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Be Yourself. Be Brave. Be Different. Be Proud. | Balkan Diskurs
Anđela Knežević
March 8th, 2023
Their dream was to create something unique and ‘Made in BiH’. Together, sisters Nermina Hodžić and Emina Hodžić Adilović, formed designer label Kaftan Studio, whose quality pieces are known for their recognizably expressive designs.
This pair knew no obstacles to making their dream come true. The initial idea was the fruit of their education at the Academy of Fine Arts, where they both chose to specialize in fashion design from their second year of college. They began to create unique pieces whose owners would comment on their beauty and uniqueness. Through their work, they have met wonderful women. Mothers, sisters, daughters: women who have become new friends. They have felt the beauty of communicating with an equally passionate and caring public.
“Our beginning was not much different from any other beginning. The idea to design was the result of many years of education and the desire to make designer products that could authentically carry the ‘Made in BIH’ label,” they tell us.
But these modest designers have achieved great international success. Their pieces have been worn on the red carpet at the Golden Globes and at the Oscars for two years in a row now. Kaftan Studio creations have also been featured in numerous fashion and lifestyle magazines such as Vogue US, Elle, Cosmopolitan and L’Officiel, and been worn by singers Chaka Khan and Tiffany Young, in Variety magazine and Schon magazine respectively.
“Since the beginning of Kaftan Studio, we have cooperated as much as possible with local brands and, through our work, we have always tried to support other producers in the form of joint shows or promotion through our social networks,” say the Kaftan sisters.
Inspiration is a broad concept for them and something that comes through continuous work. You have to constantly be on the move, be curious, and must not set limits in creative thinking. Their creative journey has consisted of lots of brave baby steps, leading them to their greatest success – a quality design product. They are careful never to become complacent in the creative process, returning to the very beginning of the process every time they finish a new collection. Success, they say, can easily lull the creative into complacency.
The Sisters collection, Emina and Nermina tell us, was inspired by unique and brave women. It presents their own differences – two authentic visual expressions that, although seemingly different, complement each other in their own unique way. Given that their muse was every bold and imaginative woman, the pieces from this collection are for those who want to be their own woman, without having to mold who they are to others’ acceptance or love.
In fact, freedom of choice, tolerance, respect for diversity, mutual understanding, love and acceptance are some of the noble qualities that Kaftan Studio embodies through its artistic work in the field of fashion design. For the sisters, their work is something of a manifesto for freedom.
The design duo are also part of the “JaSamBalkan” regional initiative, through which they have sent a strong message throughout the global pandemic that we are all in this together. They have sent a message to show us how important we are all individually, and how we are all equal and reliant upon each other as a human race.
This article was initially published within the first edition of MIR Magazine. MIR, which means ‘peace’ in Bosnian is an annual publication and platform for young inventive people developed by the Post-Conflict Research Center and Balkan Diskurs. It is dedicated to individuals and organizations that left us a legacy of strongly built foundations to continue our fight for peace and justice.

author: Anđela Knežević


text:
The IT Sector: Prospects for Employment and Lifelong Education | Balkan Diskurs
Kristina Gadže
March 10th, 2023
High salaries, job flexibility, and continuous learning are some of the advantages of working in the information technology (IT) sector. This field is of growing interest to young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and is helping to reduce the disparity between high unemployment rates and the present needs of IT companies.
Mahir Kulić from Sarajevo is one of the young people working in the IT sector. In addition to the fact that young people’s interest in the IT sector has increased significantly, he explained that IT encompasses a diverse and interesting range of activities that permeate all aspects of our life and society.
“The IT sector offers great opportunities for beginners, internships, and possibilities to work from home… These things are very rare or totally non-existent in other sectors,” said Mahir.
One of the places where young people can enhance their knowledge of information technology is the ITAcademy, which operates in Sarajevo and Banja Luka, providing education and training to people from all walks of life, from those who are already employed to those who are still studying.
A recent project launched by the REDAH Association for Economic Development, in cooperation with the City of Mostar, the Employment Service of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNŽ/HNK), the University of Mostar, and the company IT Division Mostar, supports youth unemployment by establishing local partnerships, offering a sustainable model for cooperation between key stakeholders in order to increase employment.
“In the long term, an assumption can be made that such models of cooperation and active employment measures will be systematically incorporated into legislation and by-laws and thereby increase employment at the local level,” explained Himzo Tula, Expert Associate at the REDAH Association for Economic Development.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications of Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently working on an Information Society Development Strategy for Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the support of the Government of the United Kingdom and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its aim is to outline a trajectory for the development of digital education at all levels of society in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to the Bureau of Statistics for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the number of employees in the fields of information and communication in this entity increased by 11.1 percent in November 2021, as compared to the same month of the previous year. In the same period, the number of these employees in the entity of the Republika Srpska increased by 14 percent.
Mahir, the promising young IT specialist, had the opportunity to work for a private company during his studies, at a time when the market in Bosnia and Herzegovina seemed to rely on “the exploitation of cheap labor.”
“To our delight, we today have dozens of local companies or companies with local capital that employ hundreds of local IT experts and offer excellent terms of employment. In addition, the largest companies in the software and application development sector offer excellent opportunities for internships, education, and acquiring initial job experiences,” notes Mahir, who himself has the opportunity to further his education and training at his workplace.
According to Tula, IT is naturally one of the fastest growing sectors and relies primarily on young people, who are the key to the development of any society. Through the project “Supporting Youth Employment in the IT Sectors, he says that young people are able to recognize their role and take part in various activities.
He described that the project consists of trainings that end with an exam, followed by drafting an employment action plan for the City of Mostar, grants for self-employment, the creation of a mobile application, as well as assistance with employment.
Arijana Bjelić, ITAcademy’s Learning and Education Advisor, explained that their trainings are adapted to the needs of the market and offer participants the opportunity to acquire competencies that are required by IT companies.
“This year, we have the largest number of participants at the ITAcademy in Programming, while the previous year there was an increase in the Department of Design and Multimedia. We’re also noticing an interest among young people in certain other departments of the ITAcademy.”
As she pointed out, they have participants of all ages because the IT sector offers a wide range of career opportunities. According to Bjelić, the biggest challenge in recruiting young people in the IT sector is the lack of qualified candidates, because IT companies often cannot find enough qualified candidates for certain positions.
“A lack of practical knowledge and experience can be an obstacle for certain positions. It is for this reason that ITAcademy provides its trainees with internships during the training itself, where trainees gain experience working on a large number of real projects,” said Bjelić.
In the drafting phase of the Information Society Development Strategy, Majda Tatarević, from the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Bosnia and Herzegovina stated that a thorough analysis was carried out on the EU strategic framework and the position of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in order to determine the current situation and define strategic goals and priorities for each pillar of the strategy.
“Since Bosnia and Herzegovina is firmly committed to EU integration, harmonizing its legislation with the EU acquis is a basic prerequisite on the way to full EU membership,” said from the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The development of the Strategy is expected to be completed in the medium-term work program of the Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the 2021-2025 period. “It’s currently in the phase of being adapted to new EU documents and the current state of the information society in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After these final activities, it will undergo the procedure of public consultations, obtaining the opinions of relevant institutions and being adopted by the BiH Council of Ministers,” informed the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Bosnia and Herzegovina
While the strategy is being drawn up, Tula  listed the key steps for increasing youth employment in the IT sector, including establishing “stronger cooperation between the private, governmental, non-governmental, and educational sectors, in order to create assumptions and conditions, both for formal and informal education, which, in addition to harmonizing with world and EU requirements, should generate new knowledge, which will be adopted by young people and thus become a source of overall economic development.”
According to Bjelić, the inability to quickly adapt to new technology can be a challenge for smaller IT companies. She stressed the importance of continuing to support the development of the IT industry in BiH in order to increase competitiveness on the market and ensure the availability of qualified personnel for the needs of IT companies.
This article is part of a series of texts within the #EmployMe project of the Post-Conflict Research Center and Balkan Diskurs. The series aims to raise awareness about the problems that young people face in the field of education and employment in BiH and highlight some good practices in battling these obstacles. This series is part of the “Youth Retention Program in BiH – Opšta Mobilizacija,” implemented by the Nešto Više Association and PRONI Center for Youth Development, with support from the Delegation of the European Union to BiH.

source: news-balkandiskurs

created: March 10th, 2023

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

author: Kristina Gadže


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Ukraine and BiH: Justice and Accountability (Part 1) | Balkan Diskurs
Minna Erith
March 13th, 2023
The pursuit of justice for survivors of sexual violence committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) offers valuable lessons for international and non-governmental organizations as well as other actors now working with the survivors of war crimes being committed in Ukraine more than 25 years later.
In the first of three parts in this series, we examine the extent to which insights from establishing accountability for wartime sexual violence in BiH can help in documenting and researching sexual violence in Ukraine.
During the 1992-1995 war in BiH, approximately from 20,000 to 50,000 women, men, girls and boys were raped or sexually abused. These findings established that sexual violence was a widespread crime and a weapon of war. Now, Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) survivors live in all parts of BiH and still face significant challenges in their daily lives.
Ukraine has been embroiled in armed conflict with Russia since 2014, but on February 24th, Russia launched a country-wide invasion of Ukraine under the auspices of a ‘special military operation’ for the ‘demilitarisation’ and ‘denazification’ of the country (The Economist, 2022). This full-fledged invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, both of military personnel and civilians. Additionally, reports emerging from Ukraine contain accounts of widespread rape and sexual violence, demonstrating that CRSV remains prevalent in 2022. As CRSV entails devastating immediate and long-term consequences both for individuals and society, it is imperative to put adequate measures in place to address these problems.
Regarding the resolution of the CRSV issue in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also other conflicts, various initiatives have been undertaken with the aim of bringing perpetrators to justice as well as providing survivors with the necessary support. One such initiative is the United Kingdom’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI). Based on UN Security Council Resolution 1820, the Initiative focused on three key areas: challenging harmful attitudes towards survivors and victims of CRSV, delivering better access to healthcare and justice, and improving how security and peacekeeping forces prevent and respond to sexual violence.
Therefore, the first part of this three-part series on CRSV will evaluate the extent to which PSVI has helped to challenge harmful attitudes towards survivors in the pursuit of justice and accountability.
The initiative – launched by William Hague, then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Great Britain, and Angelina Jolie, special envoy of the UNHCR – resulted in the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence, which was signed in 2014 by 155 countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Protocol stated that its aim was to “not only be a vital practical tool that is improved and strengthened over time, but also a means of inspiring continued global attention, action and advocacy on this critical issue” to tackle crimes of sexual violence under international criminal law. As the first international protocol of its kind, the PSVI was praised for laying out a decisive action plan for efforts to end sexual violence in conflict. It also highlights the principle of ‘do no harm’ when interacting with survivors of CRSV, which is crucially important given the potential for victim re-traumatization in the course of obtaining witness testimonies and other interactions.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) verified 43 cases of CSRV against women, girls and men in Ukraine, mostly attributed to Russian armed forces (OHCHR, 2022).
However, the OHCHR also recognized that it remained difficult to verify and assess the breadth of sexual violence which remains underreported. Furthermore, Pramila Patten, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict for the UN confirmed in an interview with AFP that rape is a part of Russia’s “military strategy” and is being used as a deliberate tactic of war. Patten stated, “when women are held for days and raped, when you start to rape little boys and men, when you see a series of genital mutilations, when you hear women testify about Russian soldiers equipped with Viagra, it’s clearly a military strategy” (France 24, 2022).
Globally, CRSV remains chronically underreported, and Pramila Patten stated that the reports of CRSV coming out of Ukraine were just the “tip of the iceberg” (Patten, 2022). This is due to a combination of factors including the logistical difficulty in accessing conflict zones and the stigma surrounding sexual violence which dissuades survivors and witnesses from giving statements. In an OSCE survey from 2019, 24% of Ukrainian women agreed that “violence against women is often provoked by the victim,” a consensus that highlights the extent to which Ukrainian society is still shaped by misleading ideas about sexual violence (OSCE, 2019). The international community is well aware of the difficulty of obtaining reliable statistics on CRSV during an active conflict and has protocols in place to confront this.
Adequate reporting and documentation of CRSV is crucial to achieving accountability and justice for the survivors. This objective was central to the PSVI and the Protocol as it was first and foremost a practical tool to promote accountability for crimes of sexual violence under international law (PSVI, 2014). Like approaches championed by the UN and international bodies, the PSVI is a survivor-centered approach with revolves around the needs, risks, and wellbeing of those directly impacted by CRSV.
In BiH, accounts of CRSV against women circulated primarily through witness statements and survivor testimonies in Western media. Consequently, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) later began publishing reports on the subject as well. Within this environment, victims were routinely deprived of adequate and sensitive representation. Regarding the problematic representation of CRSV survivors, the journalist Linda Grant commented at the time, “there is something sexy, in media terms, about thousands of pretty Muslim virgins sobbing out their tales of sexual violation” (Anyone here been raped and speak English?, Grant, 1993). The sensationalism of stories on CRSV in BiH also led to many survivors being interviewed repeatedly, making them vulnerable to re-traumatization.
Since then, experts have taken steps to ensure that these practices are not repeated in any future efforts to obtain witness testimonies for the purposes of holding CRSV perpetrators accountable. In April 2022, the UK Government extended the PSVI to include the Murad Code to help combat problems in reporting and preventing CRSV. The Murad Code was created by the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, Lord Ahmad, and Nobel Laureate and Yazidi Survivor of CRSV, Nadia Murad. In collaboration with governments, UN agencies, NGOs and CRSV survivors, the Murad Code is a practical framework that aims to ensure that survivors can have their experiences recorded safely, ethically, and effectively around the world. Crucially, the Code emphasizes 4 key principles: Understanding survivors as individuals, Respect survivor control and autonomy, Be responsible and have integrity and Add value or don’t do it.
Dubbed the ‘gold standard,’ these principles are one way in which the international community can try to achieve accountability and justice for victims of CRSV in Ukraine.
In September, Eurojust and the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC published practical guidelines for civil society organizations on documenting core international crimes to this end (Eurojust and ICC, 2022).
The section on victims of sexual and gender-based crimes echoes the Murad Code’s (2022) “need to be particularly mindful of the do-no-harm principle and be proactive in their efforts to identify assistance and support services available.” Importantly, the guidelines also set out a separate set of advice regarding male victims of CRSV.
Over the summer, special police groups for recording sexual crimes committed by Russians in Ukraine have been investigating CRSV in the Kyiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv regions. Consisting of a group of specially trained police officers, prosecutors, and psychologists, the groups have, as of November 1st, begun work in the Kherson and Donetsk regions (OHCHR, 2022). This is part of the government’s comprehensive approach to investigating these crimes, which also includes the distribution of leaflets to inform civilians of the support available. The government’s approach thus represents a positive step towards ensuring justice for CRSV victims (IWPR, 2022).
A large part of achieving accountability and justice in cases of CRSV relies on the mobilization of the international community to assist the victims. The Sarajevo-based feminist-activist organization Fondacija CURE argues Ukraine must be part of a global campaign to strengthen the international response to CRSV and the international community must partner with local actors, allocate additional resources for dealing with CRSV, and promote victim and survivor-centered approaches (Fondacija CURE, 2022).
Since the first reports of CRSV in Ukraine, the international community has acted with notable vigor. On May 3rd, the Ukrainian government and the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict singed the UN Framework of Cooperation. Aligning with Ukraine’s National Action Plan for Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, this framework establishes the basis for a partnership to prevent and respond to CRSV. This was the first international step to formalize an action plan regarding incidences of CRSV. However, the OSCE cautioned that the text of the framework agreement is quite general, and it remains to be seen to what extent the agreement will improve the lives of those affected by CRSV (OSCE, 2022).
Such proactive measures were markedly absent following the first reports of CRSV in BiH. The international community did act, but it took much longer for an adequate response to reach BiH. That being said, the collaboration between the international community and local, women-led NGOs was paramount to helping CRSV survivors, especially in places like Foča. NGOs focusing on CRSV sprung up around the country and played a critical role in providing support for survivors. Organizations like Vive Žene and Medica Zenica are still active today and remain a crucial resource for survivors of sexual violence.
Governments from around the world have pledged funds to help Ukraine deal with various consequences of the war, including CRSV. As part of their crisis response measure in August, the European Union donated €16 million to assist victims of sexual violence and support access to education (European External Action Service, 2022). Notably, the UK has announced a £2.5m support package to assist the Prosecutor General of Ukraine with investigating war crimes, including CRSV.
The United Nations Population Fund has also been instrumental in initiating support to CRSV victims in Ukraine. The launch of ‘Aurora,’ an online platform that provides support for survivors of gender-based violence, was followed by the establishment of a mobile app for women that have suffered or are at risk of gender-based violence. Disguised as a standard application, the app allows users to alert authorities by pressing an SOS button. These applications enable victims from all over Ukraine to access support 24/7 (UNFPA, 2022).
Since the first survivor relief center opened in Zaporiszhzhia on July 1st, there are now 101 mobile teams operating in 56 cities and communities in Ukraine. These support teams provide free medical, legal, and psychological assistance to survivors of CRSV in a safe environment, with the aim of main goal being to prevent the re-traumatization of survivors (UNFPA, 2022). These initiatives have been supported by the government of the UK, as well as the Canadian government, which contributed an extra CA$7m to strengthen the program (UNFPA, 2022).
Since the events in BiH in the 1990s, major advancements have been made to ensure that survivors of CRSV are treated with respect and sensitivity in the process of pursuing justice and accountability. It is therefore reassuring to see that new initiatives like the UK’s Murad Code are being successfully implemented to avoid repeating the harmful practices which characterized the process of documenting CRSV in BiH. In Ukraine, these programs and initiatives have yielded positive results, and it is imperative that they continue to receive the resources necessary to ensure that they can continue to operate at this level for the duration of the conflict.

created: March 13th, 2023

author: Minna Erith


text:
Meeting the Needs of Young People in Bosnia and Herzegovina | Balkan Diskurs
Amina Sejfić
March 17th, 2023
Phrases like “the world is left to the young” and “young people are the future of this country” are heard on a regular basis, but the problems young people face in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) are not abating and there is a wide range of them, from the education system and unemployment to healthcare and other services.
To improve the situation for young people in the country, current laws as well as new laws and youth-centric policies need to be implemented in a way that engages young people themselves, and adequately funded. So far, this is a rarity.
The position of young people in BiH is extremely complicated, according to Jasmin Jašarević, General Manager of the PRONI Center for Youth Development. He says that critical issues, such as education, healthcare, and housing, are further complicated “when, in addition to all these issues, young people have to solve or deal with issues of corruption, nationalism (and other ‘isms’), security, and uncertainties that are a constant threat to their well-being during their entire upbringing.”
“Young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina spend their youth in a constant, never-ending crisis that continuously affects and shapes their lives, and I must say that it’s certainly not easy to be a young person in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Jašarević notes.
Jasmina Banjalučkić, Head of the Youth Policy Development Department of the KULT Institute for Youth Development, acknowledges that young people face numerous challenges, beginning with education, employability, starting a family, access to various social and health services, and ending with political or activist engagement. She adds that there are many things that young people themselves identify as negative, underdeveloped, insufficient, and problematic in the country.
According to the data of the BiH Ministry of Civil Affairs, the country is home to about 777,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 30, which is almost 20 percent of the total population. Unemployment and the impossibility of economic independence, education that does not keep pace with the labor market, the inadequate healthcare system, lack of institutional support for young and ambitious people, nepotism, and the inconsistency of youth policies are just some of the problems faced by the country’s young people.
“Long-term neglect of the needs of young people, non-inclusion of young people in decision-making processes, as well as non-compliance with legal provisions has put us in a situation where young people lose confidence in the system, which they consider corrupt,” explains Banjalučkić.
According to research by the KULT Institute, young people rank corruption as their fourth greatest concern, after unemployment, inflation, and the overall economic situation.
The complexity of youth policy in the country is proportional to the complexity of the administrative-territorial organization of post-Dayton BiH. The rights, obligations, and status of young people are defined by legal decisions which vary according to where they live.
Today, there are three laws on youth on the territory of BiH – one in the Federation of BiH (FBiH), one in the Republika Srpska (RS), and one in the Brčko District. Although all three laws provide for the establishment of a youth commission as a permanent working body made up of youth representatives, a significant number of institutions have still not fulfilled their legal obligations.
Jašarević explains that many levels of government have the opportunity to work in the interest of young people and what’s more, it is their responsibility and their legal obligation. Unfortunately, however, it is only in rare cases that laws for and about young people are respected in their entirety. Something is always “missing.”
“If there’s a law, there’s no strategy or youth policy. If there are laws and strategies, there’s no action plan. If there’s a law, a strategy, and an action plan, there’s no funding, because there’s always some sort of crisis, or there simply aren’t any funds allocated in the budget at all for solving problems and providing solutions to young people’s issues,” Jašarević said.
All three Laws on Youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina call for the existence of a youth strategy or policy, engaging young people in decision-making, which entails the involvement of young people in youth commissions at all levels, youth officers in all institutions dealing with issues that affect young people, and budget allocations for youth projects as well as other financial allocations for young people.
“Currently, at the entity level, only the Republika Srpska entity has a law and strategy for young people. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has a law but no strategy. The state of Bosnia and Herzegovina has neither a law nor a strategy, and budgets for young people are almost non-existent,” explains Jašarević.
According to Banjalučkić, we rarely see institutional interest in the process of implementing youth laws, which certainly doesn’t help with the implementation of policies. Even though there are positive practices in local communities throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina that are working and investing in youth programs, the results of these investments are still not visible.
This year, the Youth Policy of the Republika Srpska 2023-2027 was adopted as an integrated, multi-sector, strategic document which defines public policies and directs development in all areas of importance for young people. Through the realization of strategic goals and priorities, this document has the potential to improve living conditions for young people and create the necessary environment for them to stay and prosper in the RS.
Twenty-nine-year-old S.M., an activist and lawyer from the RS, says that the goals of the Youth Policy 2023-2027 are well thought out and written. He points out that the previous youth policy was also well thought out, but young people didn’t actually experienced any improvements from it once it came into force.
When it comes to the state level, there are no legal provisions regulating the youth sector and thus no unified state policy towards young people.
Existing laws and youth policies are similar in many ways. They set out young people’s rights and obligations pertaining to their political organization, institutional engagement, and participation in decision-making processes, as well as other issues impacting their lives, social status, and activities. However, experts believe that for such regulations to be truly effective, young people need to be directly involved in their creation.
“Policies concerning young people should by no means be the product of someone’s personal opinion about what young people need. The development of these policies must incorporate the views of young people and must be based on the real needs of this population. Otherwise, even if policies are formulated, they don’t have much influence in bringing about positive change,” Banjalučkić argues.
Because Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a member of the EU, Banjalučkić says that participation in many European programs is difficult. However, the country still participates in certain programs, such as ERASMUS+, Youth in Action, and European Solidarity Corps. The aim is to support efforts towards European integration through the exchange of best practices, experience, and knowledge.
Jašarević says that all of us as individuals and society as a whole must ensure that both BiH entities and the Brčko District, as well as all municipalities and cities, are places where young people can achieve their individual potential and lead lives of dignity. “For that to happen, we all have to understand what the problems are that young people face, how they arose, and what unresolved issues the youth of Bosnia and Herzegovina have,” concludes Jašarević.
This article is part of a series of texts within the #EmployMe project of the Post-Conflict Research Center and Balkan Diskurs. The series aims to raise awareness about the problems that young people face in the field of education and employment in BiH and highlight some good practices in battling these obstacles. This series is part of the “Youth Retention Program in BiH – Opšta Mobilizacija,” implemented by the Nešto Više Association and PRONI Center for Youth Development, with support from the Delegation of the European Union to BiH.

created: March 17th, 2023

author: Amina Sejfić


text:
BaUM Banovići: Young People as Drivers of Change | Balkan Diskurs
Selmir Smajić
March 20th, 2023
For the past five years, the BaUM Youth Association from Banovići has been focusing on children, young adults, and socially marginalized groups in their efforts to develop their local community. They advocate for initiatives to improve the quality of life through sports, cultural events, and informal education.
Along with the trend of young people leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina, Banovići and other small communities are facing problems such as a lack of opportunities for young people, monotony of the soceity, unemployment, and difficulty planning for the future. To address these issues, the BaUM Association is working on various projects to try to give young people the opportunity to improve themselves and their communities as volunteers and activists.
Ademir Sarić, the secretary of BaUM, explains that over the past five years, more than 120 volunteers have passed through the association. He adds that some have been with them from the very beginning, guided by the mission of ensuring every child and young person equal rights and opportunities. Currently, BaUM has between 35 and 50 active volunteers.
BaUM Banovići has developed a system for attracting new volunteers every year, which is difficult for them. As Selma Imamović, a member of BaUM’s Assembly, says, activism and volunteering are poorly promoted in local communities.
“What is definitely a challenge for every youth association is the youth, that is, the change of generations and the departure of young people. We have developed a system to attract new people every year. When young people see the personal and community benefits of volunteering, they are happy,” Imamović says, adding that young people are the heart and soul of the BaUM Association and without them, it wouldn’t even exist.
According to Sarić, BaUM recieves enormous support from World Vision in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as other partners such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Nesto Više Association, the Tuzla Community Foundation, the KULT Institute for Youth Development, and the Municipality of Banovići itself, which has supported specific projects. Additionally, there are also individuals and entrepreneurs who continuously support the Association’s activities.
Sarić emphasizes that even the smallest efforts made by individuals and entrepreneurs have an enormous impact on the BaUM as well as the young people of Banovići.
Describing some of the projects BaUM has worked on over the last year, volunteer Belma Bošnjaković highlights a series of 25 workshops on the prevention of addiction and sexually transmitted diseases that they held in cooperation with schools in the Banovići area. Another project which received a great response from the public, “Hollywood Comes to Every Village,” included outdoor film screenings for children and young people living in rural areas.
Bošnjaković also highlights the project “Connecting the Dots: Improving Children’s Rights in BiH,” which is supported by the European Union in BiH, World Vision BiH, the Naša Djeca Association of Sarajevo, and the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees.
BaUM encourages support and promotion of their activities to help them improve their work. As Sarić emphasizes, they want BaUM to be known as a safe place where parents, teachers, and the community at large would advise young people to get involved.
“We always tell young people that they can change their reality through their work, and they can stay here. We tell older people to put their focus on young people,” Sarić concludes.

created: March 20th, 2023

author: Selmir Smajić


text:
Commentary on Bosnia’s Dark Tourism | Balkan Diskurs
Ellise Gray
March 24th, 2023
Tourism in areas known for acts of war, genocide, and terror has been dubbed ‘dark tourism.’ BiH has been included on a dark tourism website which provides information on various dark tourism destinations, including Sarajevo, Mostar, and Srebrenica.
Dark tourism has gained a negative reputation in the media for commercializing and exploiting suffering, bypassing education and remembrance for the sake of profit and sensationalism.
In the context of BiH, however, visitors seem to show a genuine interest in learning about past events. As Jack Stacey highlighted in 2018 (“Rail Discoveries”), it allows people to “honour the dead and reminds us of the lessons learned from those destinations.” He continues, adding that “without dark tourism and without the opportunity to visit those places with dark pasts, it is almost as if we are erasing them from our history and pretending as though they never happened”.
The government of BiH has sought to shift focus from the war and violence of the 1990s to the other tourism assets the country has to offer, such as natural beauty, hiking trails, and ski destinations. However, as Stacey wrote in his article “by restricting the sites of tragedy, we are effectively erasing them from our history and the education of younger generations”.
In 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, a 19.3% increase was recorded in the number of tourists visiting BiH compared to previous years, and the number of overnight stays had reached over one million (Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2019). In 2020, around 430 million US Dollars was generated by the tourism sector, which amounts to roughly 1.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (World Data, 2020). This is a substantial amount of tourism revenue for a country outside the EU which does not have the advantage of being well-marketed to Western tourists.
Sarajevo was also recognized as a top European destination by National Geographic Travel in 2017 (National Geographic Travel, 2017). What Bosnia has done with the travel industry is a key example of how educational and informative tourism can lead to greater understanding (Tadlock, 2019).
In BiH, and especially Sarajevo, museums, monuments, and tours are important for the education of both locals and visitors alike. The still on-going presence of coming to terms with war experiences may make such reminders a difficult thing to face for locals who are ready to move on, but it is important to preserve these tragic memories of what took place here for the youth in BiH and beyond.
Although dark tourism has a reputation for prioritizing profit over genuine education and remembrance, these sites also help fulfill the desire of tourists and locals to learn about the past and combat the denial of genocide and war crimes that continues to divide the country.
Tours like the War Scars and New Times Walking Tour and the War Tunnel Tour are operated and led by locals, who directly experienced Bosnia’s troubled history – from growing up in Sarajevo during the war to being a police officer who helped get supplies into the besieged city. They relive the war every day they give these tours, recounting their narratives of the turmoil in their country. However, they also express their patriotism and pride for the part they played in the defense of their homeland, whether big or small.
Tourism can play a key role in aiding post-war recovery in BiH, where youth unemployment rates have recently reached 57.5% (Menteth Wheelwright & Vujinovic, 2021). Dark tourism is a profitable industry, and Bosnia can benefit financially from tourists eager to learn more about the war.
Today, more individuals are travelling to gain knowledge. As Stacey states in his article “Dark Tourism: Educational or Exploitative” the “educational mission of dark tourism locations is becoming an increasingly important aspect of their existence,” as it provides the necessary platform “to teach the wrongs which were perpetrated”. Arguably, it is even more important for Europeans to be reminded that atrocities were committed on their continent, and that without consistent education and remembrance, it is difficult to rule out the possibility that such atrocities could one day be repeated.
Jasmin, who works at the Crimes against Humanity and Genocide Museum, says that dark tourism is “very important” for education, as Bosnians “can’t escape from reality.” He goes on to note that the various museums and experiences that are available to tourists are beneficial for “learning the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” and that it is “essential to continue developing museums that talk about the war experience as a way to continue the dialogue for reconciliation.”
In speaking with tourists about their experience in BiH, one can see the benefits of dark tourism for raising global awareness and understanding. Tourists leave the country better informed about the atrocities that took place there and take this knowledge back with them to their home countries, where they will share these stories with others, thereby educating them in turn about these events and perhaps inspiring them to one day visit for themselves.
In conclusion, BiH and its government should embrace the economic and educational benefits that dark tourism has to offer. There is no doubt that the country’s potential for tourism related to things like nature, hiking and skiing is also underdeveloped and should be promoted as well, but it should go hand in hand with the dark tourism to ensure maximum tourism revenues for the nation. Furthermore, it should be highlighted that dark tourism here in BiH is critical for persistent education and awareness, both among local youth and people from other countries. It has allowed for those who suffered first-hand to tell their stories to the world, while also creating jobs in a country with high unemployment rates. It also provides a place for remembrance and reflection for those who have lost loved ones, as well as a space for those who wish to learn more about the events of the past. This is vital for the prevention of future conflict and the promotion of peaceful coexistence.

created: March 24th, 2023

author: Ellise Gray


text:
Shared Narratives of the 1990’s Conflicts: An Opportunity for Reconciliation | Balkan Diskurs
Anja Zulić
March 27th, 2023
After visiting sites of suffering, talking to victims and witnesses, and conducting research, more than one hundred young people from the countries of the former Yugoslavia presented their views on some the most controversial events in the region during the 1900s in Shared Narratives, a publication of the Croatian Youth Initiative for Human Rights. The aim of the project was to encourage constructive dialogue and mutual understanding about the basic facts of the past in order to build a better future.
Young people from countries scarred by war have been left at the mercy of the dominant nationalist discourses and war-mongering rhetoric which representatives of the political elite still mercilessly use as tools for manipulation almost three decades after the war. There are several non-governmental organizations in the countries of the former Yugoslavia that are dedicated to building peace by bringing young people together from across the region and encouraging them to network and share their experiences. One such organization is the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), a regional network with branches that operate independently in Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo.
Branka Vierda from YIHR Croatia says that those with political authority fail to initiate and implement policies that would lift the burden of dealing with the past off the shoulders of the “post-war” generations.
“These young people inherited the absence of a stable, meaningful, and responsible agenda that understands and nurtures inter-ethnic, inter-national, and human cooperation and solidarity. Our ethnic and national identities are inscribed with meanings that rely on the revisionist policies that dominate the story of the 90s,” explained Vierda, noting that how we perceive ourselves and other members of our community has a large impact on how we treat others.
Since its establishment in 2008, YIHR has been resisting the nationalist-revisionist policies of those in power by promoting judicially established facts and working to preserve the memories of the forgotten – or denied – civilian victims of the war. In order to provide the post-war generations with a safe space for their voices and different perspectives to be heard, a project was created which eventually resulted in the book Shared Narratives, published by YIHR Croatia.
Shared Narratives is based on the thinking and personal experience of Mario Mažić, the founder of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights. He gave the young people the opportunity to write about their views of the war in a unique compilation of shared narratives about the most regional controversial events of the 1990s.
The book is the work of over 100 young activists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro. At the “Bring Your Own History” conference, which took place in Belgrade, young people brought a phonograph which they felt best symbolizes the wars of the nineties. The goal of the conference was for young people to get to know each other and participate in lectures led by experts in political, cultural, and historical memory.
The creation of Shared Narratives included visits to places of suffering, interviews with victims and witnesses, and desk research on the facts established by national and international courts and information from other relevant sources.
Vierda said that the most difficult part was dispelling the guilt that young people felt after visiting places of suffering for the crimes that were committed ‘in their name.’ YIHR provided support for the participants itself, without psychologists experienced in professional approaches to these situations. “That was the main motive to keep going – the effort to empower young people to continue their lives without guilt, but aware of the responsibility they have to ensure such events are not repeated in the future. I think we succeeded in that,” Vierda stated.
Those who worked on the book wrote about anti-war protests and the cultural scene during the 1990s, highlighting positive examples of individuals and organizations that worked to preserve peace and resisted the war. This demonstrated their openness to dialogue and interest in understanding what went on in that period.
Vierda emphasized that all generations must confront the culture of nationalism and historical revisionism to the best or their ability. She added that young people need to be aware of their social responsibility and become actively involved in building a better and more unified society, rather through individual initiatives or through supporting and participating in collective efforts by civil society organizations, political parties, or other institutions.
Dora Pavković, another contributor to the book, believes that together, they managed to open up a dialogue, put aside prejudices, and try to see and understand ‘the other side.’
“We managed to transfer what we had achieved among ourselves to the macro level – i.e. the final result, the book Shared Narratives. It clearly shows that there are different perceptions, many stories, or more narratives about the same event. In my opinion, this is exactly the goal: to understand that we have different views on the same events, and to try to understand each other and agree on some common minimum in order to turn towards the future,” explained Dora.
Jasmina Đapo, originally from the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that politics still imposes narratives and manipulates young people, skillfully rehashing the themes of the 1990s’ war. “Young people are our future, so it’s very dangerous to spread intolerance,” stressed Jasmina.
She has participated in numerous conferences on transitional justice in Belgrade, Sarajevo, and Zagreb, and has been several times to The Hague at the invitation of Sir Geoffrey Nice, the former prosecutor International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, who lead the case against Serbian President Slobodan Milošević. Milošević died before the end of the trial.
Jasmina explained that at the invitation of Sir Geoffrey Nice, young lawyers came to The Hague from all over the world to learn about the work of the Tribunal and judicial processes, but also to encourage dialogue among young people from the region about the events of the war.
“Projects like these would have a really positive outcome, as participants would gain a new perspective and develop new friendships with their peers of other nationalities. The problem is that applications to participate in these projects always come from the same young people or those who were already open to dialogue, while it’s difficult to engage young people who really need to gain insight into these topics and who haven’t accepted the idea of unity and tolerance in our region yet,” said Jasmina.
Our interlocutor, as well as other young people, apply the knowledge the acquire in the field of human rights or student activism, which is one of the ways in which they contribute to reconciliation in the countries of the region and represent a new, fresh force for change.
“In Brčko, I was part of the generation that returned to the city from various sides after the events of the war, and I was part of the start of reconciliation and return to coexistence, and the revival of the idea of ethnic diversity. I remember how it went relatively quickly with us young people. We soon realized how similar we really are, friendships were formed very quickly, and all attempts to divide us usually came from politicians and older generations who directly participated and lived through the hardships of the war,” Jasmina added.
She believes that it is important for young people to be able to form their own opinions independently, to be given a new and objective perspective on these topics, and also to hear the voices of others to encourage dialogue with one another. “All of this can be achieved within the framework of the school system as well as the projects of non-governmental and governmental organizations,” noted Jasmina.
In order to progress as a society and to create a better future for generations to come, we must focus on the present and avoid returning to the conflicts of 1990s. This requires opening up on an individual and collective level, as well as learning to listen, think critically, and face historical complexities. This is the view of the more than 100 young people from across the region who contributed to Shared Narratives.
Vierda believes that if institutions would stop clinging to nationalist revisionism, they could learn a lot from today’s post-war generation.
“They could learn about inclusive dialogue, critical thinking, the responsible interpretation of the past as a pledge to create a better future, and not to hide behind national myths and ideologies that only carry additional burdens and mutual exclusivity,” says Vierda.

created: March 27th, 2023

author: Anja Zulić


text:
Reforming Education to Meet the Demands of the Labor Market | Balkan Diskurs
Dženisa Joldić
March 31st, 2023
There are several ways to help more young people get into the labor market in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). These include but are not limited to tailoring education to the labor market, better analysis of needs and skills, providing opportunities to gain experience, and eliminating workplace discrimination based on gender, age, and nationality to ensure equal opportunities and fair compensation.
The youth unemployment rate in BiH is four times higher than in the European Union (EU). According to the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the youth unemployment rate is almost 40 percent. In Sarajevo Canton, according to cantonal employment service data, there were 55,269 unemployed persons registered in November last year, of which 16,000 are looking for their first job. Of these, 11,093 or 69.33 percent are female.
Based on the data from January of this year, the most common field of unemployment registered by the Canton Sarajevo Employment Agency was economics. There were 1,118 economists with an MA degree and 169 with a BA degree registered as unemployed, as well as 2,981 persons with secondary school economics qualifications and 2,651 trade school graduates.
Educators working to develop profession skills among young people believe that there needs to be a better connection between education and the labor market, as well as between education and institutions in order to provide detailed analysis of the market’s needs and competences.
One of the greatest problems in BiH is the trend of young people leaving the country because of, among other things, the difficulty of finding employment. They feel that their skills are not appreciated here and that they are not given opportunities for professional growth. What’s more, they are often forced to work for low wages and are also exposed to various forms of discrimination.
Lejla Karović, a student at the University of Sarajevo Department of Health Studies, sees herself putting her skills and abilities to use in another country. “It’s sad to say that in our country, we don’t have good prospects or the possibility to make improvements to help our people, especially when it comes to healthcare,” she says.
Her ambition is to one day be engaged in scientific research and defending the principles of the Hippocratic Oath, but she doubts that she will succeed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Lejla graduated from medical high school, and then enrolled in college. She explains that when it comes to employment, she is interested in any position that would further her personal development, i.e., jobs that provide new work experience and progress in every sense of the word.
“Given that I graduated from a medical high school, I’m interested in positions related to my field, but of course, I won’t refuse an opportunity offered to me outside of that field,” says Lejla.
According to the records of the Sarajevo Canton Employment Agency, in January 2023, the most numerous professions among unemployed people with MA degrees were economists (1,181), lawyers (864), political scientists (360), social workers (315), and journalists (257). Among those with BA degrees, the most numerous were economists (169), lawyers (78), preschool teachers (37), classroom teachers (21), and civil engineers (18).
Among jobless high school students (2,981) and those who have completed secondary vocational education, the most common unemployed professions according to this data are economists (1,905), mechanical technicians (1,543), textile technicians (641), and nurses (628). Among the vocational professions, the most numerous are salespeople (2,651), motor vehicle drivers (2,000), hairdressers (887), car mechanics (752), and locksmiths (568).
Sabina Husienbegović, a professor at the High School of Agriculture, Nutrition, Veterinary Medicine, and Services in Sarajevo, believes that education is based on learning outcomes, which include knowledge, skills, personal competencies, expertise, and reliability. According to her, the fundamental goals of education are to develop responsibility, creativity, expertise, and reliability. The school where she works encourages individual and teamwork as well as decision-making. “By developing broader professional skills, a positive work ethic is formed, and interests in lifelong learning are stimulated,” says Huseinbegović.
Research suggests that the labor market values qualities such as teamwork, a positive workplace attitude, creativity, adaptability, and professional skills. Professor Huseinbegović points out that by organizing and integrating both theoretical and practical classes, they try to develop students’ abilities to meet the demands of the labor market.
The High School of Agriculture, Nutrition, Veterinary, and Service Sctivities in Sarajevo, as Professor Huseinbegović exiplains, operates according to the modular EU VET work system. Through this program, it defines learning outcomes, guidelines for teachers, and assessment techniques, as well as integrates general education subjects, professional subjects, and subjects concerning profession and practical teaching.
In addition to theoretical education, Lejla notes that she learned how to work well under pressure and take the necessary steps based on the resources available to her at that moment. She also learned organizational and time management skills, so that she is able to create a productive workspace for herself and deal with events that come up unexpectedly in her schedule, which is part of a student’s everyday life.
By cooperating with companies, the school is opening up the possibility of developing work-study programs for their students. This is something that Professor Huseinbegović believes can give students opportunities to acquire work skills and form a realistic idea of the professional environment.
“Access to the actual sector itself makes it possible to employ a certain number of students after school, depending on the students’ field and interest in the work,” notes Professor Huseinbegović.
From a student’s perspective, but also generally as a young person, Lejla believes that they should be given more opportunities and that experience shouldn’t be a prerequisite in order to apply for a job because often, young people don’t have the opportunity to gain that experience.
“What young people need is certainly the opportunity to gain that experience through various types of trainings, summer internships, and volunteering,” says Lejla.
In addition to the experience required by most employers, there are many other problems young people face when looking for work. Lejla explains that since she looks younger than she is, she has been told that a given job is too demanding for her.
“I think that appearance, believe it or not, has a lot of influence on who gets hired and that certain skills and competencies are put on the back burner,” Lejla notes, adding that employers underestimate and undervalue young people, as well as offer them lower wages in the hope that they will agree because they need the money.
In addition, Lejla points out that discrimination on the basis of gender, age, and nationality is exists across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that this greatly affects the motivation and desire of young people to even submit job applications.
Professor Huseinbegović emphasizes that the school isn’t entirely free to make the changes to the system that would meet the requirements of the labor market, but they are working together with companies and institutions to ensure that their students develop the skills and knowledge they need, and that their teachers also have the resources to help students.
Huseinbegović concludes that a greater connection between schools, the Ministry of Education, and the labor market is necessary to assess the market’s needs with respect to the competenicies being promoted within the education system.
Lejla still doesn’t have much hope and sees a brighter future for herself in another country.
This article is part of a series of texts within the #EmployMe project of the Post-Conflict Research Center and Balkan Diskurs. The series aims to raise awareness about the problems that young people face in the field of education and employment in BiH and highlight some good practices in battling these obstacles. This series is part of the “Youth Retention Program in BiH – Opšta Mobilizacija,” implemented by the Nešto Više Association and PRONI Center for Youth Development, with support from the Delegation of the European Union to BiH.

created: March 31st, 2023

author: Dženisa Joldić


text:
Sejfo and Mira: “Nothing Can Conquer Love” | Balkan Diskurs
Kristina Gadže
April 2nd, 2023
The love between Sejfo and Mira Mahmutović has withstood the tests of war, distance, ethnic difference, and more. Since meeting in high school, this love has blossomed into a happy life together in marriage.
Sejfo describes his family as “a little former Yugoslavia,” consisting of himself, Mira, and their children Robert and Fatima. When asked why his son has the name Robert, he replies with a smile that he was named after a character from a novel.
Sejfo and Mira’s love began in high school. Mira explains that they would gaze at one another during the bus ride to school and they fell in love. She recalls that Sejfo was “a favorite among the girls,” because he was handsome and involved in athletics.  “A bit of a musician, a bit of an athlete,” adds Sejfo.
Mira was never bothered by the fact that Sejfo is of a different ethnicity. “I was young, I didn’t care about that … People talked a little, but what do I know. I guess I was young, so I didn’t care about it,” she says.
Sejfo concurs, noting that the two of them “could write a novel” about the things that have been said behind their backs. In spite of this, however, they were both persistent. During the 1980s, Mira moved from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Slovenia, but Sejfo eventually found her in Ljubljana. “We met again and then later got married. There were all sorts of obstacles, but it turned out well,” Mira explains, pointing out that while gossip was passed along to her parents, she never heard it directly herself.
They were the first young inter-ethnic couple in their area to start dating, but according to Sejfo, “it didn’t take long, after our marriage there were two or three more mixed marriages in the village. But we were generally the first to break the ice.” Mira adds that the support of his family meant a lot to her.
The phrase mixed marriage doesn’t make sense to Mira, to which Sejfo argues, “How are we not mixed? I’m a man, she’s a woman.”
When it comes to multi-ethnic couples, Sejfo doesn’t see any progress being made in the social sphere. “There were a couple of cases in my neighborhood where the wife was Orthodox and the husband was Muslim. He died before her, and then when she died, the problem was where to bury her. However, that’s since been solved,” he recalls, explaining that the Municipality of Tešanj has allocated a cemetery for those from ethnically mixed marriages, should they wish to be buried there.
The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina did not change Sejfo and Mira. “We have the same views. For me, what kind of a person you are comes first, and it will always be that way. That’s also how I’m raising my children – to appreciate a person first of all as a person, rather than paying attention to nationality, race, ethnicity, or any other categories,” Sejfo asserts.
Sejfo says that his wife is devoted to her family and to his parents, whom she respects like her own. “In the neighborhood where we lived before, she was a favorite. And even now, where we live, the whole neighborhood really loves her,” Sejfo says, describing his wife as kind, hardworking, and cheerful woman.  Describing her husband, Mira says that in addition to good looks, he also has a good soul.
As Sejfo recalls, “we got married on Friday, and I joined Yugoslav People’s Army on Monday. According to Mira, she was only able to get through this period with the help of their families.
Apart from the army, Sejfo also spent a lot of time away as a drummer, playing gigs in former Yugoslav countries and beyond. After the war, Sejfo went to work in Germany for ten years, and later in Pula, Croatia. They have been living together in Jelah since 2015.
Describing their daily life, Mira says, “he comes home from work, we have coffee and lunch, and then sit together and talk. Sometimes we also visit our hometowns together. We spend time together. Every day is precious.”
Neither Sejfo nor Mira are religious, but as Sejfo points out, they celebrate every holiday: “While my sister was alive, since she was older, we went to her place on the first day of Eid, on the second day we usually visited cemeteries… And as for Christmas, Easter, and St. Nicholas Day, we would visit Mira’s parents. We would make some food and visit them.”
“She was even complimented by the hodja, you see,” Sejfo says of his wife, “she was a favorite up in our town, especially among the older women.”
Sejfo credits their supportive parents as one reason for the success of their marriage. “Never at any point did her parents interfere in our marriage. They never questioned us nor our decisions. And neither did my parents. My parents really loved Mira. Her parents respected me as well, but when my father was sick, Mira was the only one he let help him with things, not me or my siblings. It was the same with my mother,” Sejfo explained.
In addition to the support from their parents, Sejfo also cites Mira’s affectionate nature and expression of her love as a reason for the success of their marriage. “It’s always been like that,” Sejfo says, recalling the promise she made when they were young that she would never to leave him.
Sejfo emphasizes that they don’t allow themselves to be bothered by the “nonsense” they hear from others and the obstacles society throws at them. “I think that’s the biggest secret. We married for love, even though we’re high school sweethearts. I wasn’t even working when we got married, I went straight into the army. Her life changed completely. My parents knew her parents, and her parents knew mine, but still, the customs are different,” Sejfo describes.
As Mira recalls, “his sisters and his mother always asked me what I would like when they were preparing meals, and if I didn’t like something, they would make something I did. To this day, his siblings are so kind to me. They’ve always been there for us, and for me, and are to this day.”
There are five or six multi-ethnic marriages in their neighborhood, but in Sejfo’s words, “that damn war took a toll!” He explains that “There are no longer marriages out of love. It’s difficult. People get divorced, only personal interests are important. Now it’s like it used to be before, where the rich only marry equally rich people. Believe me, that’s how it is nowadays.” He also believes that young people care to much about social gossip.
Where there’s love, Sejfo maintains that there should not and cannot be any obstacles. “And if both our traditions are respected, I will never ask why we are celebrating her holidays. I celebrated many of those as a young man with my friends anyways,” he notes.
Sejfo believes that a person who really cares about you is worth fighting for. “When you see that they care, that it’s really true love, then you really have to fight for it, because we all need a partner we can rely on, in good times and in bad, through everything. And these are values worth fighting for,” he says. said Sejfo, and Mira agreed with his words.
Children make any marriage stronger, Sejfo believes. Mira agrees and says that love is everything: “What we have is love. We’ve been through everything, and that’s it, we always stick together. To me, that’s love.”
Sejfo advises young people to “Look at the person first, see if they are the person they should be. And no matter what someone’s name is, whatever God they pray to, it’s still the same God. What matters is their soul, not their name or religion.”
Sejfo adds that at the beginning of a relationship, material things shouldn’t be the primary concern for young people. “People appreciate more what they acquire on their own. Up until sixteen years ago, we had almost nothing. Everything was burned up and destroyed, so I didn’t have any money to do anything… But in the end I was lucky to go with my brother who took me to Germany. I was persistent, and I succeeded,” recalls Sejfo, who with two years’ of work, managed to buy a plot of land and build a house.
During that time, Mira struggled with loneliness and raising their children by herself, but as Sejfo points out, “She bore the burden here, I there.” This goes to show that nothing can conquer love.

created: April 2nd, 2023


text:
Maja Milijaš: One of the Youngest PhDs in Bosnia and Herzegovina | Balkan Diskurs
Danica Novaković
April 6th, 2023
Twenty-eight-year-old Maja Milijaš is one of the youngest PhD holders in our country. Despite offers to go abroad and work, she chose to stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country where she was born, grew up, studied, and has now started her family.
“Organization, dedication, and effort always pay off. I would love for my example to offer encouragement to those who want to follow the same or a similar path. Study what you want, believe in yourself, seek knowledge, ask for it from those who are obliged to provide it to you, and be consistent with yourself and your goals,” is the message of this young Doctor of Science.
Maja Milijaš is from Srpac, which is about 40 kilometers from Banja Luka. She obtained the title of Doctor of Science at just 28 years old. She explains that she worked for five years on the experimental and theoretical part of her dissertation, which was about the optimization of the mead production process with the aim of improving the characteristics of this type of beverage.
Her reason for choosing this topic, as she explained, was that it is an under-researched field with a very small amount of existing literature and data available, which gave her room for innovation. Additionally, this dissertation was a continuation of her previous research, which had a significant connection with her work.
During the entire process of writing the dissertation, she was supported by those closest to her, as well as those in her department, who, as she emphasizes, helped her to realize her dreams.
“Preparations for the start of the experiment began in January 2019, and the first analysis was done in February. Working continuously, I finished the experiment phase three years later, in February, while the actual writing of the doctoral dissertation lasted less than two years. At one point, there was an overlap, which was actually the biggest challenge, because all of this required a lot of time per day,” said Maja.
Although it seems as if this is all part of a well-developed plan, she didn’t always know that she wanted to get a PhD. Her enthusiasm, however, pushed her to continue after each step she completed. The journey to achieving this goal was long and difficult, but she ultimately succeeded, taking the last step.
Maja didn’t neglect other aspects of life while pursuing her dreams, but made a special effort to show equal devotion to her friends and family.
“One of the conditions I set for myself is not to neglect myself, my family, my friends, or my hobbies. Organization was the key to balancing all my obligations and my social life. Of course, there were always moments when I had to dedicate myself more to my research to a certain extent, but these phases were temporary and short-lived. If I had to give up everything else for the sake of my PhD, I probably wouldn’t have finished it, or I at least wouldn’t have completed it in this time frame,” explained Maja.
As she neared the finish line, she felt very relieved, but also anxious. After completing the final draft of her dissertation, it took six months to get the work approved and get through all of the procedures that have to be completed before the defense. This included a plagiarism check, a 30-day public inspection, and then evaluations and comments by other experts in the field. Total relief came only when she found out the date of the defense.
Despite having the possibility, as a qualified young scientist, to go abroad, Maja chooses to stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina because of her family, who has provided her with support and security through everything. For her, the idea of being separated from those important to her is as difficult as the reality of staying here.
“Regardless of where I am, my future is in front of me, but I believe that it’s much easier to build a foundation for success in your own country rather than somewhere where you’re a foreigner. Everyone chooses their own path and builds it in their own way, but I believe that leaving requires more serious motivations. On my scales, the balance prevailed in favor of the country where I was born, where I grew up, where I was educated, and now, where I have already started my family,” Maja concluded.
This article is part of a series of texts within the #EmployMe project of the Post-Conflict Research Center and Balkan Diskurs. The series aims to raise awareness about the problems that young people face in the field of education and employment in BiH and highlight some good practices in battling these obstacles. This series is part of the “Youth Retention Program in BiH – Opšta Mobilizacija,” implemented by the Nešto Više Association and PRONI Center for Youth Development, with support from the Delegation of the European Union to BiH.

created: April 6th, 2023

author: Danica Novaković


text:
Blue Balloons: Autism Awareness and Acceptance | Balkan Diskurs
Dženisa Joldić
April 10th, 2023
Raising awareness about autism and the autism spectrum is essential for promoting the inclusion of those affected by the disorder in everyday activities, combatting prejudice, and helping these people to overcome challenges. Autism is typically characterized by problems with communication and socialization, as well as repetitive actions.
“We have to watch for the signs carefully, that’s how we can help them,” says Merima Dramalija, Bachelor of Education and Rehabilitation. She explains that the first signs of autism can appear as early as a few months after birth, or later on in childhood.
Bekir, who is now nine years old, was diagnosed with autism when he was four. According to his mother Mirsada Isić, they “noticed that something was wrong because he wasn’t behaving like his peers.” With the help of experts and general information, they determined that Bekir has autism.
“We weren’t ready for that and it was a very difficult period,” Mirsada continues, speaking for herself as well as Bekir’s father Nedžad. They both agree that it was only after they accepted their child’s diagnosis that they fully appreciated him as a source of strength, hope, and happiness.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties with communication and socialization, repetitive actions, and other behaviors and symptoms unique to this developmental disorder. Epidemiological research shows that four to five children with autism are born for every 10,000 live births. Additionally, as many as 15 out of 10,000 children are affected by various disorders that fall within the broader autism spectrum.
April 2nd has been designated as World Autism Awareness Day by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The puzzle piece logo symbolizes the need to connect the pieces in order to gain a better understanding of autism. To draw attention to the lack of public knowledge about this condition, blue balloons are released into the air. Such efforts to raise awareness about autism and related disorders are increasingly important given their prevalence in our society.
Early intervention is crucial for children with developmental disabilities, as according to Merima Dramalija, it enhances their potential for progress. The earlier the diagnosis and intervention, the greater the likelihood of positive outcomes.
“When parents notice symptoms of autism, they should reach out to experts. They shouldn’t delay the diagnosis process, as this is harmful for the child as well as themselves. We all know that it’s a difficult thing to accept, but we still have to come to terms with it, for our sake and for the sake of our children,” she said.
There is no cure for autism, as the causes of this condition are still unknown.  However, Dramalija emphasizes that children with autism spectrum disorders can benefit from special education and speech therapy, as well as other treatments provided by various specialists who can help these children reach their full potential.
“We use the treatments from speech therapists, psychologists, and physiotherapists. After every treatment, we see new successes,” said Dramalija. She explains that when parents notice signs of autism, professional help is needed to rule out other disorders related to speech and hearing before diagnosing autism.
After Bekir’s family came to accept his autism diagnosis, his father Nedžad says they were able to achieve visible progress. “We have two other children besides Bekir, and he is very close and communicates well with his brother and sister. I think that he has integrated very well into his environment, and that we have had a great deal of success,” said Nedžad.
Mirsada notes that Bekir excels the most through games. “Whenever we ask him to do something, he’s happy to do it. Whether it’s fetching a glass, getting an apple, or throwing tissues in the trash, he’ll gladly do it,” Bekir’s mother explains.
According to Dramalija, children with autism spectrum disorders can have different learning difficulties. “I think the biggest problem is attention span. They often can’t concentrate on one activity. Communication is also a big challnege,” she stated.
The most common first signs of autism are difficulties with of demonstrative gestures and making eye contact, failure to respond to their name, speech problems, repetitive motor actions, and difficulty establishing social relationships and working on specific activities. While some children with autism do not have speech impediments, and although this is rare, autism should not be ruled out if the child speaks without impediments.
Bekir’s parents say that their biggest challenge was his inability to communicate, which made it difficult to express when he was hungry, in pain, or needed help.
“We had to adapt in every way and dedicate all our time to him to achieve communication, while also not neglecting our other two children,” recalls Nedžad.
Bekir’s parents were worried about how he would adjust to going to school and whether he would fit in with his peers and new environment.
“I can say that there was good cooperation with his teachers, especially one who really connected with him and understood him the most. With her help, Bekir started speaking fairly quickly and well, and he began to compose meaningful sentences. It is a huge relief,” Mirsada says.
According to Dramalija, parents and the environment should treat children with autism as normal children. “Children should go outside, go to the park, and play, in order to develop their motor and social skills. These children need to be included in different activities such as certain clubs, sports, and so on,” she added.
As she explains, children with autism should be included in all aspects of everyday life and their needs should be understood. “We must include them in our everyday life and society, not exclude them. People shouldn’t look down on children or their parents if they notice any unusual behaviors,” she continues.
Education is a very important factor in raising awareness about autism and other developmental disabilities. Lectures, workshops, and reading professional literature will contribute to this.
“The media should show more content that will educate our citizens not only about autism, but also about other developmental disabilities. Workshops should be organized in schools, for both students and teaching staff. I think that workshops should be held in every workplace, in every company, so that this environment becomes familiar with these difficulties,” said Dramalija.
Bekir’s mother advises parents not to give up and to be persistent. “Our boy is now nine years old and is slowly catching up with his peers. It takes a lot of effort and work, but don’t give up,” concluded Mirsada.

created: April 10th, 2023


text:
Evaluating Legal Responses (part II) | Balkan Diskurs
Minna Erith
April 14th, 2023
Criminal convictions are an important aspect of achieving justice and accountability in the aftermath of conflict-related sexual violence. Indeed, BiH has recognized that fighting impunity and facing the past through this legal avenue is the basic precondition for the gradual reconciliation of society (Moratti, 2022). The second part of this series on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) will therefore explore the good and bad practices related to the legal response to CRSV.
The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) seeks to improve how law enforcement and peacekeeping forces prevent and respond to sexual violence, which includes the prosecution of perpetrators (PSVI, 2014). As part of this initiative, the UK government has financed the deployment of PSVI Teams of Experts to Ukraine to support law enforcement and legal professionals engaging with victims of sexual violence (GOV UK, 2022).
In BiH, the PSVI has been central to coordinating and advancing efforts to punish CRSV, including by providing funds for the Strengthening Rule of Law by Improving War Crimes Processing program. However, it is also important to recognize the wider international role, and the significant efforts of not only the UK’s PSVI, but also the UN Country Team to help improve redress mechanisms for CRSV survivors (OSCE, 2017).
Despite the fact that neither Ukraine nor Russia are members of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the ICC opened an investigation in March into the situation in Ukraine. Under the Rome Statute of the ICC, sexual violence is classified as a crime against humanity and is thus prosecutable as a war crime under international law. The opening of the investigation coincided with the establishment of a war crimes unit in Ukraine, and on September 6th last year, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office established the Office of Procedural Management of Pretrial Investigations and Maintenance of Public Prosecutions in Criminal Proceedings on Crimes Related to Sexual Violence (Ukrinform, 2022). This follows the Ukrainian Parliament’s ratification of the Istanbul Convention which established legally binding requirements for the government to prevent violence against women and girls.
In BiH, protecting the rights of women and prosecuting perpetrators of CRSV has been a priority since the end of the war, in accordance with international covenants, such as UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has been instrumental is this process, and today, the Court of BiH explicitly cites ICTY and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) case law on CRSV crimes. At the entity level, prosecution of such cases is becoming increasingly frequent as well (OSCE, 2017).  However, the feminist organization Fondacija CURE argues that these efforts are still lacking, and “appeals to the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina to take [CRSV] more seriously and start implementing the Action Plan for the implementation of Resolution 1325” (CURE, 2022).
Due to the number and complexity of CRSV cases in BiH, the country has developed one of the most advanced bodies for CRSV jurisprudence in the world (OSCE, 2017). The BiH Criminal Code was updated in 2015 to include a definition of CRSV as an underlying offence of ‘war crimes against civilians’ and ‘crimes against humanity, thereby removing the condition of force from the law and favoring the concept of coercive circumstances that characterize warzones (AI, 2017). As of August 2022, there are 125 defendants and 57 pending cases involving allegations of CRSV (HRW, 2022). The conviction of Radovan Veljović on November 18th last year for raping a woman in Foča in 1992 is the latest example of continuing progress (Balkan Insight, 2022).
Nevertheless, many survivors still feel betrayed and disillusioned by the judicial process in BiH. A report by Amnesty International from the period between June 2015 and May 2017 states that the country’s legal efforts “have been anything but systematic and genuinely restorative,” and that survivors have often come away feeling further victimized.
One of the main issues plaguing the legal process in BiH is a lack of consistency among the country’s different judicial bodies. War crimes are not only tried at the state level Court of BiH, but also at entity-level courts. In some cases, sexual violence is not acknowledged as a conflict-related crime, but rather qualified as a regular crime (OSCE, 2017). This erroneous classification denies the survivors acknowledgement of their trauma as well as undermines the legal process, as it bars any further prosecution of these crimes (OSCE, 2017). Survivors of CRSV face tremendous challenges within the judicial process, and as a result, are often “deeply disappointed in justice” (Larisa, Medica Zenica, 2014). From the end of the war to 2019, only 1 out of every 15 cases of rape were reported, which indicates, according to Fondacija CURE, that survivors “evidently do not have confidence in BiH security structures, which greatly favors the consolidation of gender stereotypes and prejudices about sexual violence in BiH society” (CURE, 2022).
Belma Becirbasic, the Senior Program Officer of the women’s NGO Kvinna till Kvinna, argued in an interview that CRSV crimes are hard to convict because “crimes against women are still deemed less important than other crimes, as mere collateral.” This is the reality in Ukraine, where although the government may have created a special unit to prosecute conflict-related crimes, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has yet to sign the updated Criminal Code. The new Bill 2689 explicitly sets out under Article 438 (2.8) that “rape, sexual exploitation, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced sterilisation or any other form of sexual abuse” are war crimes, and Article 442-1 affirms that sexual violence is also a crime against humanity. Without this measure in the Criminal Code, CRSV is only prosecuted under the general provision constituting violation of the laws and customs of war.
Although the Ukrainian Parliament approved the new bill in May 2020, without the presidential sign-off (for which the deadline has passed), it cannot be put into action. Nobel Peace Prize winner and Chief of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties Oleksandra Matviichuk has called this an accountability gap, remarking in an interview with TIME Magazine that “human rights, when separated from the security issue and economic issues, became like something secondary.” Therefore, Ukraine is at a standstill when it comes to reforming the criminal code and the justice system, leaving victims of CRSV especially marginalized in the process of achieving justice and accountability.
Recognizing CRSV survivors as civilian victims of war is a key part of their healing process, and it is important to break the silence about CRSV victims in institutions. In BiH, the recognition of this status is regulated on the sub-state level – that is, in the Federation of BiH, the Republika Srpska, and the Brčko District. Currently, claiming civilian victim of war status is the only way for CRSV survivors to receive some form of monthly compensation.
The absence of a state-level legislative solution means that the benefits of these statuses are inconsistent and geographically discriminatory. For example, in the Republika Srpska, not only does the deadline for applying for this status expire 5 years from the date of the adoption of the law (which will be in October 2023), but victims are obliged to provide physical proof of 60% or more physical impairment. In the Federation of BiH and the Brčko District, the victim does not need to prove bodily harm to be granted this status.
Some are discouraged because of the barriers to gaining the status and the inequalities in the system (TRIAL International, Vive Žene, GSF, 2022). In a 2015 survey of 108 CRSV survivors across 27 municipalities in BiH, 72% felt well informed on the opportunities they can benefit from, and 98% use their healthcare provisions; however, only 44% benefit from financial support and 19% have made use of preferential treatment for schooling and employment (UN WOMEN, 2015).
There have been three failed attempts to initiative state-wide legislation in BiH, which only highlights the lack of harmonization in the country on these important issues. Without state-wide support, CRSV survivors will continue to be marginalized in society. Looking to Ukraine, Jasna Zecevic, the President of the women’s NGO Vive Žene, emphasized that state support is crucial, advising that “they should invest a lot of energy towards the state.” In BiH, neither the leading local women organizations nor the survivors have had such state-level support.
In CRSV trials, the survivor’s interests and needs must be central to considerations. This includes, among other things, adequate witness protection and psychological and financial support.
In Ukraine, the first trial related to CRSV started in Kyiv on June 24th. Mikhail Romanov, a Russian soldier, was accused of having repeatedly raped a woman in the Kyiv region on March 9th, after murdering her husband (Sauer, 2022). In the run-up to the trial, the prosecutor filed a motion for a closed trial due to the sensitivity of the case, yet the victim’s identity was disclosed in the prosecutor’s first submission (Sali, 2022). Volodymyr Ponomarenko, Prosecutor of the Brovary District Prosecutor’s Office, approved the submission despite the case being flagged as closed. The case is now being held behind closed doors; however, Romanov’s whereabouts are currently unknown. Until the court makes sure that Romanov has been adequately informed about the trial (and that his non-appearance is willful) the case cannot begin – with Romanov in absentia or otherwise.
The fact that the victim’s identity was disclosed despite the sensitivity of the case highlights the challenges to achieving justice and accountability for CRSV victims at the time of conflict. Even with the publication of numerous international guidelines which emphasize the ‘do no harm’ principle (including the Murad Code), it is evident that in practice, these measures are not being considered. Indeed, the OHCHR remains concerned that these hastily erected trials for conflict-related war crimes do not meet international fair trial standards (OHCHR, 2022). Given the difficulties Ukrainian civilians face in reporting CRSV, it seems that these failures to adhere to the principles of a fair trial can only be discouraging people from sharing their experiences.
In BiH, the Witness Protection Department provides adequate forms of protection and support to protected witnesses to ensure that trials are conducted fairly and that such breaches of privacy do not happen in CRSV cases. The protection measures available include voice and video distortion and banning the publication of personal data. The Criminal Procedure Code provides general measures for the protection of witnesses during court proceedings, but on the entity level, these protections are sometimes not granted or not sufficiently enforced. During a case at the District Court of Bijeljina, the prosecutor and court did not exclude the public during the testimony of a rape victim despite these protections, and subsequently, the witness testified in front of the media about her experience (OSCE, 2022).
In civil proceedings, there are no identity protection measures and the protective measures in place do not apply to the parties or their legal representatives, which creates barriers for CRSV survivors seeking compensation. There is a systematic gap in the witness support system as the lack of a comprehensive mechanism across cases increases the risk of re-traumatizing the survivors. Alongside this, the frequently drawn-out nature of these cases means that survivors often have to repeat their statements. After 30 years, according to Jasna Zecevic, this has led to survivors becoming demotivated to testify as witnesses (Zecevic, 2022). This in turn creates a secondary problem, as being a witness is not only important for CRSV survivors, but for future generations (Zecevic, 2022). It is unfortunate yet unsurprising that many survivors distrust the judicial process, with some describing their experience seeking legal justice as “traumatic” (OSCE, 2022).
There is now a solid international legal framework in place, and protocols like the PSVI have been established to help in these situations, clarifying the process of seeking legal justice. Therefore, it is crucial that Ukrainians learn from BiH’s experience and uphold the correct legal standards regarding CRSV cases.

created: April 14th, 2023


text:
Honey as a Source of Primary or Additional Income | Balkan Diskurs
Danica Novaković
April 17th, 2023
As beekeeping becomes increasingly popular more and more beekeepers are immigrating and crossing the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in order to improve their honey products as well as increase their earnings.
This raises the question of whether it is possible to live solely off of income from the sale of bee products. A young married couple from Nova Pazova in Serbia are showing that it is possible, as they explain that beekeeping has become their main occupation.
Miroslav Mutić is a pharmacist, and his wife Jelena is an economist. Both are university educated, and they never imagined that they would take up beekeeping. After ten years as beekeepers, however, they are very satisfied with what they have achieved.
Jelena and Miroslav attribute their success not to themselves but to their bees. According to them, the bees’ remarkable energy motivates them to collect the finest honey, which they market under the brand name ‘Gold in a Jar.’ After four years of work, Jelena and Miroslav are satisfied with the income they have earned from the production and sale of honey.
There are many people in Bosnia and Herzegovina and across the region who, like them, also rely on beekeeping as a s source of primary or additional income. Beekeepers often join associations, such as those in the Federation of BiH (FBiH), Republika Srpska (RS), Serbia, and elsewhere. There are estimated to be about 350,000 beehives in the FBiH territory, which is a considerable amount, and around 3,500 beekeepers in the RS. In 2014, 18 beekeeping associations from Serbia, Croatia, and BiH signed an agreement in Brčko intended to improve cooperation and facilitate the exchange of experience and knowledge in the field.
Additionally, regular fairs provide a great opportunity for beekeepers in BiH and across the reason to get together and share their experience. Miroslav and Jelena also participate in the fairs that are held in Belgrade.
The couple’s products can be purchased online, but they also encourage visitors. “We’re just a 15-minute drive from the capital [Belgrade], so we would like to use this opportunity to invite all honey lovers to stop by our place,” says Jelena.
Jelena reveals that their first honey creation, which includes cocoa powder, remains a favorite among customers. Besides this, they also offer various honey-based concoctions, such as honey with royal jelly, pollen and propolis, and propolis mixed with crystallized acacia honey. She adds that their line of products for children is also in high demand.
“We believe that our honey is great for all ages, from one to one hundred, as well as for all occasions. That’s why we decided to design honey gift boxes and honey jars, which are the perfect gift for all kinds of celebrations,” Jelena explains.
She says that the secret of their honey delicacies is dedication, as well as a love of nature and a healthy lifestyle. Not being too curious is also believed to be a characteristic of good beekeepers, because bees do not like to be disturbed and their hives should be opened only when necessary.
“Just as top-quality results are achieved through hard work and dedication, in our years spending time with bees, we realized that timely and moderate interaction between humans and bees is important for a strong and healthy apiary,” Jelena concludes.
This article is part of a series of texts within the #EmployMe project of the Post-Conflict Research Center and Balkan Diskurs. The series aims to raise awareness about the problems that young people face in the field of education and employment in BiH and highlight some good practices in battling these obstacles. This series is part of the “Youth Retention Program in BiH – Opšta Mobilizacija,” implemented by the Nešto Više Association and PRONI Center for Youth Development, with support from the Delegation of the European Union to BiH.

created: April 17th, 2023