Genocide denial and revisionism continue to hinder reconciliation in the Western Balkans. This is despite ongoing efforts from civil society and the international community. To counter this trend, joint action by representatives of civil society and the international community is necessary to build a sustainable system for atrocity prevention and reckoning with the past.
It is hard to understand the killing of a child. The deliberate and ruthless targeting of children during the Siege of Sarajevo tragically illustrates the contrast between childhood innocence and war’s brutality. To commemorate the start of the occupation of Sarajevo, the documentary, "Djeca Sarajeva”, was screened for the first time on the 4th of April at the Sarajevo City Hall.
The Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) and the non-profit Impunity Watch held in March this year a two-day conference on atrocity prevention. Entitled, “Building a Common Agenda for Prevention in the Western Balkans”, the conference took place in Montenegro’s capital of Podgorica. The conference gathered representatives from civil society across the ex-Yugoslav region and beyond. This was a conference with a multi-pronged aim: strengthening regional cooperation, identifying future joint actions, and fostering solidarity with and among post-conflict societies.
“After 620 years, Jajce Fortress still stands as a symbol of the city and a silent witness to its turbulent history,” recounts Slavica Drmić, history teacher at the Jajce elementary school in Kruščica.
Sixteen years ago, Sarajevo singer-songwriter Maja Milinković first heard Portuguese fado (meaning ʻfateʼ in Portuguese). She has since become a pioneer, along with her ensemble, in introducing this musical genre to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Merging it with the traditional Bosnian sevdah/sevdalinka genre, Milinković has managed to combine different rhythms and meditative character into one.
Media and information literacy (MIL) constitutes an important segment in the lives of young people. It is arguably one of the most crucial skills of the 21st century. Despite this, formal MIL education remains hard to access in Bosnia and Herzegovina.