The seventh Regional Youth School of Human Rights, organized as a part of cooperation between Norwegian Helsinki Committee and Committees in the Western Balkans, which gathers young people from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia, took place from 24 to 29 May of this year in Zajecar (Serbia). The basic topics explored in this School were prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination. (09-JUN-06)

Written by HRH / Mirsad Pandzic.

Regional Schools have so far taken place in Mostar and on Mt Bjelasnica (Bosnia and Herzegovina), in Belgrade (Serbia), Tivat (Montenegro) and Biograd (Croatia). At the beginning, the Regional School had been devised as a programme for the most successful participants of local schools to be able to upgrade their knowledge of human rights. Since 2004, local youth groups exists too, which has changed the composition of Regional School participants to some extent. Local youth coordinators take part in the Regional School of Human Rights. They are joined by new participants, who are interested in this programme. The School concept was therefore altered to include, apart for human rights education, the development of skills of youth leaders. This has included lessons on the topic of “How to write projects?”. Programmes for training of youth coordinators on organization and facilitation of workshops also started.

Goal of the School

The goal of the school was upgrading of knowledge of participants on current issues in their communities. The need for this type of education on history has been very evident, both from the region´s past and the present. The youth generations of the Western Balkans (and wider) have been left to deal with the reconciliation process, without their having been involved in the waging of wars. However, these generations are now being educated by means of reproduction of mistrust and intolerance – through history textbooks. This has been proved by the latest research on textbook bibliographies in the region. The results are defeating, but some new concepts for the Balkans history learning are also being created, i.e. the multiple points of view (it has been assessed that there have been a number of interpretations of individual historical events in the region; a team of researchers-historians from the region has not opted for provision of a new, unifying interpretation, but for multiple points of view, which assume presentation of all interpretations in order for the Balkans citizens to decentralise and try to look at events from different perspectives).

Apart from this goal, which can only help the process of reconciliation and building of civilised communities capable of association, another goal has been set – preparation of members of Youth Groups for workshop activities. The topic selected is engaged and will, at the same time, provide the participants with a deeper insight into the issues of stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination. By development of skills for recognition of these occurrences, the participants will become capable of transferring their knowledge to their peers in a more adequate way, which could start to happen with the first project proposals coming from the Youth Groups in the region.

Workshops

Explanation of the terms stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination and ways to recognize them in everyday life was offered to the participants in the workshops, as well as the ways to observe the relationships between these terms, meaning that the stereotypes and prejudice cause and justify discrimination. The participants was also trained on how to prepare themselves for openness to diversity, and how to launch activities for promotion of the right to be different. It is assumed that the participants will consequently be empowered to deal with these terms in practice and be trained to act as workshop leaders.

Finally, it is important to stress the message of organisers of these schools that the theory and fundamentals of human rights taught in the schools are not the GOAL but MEANS for exercising of rights by all individuals.