Build bridges, not walls! is a cultural festival that took place in Mostar in the period from 17th – 24th of April 2009. It emphasized on the many possibilities and aspects of multicultural societies, and involved local authorities / public institutions, the civic- and the private sector. Music, theatre, dance, lectures, visual arts, handicrafts and workshops were united through the thematic concept of multicultural understanding.
Coordinator of the festival, Mirsad Pandzic has stated that the aim of the festival was to connect young people through education about peace, tolerance and peaceful conflict resolution, and to send a message how young people can and want to live together,
The festival has gathered youth from B&H, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, as well as young people from Norway and USA.
Despite of the completely different cultural contexts, all these countries had similar challenges to the demographic development of local communities. This includes problems with ethnically divided youth groups, a negative discourse of the opportunities of diverse societies and adjourning problems related to violence, drug abuse, education drop out and political and social apathy among youngsters.
However, the historical and political development surrounding this problem concept is very different from country to country. The US was established on immigration. Norway has had a long history of being a homogenised society; having immigration only from the late 60ies and itself being a country of emigration during the Second World War. Bosnia Herzegovina has had a diverse history that encompasses both peaceful coexistence and bloody wars. Thus the young generation of these three countries have grown up with different stories and perspectives around similar questions
15th Regional School for Human Rights
As part of the festival youth groups attended two human rights schools. One is the 15th Regional Human Rights School with participants from Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo. This year’s focus of the school was on inter-religious dialogue and divided societies, with special emphasis on divided schools. During the school’s unfolding, participants attended several workshops where they designed recommendations for authorities on how to overcome the deadlock of the divided schools practice that many children and youth find themselves part of. These recommendations were presented in two conferences where representatives of authorities are invited.
“Young people from Mostar expressed their desire to be a part of our program in the future as well, so now we’re in the process of creating a Helsinki Committee’s Youth Group in Mostar”, said Adela Galesic, Regional Coordinator for the Helsinki Committee Youth Groups in Western Balkans.
The International School for Global Understanding
The School included a 7-day course in which the participants learned about human rights, multicultural understanding, conflict resolution and the UN Millennium Goals, from experienced experts, as well as local, regional and international actors in this field.
The activities of the festival were included in both school programs, and participants for both schools had the important roles in promoting the festival in their local community. These two schools also carried out a joint action during the festival, which got the attention to the importance of the UN Millennium goals.
“By taking part in our workshops and discussion sessions, our participants have become aware of existing common problems in all our societies, be that Bosnian, Norwegian or American. They are now able to pinpoint the mechanisms that contribute to divisions in societies and realize that these mechanisms do exist, not only in Bosnia, but in USA and Norway and other parts of the world as well. Once you become aware of this, it means you have taken one important step that brings you closer to being able to take positive actions to break down divisions.”, said Csilla Czimbalmos, project assistant.
Build Bridges, Not Walls! was organized by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in B&H, Center for Peace Studies Zagreb, Helsinki Committee of Republic of Serbia, Youth Initiative for Human Rights Pristina, Montenegrin Helsinki Committee, Helsinki Committee of the Republic of Macedonia, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the municipality of Drammen, Norway and the municipality of Red Wing from the USA.
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