News

Dear friends of the Peace Academy,

We have come to the time for a new phase here at the Peace Academy. Our plans are to focus in the next period on establishing a study of peacebuilding practice in divided societies building on our experience and work in BiH. Within this framework, we are exploring a summer academy for 2020.

We are also saying goodbye to Slobodanka Dekić, Nebojša Šavija-Valha, Tamara Šmidling, and Emina Trumić who have been dedicated colleagues for many years. The energy of this existing group to move the Peace Academy forward has been reduced by professional, activist, and personal engagements. A new board has been formed which is made up of Nejra Čengić, Amela Puljek-Shank, and Azra Smailkadić-Brkić, all of whom have been closely involved with the Peace Academy’s programs. Together we hope to give the Peace Academy renewed energy and focus but which remains true to the values and mission on which we were established.

We are always happy to hear from those of you who were participants and collaborators in our programs until now. Please let us know if you would like to be involved in this new phase in any way.

Randall Puljek-Shank

Rationale

  • By peacebuilding we mean, “a comprehensive concept that encompasses, generates, and sustains the full array of processes, approaches, and stages needed to transform conflict toward more sustainable, peaceful relationships.” (Lederach 1997: 35) Peacebuilding is concerned as a result both with change in institutions and social change.
  • Despite the advent of the ‘local turn’ within International Relations (Joakim Ojendal, Schierenbeck, & Hughes, 2017; Mac Ginty & Richmond, 2013), peacebuilding as an activity by local actors with agency remains marginal in the literature as a conceptual focus. This initiative aims to contribute to this focus, strengthening this empirical research in a way that bridges disciplinary and institutional boundaries.
  • Although there is a growing interdisciplinary literature on peacebuilding in BIH, it exists in a vacuum, largely separated from peacebuilding practice. Peacebuilding practitioners and practice benefit from critical reflection and engagement with academic rigor both to articulate their understandings of peacebuilding practice and also to ask tough questions about what does or doesn’t work and why.
  • This is additionally relevant because peacebuilding as both a practice and a literature came of age with the case of BiH (Boutros-Ghali’s UN Agenda for Peace) – this is a critical reflection upon more than 20 years since this advent of peacebuilding as such.

 

A group of ten government officials and nongovernment employees from across the Ukraine visited Sarajevo from October 15-22, 2017, in the context of a study trip on the topic of the “Role of government, civil society, and private sector in helping internally displaced persons (IDPs) to gain employment”. The goal of the visit was to share Bosnia and Herzegovina’s experience in providing assistance and protecting rights of IDPs after the Dayton Peace Agreement from the viewpoint of BiH’s institutions, nongovernment and international organizations, and private companies. The training and study trip was organized by the Peace Academy Foundation based in Sarajevo with the support of USAID and World Learning.

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.

More Articles ...

  1. Activist Practices and New Social Movements for Social Justice
  2. Ukraine Study Tour
  3. Policy Brief Presentation
  4. Post-Yugoslav Peace Academy 2013
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Essays

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Ubleha for idiots

  • ACRONYMS (in general)

    One of the important criteria based on which the level of ublehahood is instantly determined. According to this criterion, there are the following levels: The first (highest) level: a person in his/her written communication does not write sentences containing more than 7 words,  where at least 3 words are acronyms. For example: "See. Att. FYI. TBC. Send me your CV ASAP to prepare TOR." In normal language, these two sentences would go something like this: "Attached please find some fudge that is of no benefit to anybody but do keep it so you may show it in case we are  happen to be asked if we considered it.   You may doodle  on it a little and write some comment if you can grab some time.  Most likely, some jerks pulled it out of their asses as it has nothing to do with anything. By no means, if you do happen to read it, take it at face value.  You are still on probation here although half a year has already passed . Write some good CV of yours and backdate it half a year ago and do try to make it compatible to what you have allegedly been doing for us over the past six months. As soon as I get it and find some time, I will rewrite it a bit and name it your job description –just to have it on hand, in case those spooks from above come by. Poselami amidžu (See) and tell him that “ that thing” is OK. " Obviously, the advantages of acronyms are unmistakeable. Time saving, confidentiality of data and transparent professionalism and perfection in technical language usage. Every layman simply has to be fascinated and has to give his/her moral approval for the high salary for the speakers in question.

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.