventure agencies from the Western Balkans who work together to provide the best Via Dinarica experience for travelers and tourists. The alliance is a model of how groups from countries that previously experienced serious conflict can put aside their differences and come together for a greater cause.
“One of the main reasons for establishing the Via Dinarica Alliance is that we understood the uniqueness of the project,” Joubert said. “The trail existed before officially becoming the Via Dinarica as there was a great deal of hiking going on in former Yugoslavia. You could hike all the way from Slovenia to Macedonia. In 2006, we saw that people had begun to return to the trail – local people,” he explained.
Once Joubert and others realized people were still going to the trail, it also became evident that the redefined country borders now served as a source of discontinuity.
“Some of the policy issues that became the big bear in the room were those related to visas and border crossings,” said Derviškadić. She explained, however, that different groups have been working together to raise these issues with relevant ministries in each respective country as the Via Dinarica continues to develop.
“There are still so many factors involved — there is politics, there is pain, there are emotions,” Joubert said. “I believe it was in 2016 when the different parties started to realize that we could again work together towards the same ideals and goals.”
Members of the Via Dinarica Alliance like Joubert, Derviškadić, and other outdoor adventure enthusiasts share a common passion for sport and the outdoors and have recognized a similar passion in both locals and tourists alike.
“If you tap into that passion, barriers basically cease to exist. People talk to each other as biker to biker or as a climber to climber — the fact that they have different passports is something that fades into the background,” Derviškadić said.
Future of Tourism in BiH
“As a result of everything that happened in the 1990s, we somewhat entered into the 2000s with a not so positive outlook,” Derviškadić said. “But I think things have been changing…the region overall is emerging, particularly in the adventure travel arena.”
After many years of working in the tourism industry, Derviškadić is excited about the prospects of adventure tourism in BiH. She said that tourists are becoming more environmentally conscious and are seeking more cultural opportunities to learn about local communities and customs. Luckily, BiH is rich in beautiful landscapes, untouched nature, and deeply rooted cultural traditions.
So, despite the region’s turbulent past, outdoor and adventure tourism is providing advantageous prospects for BiH’s economic future. According to USAID’s Vladimir Milan, even locals are now venturing out and doing day trips and overnights in the mountains. Thus, foreign tourists and locals alike are turning to the mountains and benefiting, and the rise in adventure tourism and ecotourism is not only benefiting the tourism sector but also local business owners and those living in rural areas.
“As long as the people there are making some money, as long as outdoor and healthy lifestyles are becoming more popular to the people of this country, and as long as more and more people are ending up in the mountains and out on the trails, it’s a good thing,” Milan said. “There’s a public benefit from the additional revenues, especially in those remote areas.”
Božana Kaltak agrees with Milan that one great benefit of the Via Dinarica’s development is the positive feedback they are receiving from the locals. “When you see how happy the people who are living in really rural mountain areas are when you come and offer them an opportunity to earn money off the resources that the generations before them lived off of, they are so happy. They are happy that someone is finally helping them to continue to live where they were born, or even to return, and earn some money from the food they produce and from the nature that they are surrounded by,” Kaltak said.
Hiking guide at the Rafting Center Drina-Tara Dragan Bošković, said the area he works in is still largely undiscovered by the outside world. He said the nature is intact and the local food is organic, which is alluring to foreign visitors.
Kristian Milosavljević, also a guide at the Rafting Center Drina-Tara, has been working in the outdoor tourism field for 12 years. He explained that when the business first began, the majority of visitors were from ex-Yugoslav countries, but, thanks to the Internet, more and more visitors from foreign countries are arriving each year. “There are a lot of people that don’t know rafting in Bosnia even exists, so when they see it on the Internet, they want to try it.”
Milosavljević views rafting as a team building activity that bonds people despite their backgrounds. “We get a lot of people with different nationalities and religions, but none of that matters on a rafting expedition where we all work as a team to have fun,” he said. “A lot of people ask us if we ever get bored of this job, I’ve been doing it for 12 years now, and I never get bored because I have a new group of tourists every day, so no day is the same as the one before it and that’s the beauty of it.”
Milosavljević hopes that in the future the government will pay more attention to ecotourism and its implications for the country’s economy and will support the growing industry. Ultimately, projects like the Via Dinarica serve to unite people of all ethnicities, nationalities, and religions under one purpose: to share and preserve the natural beauty the region has to offer. Despite political, social, or economic divides, people can come together, reconcile their differences, and build something beautiful together.
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For more on the social significance of mountaineering in Bosnia and Herzegovina, see “Bosnia in Hiking Boots: A History of Mountaineering Clubs” (2015) by Maria Hetman.

created: April 16th, 2019

author: Kaleena McKell


text:
Discussing Russia, Eurasia, and Eastern Europe in the Big Apple: An Interview with Alexander Cooley | Balkan Diskurs
David Lander
April 19th, 2019
“You see a lot of human rights practices and norms under assault all over the world. In our region especially, we are witnessing the forces of nationalism and populism and there’s a growing perception that the US isn’t as engaged as a steward for human rights as it once was,” says Cooley.
“I think it’s no secret that the last ten years has been viewed as a challenging time for human rights and in general,” states Alexander Cooley, the Director of Columbia University’s Harriman Institute of Russian, Eurasian, and Eastern European Studies.
“You see a lot of human rights practices and norms under assault all over the world. In our region especially, we are witnessing the forces of nationalism and populism and there’s a growing perception that the US isn’t as engaged as a steward for human rights as it once was,” says Cooley.
Established in 1946, Columbia University’s Harriman Institute has become what is now one of the world’s leading centers for the academic study of Russia, Eurasia, and Eastern Europe. Originally the Russian Institute, which was devoted to the interdisciplinary study of Russia and the Soviet Union, Harriman’s geographical scope has expanded, but its mission remains the same: “To serve our community at the university and beyond by supporting research, instruction, and dialogue, sponsoring vibrant and multidisciplinary events that bring together our extraordinary resources of faculty, students, and alumni.” Former Governor of New York, Ambassador to the Soviet Union, and the Institute’s namesake, W. Averell Harriman, expressed that the overarching goal of the Institute stemmed from his belief that: “To base policy on ignorance and illusion is very dangerous. Policy should be based on knowledge and understanding.”
Harriman students are considered some of the brightest and most engaged, and alumni continue on to serve as experts in their fields. Cooley lauds the way in which students are able to grasp the interdisciplinary nature of the Institute’s regional studies programs: “What I find really interesting about our students is that not only are they knowledgeable, they can speak many languages and are so good at brokering different things. They do human rights and public health, they do Georgia and China, and they are so good at navigating the multitude of requirements that their different disciplines entail in a really effective way.”
As the current Director of the Harriman Institute, Cooley is, himself, one of the foremost experts on the former Soviet Union as well as on Central Asia, in particular. He is an acclaimed author of six books and regularly publishes opinion pieces in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs Magazine, and Foreign Policy Magazine. His most recent book, Dictators without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia, explores how authoritarianism has reached beyond traditional territorial borders. In addition to his leadership role at Harriman, Cooley also remains active in teaching courses and encourages his students to be self-reflective and to continuously explore the things they are passionate about as part of their research endeavors. Cooley explains that he begins each semester by: “Asking ourselves who we are and what are we doing here.”
Among the programs Harriman offers is its Balkan Regional Studies Program, which includes a wide range of courses that focus on everything from exploring issues of race, ethnicity, and gender within the context of Yugoslavia’s disintegration, to the current status of human rights in the Balkans, to issues related to the refugee and migrant crisis, forced migration, and displacement. Throughout the year the program hosts a series of talks, film screenings, and other events that focus on Balkans-related topics and issues.
One such event included the screening of the documentary Two Schools, which documents the ethnic segregation of one Bosnian high school and a principals attempt to bring them together by organizing a football match. The screening was followed by a discussion with the film’s director, Srđan Šarenac.
Harriman also recently hosted a two-day symposium titled “Lessons from the Ground: Framing and Interpreting Human Rights in the Balkans” organized by President of the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) Advisory Board and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, Tanya Domi, and Executive Director of the Kupferberg Holocaust Center, Laura B. Cohen.
The goal of the event was “to bring together activists, practitioners, and scholars to reflect upon critical human rights- and research-oriented issues that receive less international attention but are well-known locally in Bosnia and Herzegovina.” Cooley explains that this type of format is at the core of the Harriman Institute’s mission and educational approach: “It’s the kind of event that exemplifies the types of connections we can make. We can be a convener in New York, we can reach out to different kinds of schools, law and human rights programs, practitioners, political scientists, filmmakers, and NGOs, as well as present a broader regional perspective. We can bring together a variety of people, such as academics and practitioners, who are engaged in [these topics], which is part of the Institute’s mission – it’s not only interdisciplinary, it’s cross professional.”
Day one of the symposium kicked off with a keynote address by Emir Suljagić, a professor at the International University of Sarajevo and a Srebrenica genocide survivor, followed by a screening of Uspomene 677, a documentary film that presents a transgenerational account of the legacies left behind by the Bosnian war from 1992-95. The story is told from the perspectives of three Bosnian youth and three former concentration camp detainees from BiH’s three largest ethnic constituencies. The screening of the film produced by PINCH Media and the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) was followed by a discussion with its director, Mirko Pincelli, and PCRC Founder and President, Velma Šarić. Day two comprised a series of three panels that featured professors, specialists, and professionals from across the peacebuilding and human rights sectors.
The Harriman Institute considers interactive discussions and events such as these as an effective way to keep students engaged while educating them about contemporary issues facing their regions of focus. “It’s something that we are proud to continue, even in challenging times like these. Such events also reaffirm the legitimacy of this particular field of scholarship,” Cooley states.
The Harriman Institute’s commitment to the Balkans has provided an invaluable platform to maintain an ongoing dialogue about the region among students and scholars, even when many think tanks and policy centers have turned their focus towards other regions such as the Middle East and China. “I think the danger lies in the passive acceptance that the Balkans is in some sort of abeyance, which has likely blinded a lot of policymakers to some of the real geopolitical changes that are unfolding in the region,” says Cooley. However, he reaffirms that the Institute will continue to educate its students about the Balkans region to ensure that it remains in focus, stating: “If we aren’t going to do it, who is?”

created: April 19th, 2019


text:
Festival of the Image: Celebrating Photography and Visual Journalism in Sarajevo | Balkan Diskurs
Paraskevi Peglidou
April 25th, 2019
Renowned photographers from across the globe will gather in Sarajevo from 9 – 11 May to share their expertise and insights as part of the 2019 Festival of the Image. Organized by the VII Photo Agency and the VII Foundation (VII/F), the three-day festival is an educational event that will celebrate photography and visual journalism through a series of panel discussions, film screenings, portfolio reviews, and workshops.
PCRC sat down with Agency member Paul Lowe, an award-winning photographer responsible for documenting the Bosnian war and its aftermath, to discuss VII’s work and the upcoming Festival.
Today, the VII Agency is considered one of the world’s preeminent, photographer-owned media agencies. A collective of 29 visual storytellers, VII was established to use the power of images to tell important stories, amplify voices, and address complex political, environmental, and social questions facing populations worldwide. From issues of identity, race, and gender to migration, conflict, and post-conflict transition, VII photographers and filmmakers are dedicated to making an impact on global narratives. Shortly after the VII Agency was established, founders Gary Knight and Ron Haviv also recognized that media funding for long-term projects was diminishing and, thus, made the decision to set up a sister association called the VII Foundation (VII/F) – an independent non-profit with a mission to secure the support necessary to continue the production of works such as those produced by the VII Agency.
From Iraq and Syria to the US and Sudan, the VII Agency and VII Foundation members have covered stories from across the globe, but one of the strongest connections they’ve made is with the Balkans and with Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), in particular. Lowe explains that these powerful ties come as a result of the relationships established by the organization’s founding members, who all covered the Bosnian war of the 1990s. Their experiences during the war have brought them back to the country time and time again to continue their journey by capturing the essence of war’s aftermath and BiH’s post-conflict transition. Through uncompromising documentary photography, high-level journalism, and other multimedia endeavors, Agency photographers have been empowering local voices, narrating important stories, and elevating issues “above the cult of the image”.
In addition to their commitment to making an impact on global narratives, VII members are also dedicated to supporting media makers worldwide and promoting photography and photojournalism as tools for shaping public discourse. That is why, now, the VII Foundation and the VII Agency are preparing to launch their new educational counterpart – the VII Academy, which will serve as a permanent base in the Balkans to host upcoming projects and events, including the Festival of the Image. Lowe explains why BiH’s capital city provides the perfect base for the Academy and will serve as an ideal host for the upcoming Festival; “Sarajevo is a city that acts as a focal point – a place where East meets West – and its rich heritage and melting pot of cultures lend to its truly unique and fervent spirit.”
“Bosnia 1992-1995”. A WARM Foundation project.
With the majestic Sarajevo mountains as its backdrop, the first-ever Festival of the Image promises to offer something innovative and inspiring to its attendees. First, the Agency’s latest film and photography projects will be showcased, and participants will have the opportunity to hear from and interact with the projects’ creators. Second, not only will the Festival showcase the important work of the VII Agency but will also provide a platform for discussing issues facing the media, photography, and journalism in the Balkans region and beyond. Guests from Belgrade and Zagreb will share their perspectives on issues such as the roles of gender, media, and art in post-conflict societies. Additionally, a series of interactive workshops is also planned and will include “No Man’s Land”, which will highlight women’s unique perspectives in the fields of visual journalism and the arts and foster discussion about the challenges facing female photojournalists and how to overcome them. Another workshop, “After the Image”, will address the critical period between the end of a photographic project and its final publication. Some of the topics the workshop will explore include the editing and curating of works, the processes behind book and exhibition production, creating a cohesive narrative, and identifying audiences.
In addition to these planned activities, VII has partnered with the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) to support a group of young Bosnians from across the country who will be taking part in a multimedia training to become youth correspondents for PCRC’s Balkan Diskurs news platform. VII photographers will instruct the up-and-coming media makers on a variety of photography techniques and will offer them the chance to attend the Festival. Following the training, PCRC and VII photographers will serve as mentors, helping the new youth correspondents to further develop their skills in the field and produce specialized content that tells the stories of their communities.
Through the VII Academy in Sarajevo, VII is hoping to build a long-term commitment to developing the idea of photography and visual literacy, not just at a professional level, but also among the general public and youth as a powerful tool to amplify voices and bring important issues to the forefront.
To register for the Festival and find out more about the program of activities, visit: https://theviifoundation.org/
To apply for the 2019 Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondents Program, click here.

created: April 25th, 2019

author: Paraskevi Peglidou