Empowering youth for peacebuilding in post-conflict areas – Insights from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

by Lorena Barić

Contributors: Jasmin Jasarevic, PRONI Centre and Martina Uglik, Youth Peace Group Danube (YPGD)

 

After the destruction of war, rebuilding societies, establishing stability and achieving long-lasting peace becomes the most pressing priority. Often overlooked in these efforts, young people possess an immense potential to drive positive change, improve societies, heal war-inflicted wounds and shape a better future.

This article aims to explore the role of young people in peacebuilding activities in post-conflict areas, specifically focusing on Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The article will share examples of two pivotal peacebuilding organisations, namely Youth Peace Group Danube and PRONI Centre, which have played an instrumental role in fostering sustainable peace and reconciliation in these regions.

 

 The context of post-conflict Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

The war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1990s was a devastating conflict that resulted from the breakup of former Yugoslavia. This war inflicted terrible violence, atrocities and mass displacement on local populations, leaving deep and lasting scars on the region. It resulted in individual and collective trauma, profound wounds and scars, as well as ethnic and national divisions, and a prevalent distrust among communities, particularly those that remain ethnically mixed.

As Jasmin Jasarevic, representing PRONI Centre, aptly stated, “War is the most horrible and devastating social state young people can find themselves in. But, after the war, young people and youth workers play a crucial role in rebuilding bridges and actively contributing to social reconstruction.”

In the aftermath of the war, numerous youth-led initiatives emerged, driven by a powerful determination to bring about reconciliation, heal wounds, rebuild societies and lead them back onto the path of peace. The role of such peacebuilding initiatives and organisations was critical in bridging ethnic divides, promoting mutual understanding and addressing the underlying causes of the conflict. Although, even three decades later, much work remains to be done, the positive impact of the hard work of young peacebuilders and peacebuilding organisations in these areas has been remarkable.

In the following sections, you will read about the approach and experiences of PRONI Centre from Bosnia and Herzegovina, represented by Jasmin Jasarevic, and Youth Peace Group Danube from Croatia, represented by Martina Uglik, in their respective peacebuilding efforts.

 

 PRONI Centre’s peacebuilding efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina

PRONI Centre was one of the first organisations to use youth work leadership education and practice as a tool for peacebuilding in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 1998, PRONI Centre has provided educational programmes for youth from different ethnic groups and religions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosniacs – Muslims, Croats – Catholics and Serbs – Orthodox Christians) aiming to rebuild destroyed “bridges” and break down existing prejudices. These educational and peacebuilding activities set the foundation for all of PRONI Centre’s future activities and results, focusing on societal transformation by bringing young people of different ethnic backgrounds together. By doing so, PRONI Centre contributes to the social education of young people and promotes universal values among them, values like multiculturalism, solidarity and humanism.

PRONI Centre’s youth work focuses on building leadership capacities and strengthening young people’s abilities to actively participate in creating a better future. PRONI’s youth work is consequential in Bosnia and Herzegovina as it aims to build peace by dealing with the past and reconstructing bridges of friendship and trust among young people.

The Centre’s youth work involves non-formal education methods, such as workshops, training courses, networking, volunteerism, youth activism, youth exchanges and study visits; and the Centre’s youth work follows Gordon Allport’s principles:

• Intergroup contact must be on the basis of equality
• Contact must be personal and in multiple meetings
• It is essential that groups work together on common goals
• There must be institutional support to establish equal norms

One of PRONI Centre’s key initiatives is the PRONI Academy of Youth Work (PAOR), a unique programme that provides young people with knowledge in the field of youth work, youth activism and conflict resolution. The programme empowers activists and youth workers to improve their skills and activities, and it also contributes to establishing the youth work profession in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some examples of PAOR activities are: educating future youth workers, opening youth clubs to provide spaces for young people to meet and organise activities for other young people, as well as collaborating with local authorities and communities to improve the lives of young people at both local and national levels. By giving young people more control over their lives and communities, these activities meaningfully engage young people and help to shift the power relations between young people and stakeholders.

A pivotal activity is the opening of youth clubs across Bosnia and Herzegovina. By doing so, PRONI Centre is providing opportunities for young people of different backgrounds to come together and engage in physical, social, emotional and cognitive developmental activities. PRONI Centre regards youth clubs as a major influence in peacebuilding in Bosnia and Herzegovina, providing a safe space for multicultural communities of educated youth workers to share ideas of humanism, solidarity and youth activism. By involving themselves on a voluntary basis in various activities like music, theatre, sports, cultural activities, seminars, training courses and workshops, young people receive proper education and can become initiators of positive change in their communities.

 

 Youth Peace Group Danube’s efforts in post-war Croatia

Youth Peace Group Danube (YPGD) was formed in late 1995 by a group of young people who lived in Vukovar while it was under Serbian control. Vukovar represents the most prominent symbol of war suffering and destruction in Croatia and the quality of life of its post-war inhabitants, half of whom are returnees, has remained the worst in Croatia, with unemployment, incomplete reconstruction of infrastructure, only recently started investments into the economic recovery, lack of social life and education opportunities, and severe division along ethnic lines marking every sphere of political and daily life in Vukovar.

The YPGD was formed with the purpose of creating a safe space where local youth, regardless of nationality, could engage in arts, sports, non-formal education, and find hope and unity. From the very beginning, the group members’ explicit nonconformism with the overriding social norms of Vukovar has made them visibly different and hence vulnerable to labelling, suspicion and marginalisation. While both ethnic groups, Serbs and Croats, were suspicious and critical of its activities at the beginning, YPGD became a catalyst for cultural, political and social developments in the community, connecting young people of different backgrounds.

With support from CARE International, YPGD acquired a house that holds their activities, ensuring sustainability independent of any political influence or funding. This house serves as a youth club which became an open space where young people could interact, and initiate activities based on their interests, fostering a sense of ownership, empowerment and togetherness. 

The Youth Peace Group Danube is a valuable example of a self-organised, community initiative rooted in an angered, pained and immobilised environment, the actors of which are the politically marginalised – the Vukovar youth of all ethnicities. They have empowered themselves: meet their own need for more creativity, knowledge, freedom of expression, sense of hope and safety, as well as their community’s need for visible signs of post-war recovery; step out of the dominant code of ethnic separation and build relationships with other youth based on shared interests and aspirations; establish an alternative public space, which attempts to influence local political structures and nourishes democratic procedures within its own organisation; and promote a culture of nonviolence and openness to co-operation.

 

 Recommendations for peacebuilding

Drawing from over two decades of peacebuilding experience in Bosnia and Herzegovina, PRONI Centre stresses that peacebuilding should be a priority. “Even if it seems that conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina is over and that we need to turn our attention to other aspects of life, several researchers tell us otherwise. We are witnessing radicalization of young people, unemployment amongst young people living Bosnia and Herzegovina which are all potential factors of conflict rising again in some form.”

YPGD states that networking within the non-governmental civil sector has played a vital role in Croatia’s peacebuilding efforts. PRONI Centre highlights the importance of both intersectoral and international co-operation, “Youth Work is only one part of the society. There are other stakeholders, also, working on peacebuilding. Youth organisations should and must cooperate with local, national and international decision-makers on different programmes in order to produce a positive climate for peace. Sectors like international organisations, governments, local authorities, legal sector, and educational sector are all crucial for peacebuilding.”

YPGD stresses that the promotion and encouragement of independent cultural self-expression of youth was an equally important way of transforming the grim and uniform post-war reality of Vukovar. They give a notable example when they organised the first ethnically mixed concert after the reintegration process, bringing together punk bands from the Danube region, and techno parties with local and visiting DJs, hence promoting two musical styles that stand in sharp contrast to the Croatian pop and Serbian and Croatian disco-folk that dominate Vukovar bars. This event encouraged diversity and cultural exchange.

Furthermore, public actions and protests are another significant aspect of YPGD’s peacebuilding efforts. By connecting the Croatian war experience and post-war reality with global challenges, they give another perspective and transform the focus on one’s own victimisation into a concern for other people’s and nations’ suffering. The underlying message is: “We have gone through war and we do not wish it on others!”

Both PRONI Centre and YPGD agree that it is crucial to adopt an inclusive approach to participatory peacebuilding activities. “Meaningfully including local young people in peacebuilding processes will increase the understanding of the roots of conflict and it will help us to produce effective short and long-term strategies, but also give them ownership of the processes. By having ownership of the process, young people truly become the agents of change,” PRONI Centre. “Constructive perspective on the specific needs for investment into the human capital, quality of life and process of inter-ethnic cooperation make a valuable contributor to any participatory planning process of projects relevant to youth and peacebuilding,” YPGD.

In post-conflict countries, the active involvement of young people in peacebuilding is vital and invaluable. The two organisations featured in this article, PRONI Centre (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and YPGD (Croatia), demonstrate that empowering young people, engaging them in community initiatives and providing space for connection, communication and intercultural learning can and does lead to positive change and reconciliation.