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From January 24. to 31. 2016, the Peace Academy will be the organizer and host of a a training/study visit to Sarajevo and Mostar entitled „Strengthening Conflict Resolution Capacities in War-Affected Communities". The participants of this training will be 10 Ukrainian activists and humanitarian workers from conflict-affected areas who work in various capacities on peacebuilding in the Ukraine. Their particular areas of focus are work with displaced people, education and work with youth, and socially-vulnerable populations.

The goal of the visit is increasing knowledge and skills of the participants in the field of peacebuilding and conflict resolution through examples in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The participants of the program will be able to learn to know the work and lessons learned from actors in BiH regarding peacebuilding.  An important component of the program is connecting small groups of participants with peers from similar professional backgrounds from BiH.

Partners in this project are: Youth Cultural Center „Abrašević" Mostar, Bread of St. Anthony (Trauma Center), Union for Sustainable Return and Integration in BiH, Media Center, Sarajevo Cantonal Center for Social Work, „Sezam" Zenica, „Izvor" Prijedor, „Schüler Helfen Leben" Sarajevo, "SOS Children's Village BiH", "Consortium for Enhancement of Ukrainian Management Education" and„Democratization Policy Council".

The project is supported by USAID and World Learning.

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From 18.-25.01.2015. a group of 10 activists, journalists, NGO workers and representatives of government institutions from Ukraine are visiting Sarajevo.

The group is participating in a USAID program in cooperation with World Learning "Do No Harm: Fostering Conflict-Sensitivity in Southern and Eastern Ukraine" which is implemented in BiH by the Peace Academy.

During their residence in Sarajevo, the participants will have the opportunity to learn from the experiences of civil society, media and other key actors related to peacebuilding and conflict transformation in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The goal of the program is developing conflict-sensitive programs which reduce violence and strengthen peacebuilding processes.

The guests from the Ukraine include representatives of NGOs working on protecting minority rights and vulnerable groups (HIV-positive individuals, handicapped), media as well as local government from Zaporozhe and Kharkov region.

Advocacy in BiH: Possibilities for Improvement

On Friday, 27.9.2013, in Sarajevo a presentation was held presenting research findings of the policy brief „Donor Support for Civil Society Advocacy in BiH”. The findings were presented to influential donors of civil society activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

slika1A strong civil society (CS) which is able to successfully advocate for groups of citizens is often seen as central to democratization and peacebuilding.  Yet, after 17 years of donor support for CS, there are few signs of improvement in this direction.  What have been the direct and indirect outcomes of previous efforts?  What have both donors and CS actors learned from this?  Can donors constructively and effectively support change agents within CS?

In order to better understand the topic, the authors approached and interviewed the 10 donors providing the most funds for CS and reviewed documents regarding their programs. In addition, 10 CS activists with experience with advocacy and receiving donor funds as well as a reputation for independence were also interviewed.  The policy brief is also connected with an independent research project related to the legitimacy of CS actors and is based on additional interviews and academic literature.  The authors attempted to understand donor constraints and rationales and to seek a balanced perspective on both donor responsibility and the limitations of Civil Society Organizations in the present Bosnian context, with the goal of making realistic recommendations.

slika2The brief addresses 3 key issues: which topics and forms of advocacy are most helpful; the effectiveness of donor support in building advocacy capacity; and the role of the EU.

The authors of the research have given concrete recommendations for the improvement of donor support to BiH's civil society, which were discussed during today's presentation. The present donor representatives (USAID, Norwegian Embassy, Swiss Embassy, Embassy of Netherlands, OSCE, SIDA, and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung) emphasized the importance of such research and recommendations since they notice possibilities of improvement within their field of work in terms of needed inter-donor coordination and better communication, more verbal and moral support to civil society initiatives, etc. However, they also noticed the lack of coordination of civil society organizations in BiH and the issue of CSOs competing for funds instead of work in synergy.

slika3The authors of the research are Randall Puljek-Shank and Tija Memišević.

The research was published by the Peace Academy Foundation with the financial support of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in BiH.

icon_pdf-48x48 Policy Brief (English)    icon_pdf-48x48 (BHS)

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  1. Post-Yugoslav Peace Academy 2013
  2. New Publications Published by SOC
  3. Opening
  4. Announcement
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Ubleha for idiots

  • CV

    Commonly known as SI-VI  (See)(BCS pronunciation of an English word CV; SI-VI alludes to a color: SIVI=GREY= coll. murky, obscure –Translator’s note), something many do not connect with anything realistic. In translation to the colloquial BCS (See): a person’s life-story. Hist. Under the domestic name used at the time of the obnoxious socialist, totalitarian regime (See), notably, along with the request for admission to the Yugoslav Communist Party (KPJ)/ The Communist Union of Yugoslavia (SKJ). – In the contemporary NGO and, to a certain extent, business world: it shows the level of a person's ublehahood. Very often, it is the pattern that is crucial and not only the length. Many people compose their CVs themselves.

from Ubleha for Idiots – An Absolutely non useful Guide for Civil Society Building and Project management for Locals and Internationals in BiH and Beyond by Nebojša Šavija-Valha and Ranko Milanovic-Blank, ALBUM No. 20, 2004, Sarajevo, translated by Marina Vasilj.