CNA - 3-month Report (September

CNA's capacities have grown yet further since Adnan Hasanbegovic from Sarajevo joined us in October. Adnan is one of the key factors in the localization of CNA by September 2000, and in recruiting him CNA continues along the path of our work plan and strategy.

We are working in a period where the Stability Pact, signed in Sarajevo in July of this year, promotes great (and seemingly sudden) interest in a regional approach; we hope donors will be able to support it financially as well as vocally next year. FR Yugoslavia is still living with the causes and consequences of the violence there. Croatia holds it's breath on how and what follows President Tudjman. The first snow of the season fell on BiH's returnees and refugees in the middle of November.

WORKSHOP ON ORGANISATIONAL IDENTITY FOR 'NOVE NADE'
21st September in SHL House Sarajevo

CNA was requested by OSCE to conduct a workshop with a network-like organisation called 'New Hopes' (Nove nade). The initial request from OSCE was that CNA conducts 5 to 7 day training for Nove nade staff in teamwork, decision-making and nonviolent communication, identity/national identity and leadership. CNA rejected this idea because it did not come from the people themselves, and we agreed to conduct a one-day workshop in order to facilitate a process of needs assessment and strategizing for the future. If this needs assessment was to show a perceived need for longer training, further steps would be discussed. CNA set the condition that the people who attend the training must do so on a voluntary basis. This condition was well acknowledged by OSCE.

Nove nade was established through a project of the Democratisation Department of the OSCE, who are keen that the project becomes self-sustainable, and less dependent on OSCE logistical and financial support. Nove nade has 8 independent offices in various hot-spots in Bosnia-Herzegovina, brought together under one umbrella. The initial idea for the project, as well as the funding, come from the OSCE, who asked CNA to conduct a workshop with Nove nade's Managers and assistants (8+8 persons). During the workshop the focus was on the following questions:

- What are the main advantages and main difficulties of the network?
- What are the work-goals of the regional offices, and what are the work- goals of the whole network?
- What difficulties, fears, hopes and wishes do I have (each of them personally and then in small groups)?
- What is OSCE doing for Nove Nade? What of all that can be done by Nove Nade itself?
- What does Nove nade need in order to be a successful organisation? (either for the organisation or you personally)
- List all the things that participants feel that Nove needs to be successful

By the end of the day it was made clear that many of the skills seen to be lacking by some were considered to be 'owned' by others, which showed potential for mutual learning through co-operation and exchange. Many of the worries that people brought with them concerned
financial issues/problems. In connection with these concerns the workshop brought to light the clear advantages of open and honest co-operation. These could be contrasted to the disadvantages of competition that can occur in situations of uncertainty around office
survival, and which make it very difficult to plan for the future. The participants in their needs assessment did not request further training on the themes that OSCE suggested. And so no further training has taken place.

CONFERENCE ON CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION AND ALTERNATIVE SERVICES

A member of CNA participated at a Conference on Conscientious objection and alternative service in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was organised by the Legal Department of the Office of High Representative (OHR) for BiH. Representatives of NGOs attended the Conference from both entities of BiH, The Ministry of Defence of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, The Army of Republika Srpska, the President of the Federation of BiH, the OHR, the Council of Europe and the Swiss Institute for comparative Law. The main reason for this conference is BiH application for member of the Council of Europe. The law on alternative service is one of the conditions of this membership.

The conference included:
- A presentation of conscientious objection and alternative services in the member countries of the Council of Europe
- A review of comparative studies on the European alternative standards of alternative service and conscientious objection
- The current situation on alternative service and conscientious objection in BiH and further developments of the legal framework concerning these issues.

Representatives of the council of Europe (CoE) made a presentation on the current situation on these issues in the member countries of the CoE, and on the situation in Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska. The discussion included representatives of NGOs, and The Defence Ministries of both BiH entities. According to the Ministry of Defence the main obstacles to making alternative service possible are difficult economic circumstances and the high unemployment rate. The laws of both BiH entities foresee a possibility of alternative service, but they do
not give equal treatment to military service, neither in a financial or social sense. The Ministry of Defence is obliged only to cover the costs of military service. The expenses of alternative service (accommodation and food) must be covered by the institution (e.g. hospital) in which the service is being done, which has so far been impossible.

NGO members expressed the view that the main obstacle to a real introduction of alternative service does not lie primarily in the financial costs, but mostly in the treatment of people who do not wish to serve in the military. Those who go for the option of alternative service are being sent to work on military owned and governed agricultural farms. This is the only option that the Ministry of Defence says it can afford. But it is arguable how 'alternative' this is to military service when one takes into consideration who owns these farms and how they are run. It is also to be considered that alternative service lasts 24 months (in the Federation of BiH), while military service lasts 12 months. There is also the possibility of shortening military service by up to 3 months, a prospect that is not offered to those in alternative service.

A further problem that was discussed is that very young men are being recruited at the local Ministry of Defence departments, before their age of consent (16 years). No information is given to them on their rights and possibilities of alternative service, but they are receiving information about their obligations, such as - 'you must go to the army because that is the way to protect your family and your country'. Members of NGO' put forward that without being offered information on alternative service, this suggests there are no means of contributing to the safety of your family and the whole society in a civilian manner.

CNA is keen to follow the progress of the law on conscientious objection. However we do not have the resources to become more involved with the course of events. We will continue to put effort into keeping informed, but presently have no plans for further action.

MEETING ON THE FUTURE OF FUNDRAISING IN BIH
Sarajevo 9 November 1999

Two members of CNA attended a meeting organized by Quaker Peace Service (QPS) and the International Council on Voluntary Action (ICVA) about future financing and fundraising of NGO's in BiH. The meeting was attended by around 30 donor organizations and local and international NGO's, including e.g. CIP - the NGO Information and Support Centre, Save the Children, The World Bank, and various Embassies.

At the meeting presentations were made about the state of the NGO sector and financial perspectives for the future. Concerns about the present tendency for donors to leave Bosnia were discussed, and at the same time, about whether local NGO's have not shown enough initiative in regard to self-sustainability. Within this it was discussed whether there needs to be more concern about what is actually needed on the field, rather than following what the donors are prepared to fund. An example of this was given by CORRIDOR, a local psychosocial project that has found much less interest in their project since the signing of the Dayton agreement, and war officially ending. CORRIDOR said that unless they start to take on new projects, such as growing mushrooms, this would be an ongoing problem for them.

The regional approach was put forward as an important factor for the future of the wider Balkan area, which was within the context of the Stability Pact. According to the World Bank this has had an important influence on donors politics.

Also discussed was the fact that there are not enough links between public institutions such as schools and Ministries, and the NGO sector. A number of local NGO activists put forward that society needs to become more aware of the work of NGO's. Connected with this was the point that the economy of BiH is not supportive for the development of civil society presently. An example of this is the commercial sector, which is presently forced to pay tax on donations made to non-profit organizations.

The Know How Fund put forward their experiences of local NGOs not paying back money that they receive for a project that is not actually used. This point opened discussion on the ethics of the work of the NGO sector e.g. the stealing of ideas for projects by both local and
international organizations and the attitude of international donors to local organizations.

QPS and ICVA are considering holding a future meeting to continue with specific points that were brought out.

BASIC TRAINING IN NONVIOLENT CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION, TREBINJE
19-29.11.1999 With participants from countries/regions of former Yugoslavia

Planned to happen after the two trainings in Macedonia, the Trebinje training was one of our long-term planned projects (since November 98). After the 'Macedonia disaster' (see section 'Cancellations and Postponements - Macedonia) we anxiously awaited the Trebinje training. The participant group in Trebinje was to a great extent made up of participants who applied for Macedonia, and additional effort was made to find participants from Kosovo and Montenegro to come to the training in Trebinje. In this context it has to be mentioned that Trebinje is a town in Eastern Herzegovina, in the entity of Republika Srpska. It presently has an image of a very nationalistic area. One third of Trebinje's pre-war population, have left/been expelled from their homes, which are now inhabited by Serb refugees, among them many from Sarajevo. Our decision to implement training in this town was a conscious one, seeing the need to contribute to 'ice-breaking'.

Days before the start of the training we received cancellations from 2 people from Croatia, and one from BiH (Bijeljina). We had had difficulties in reaching Kosovo by telephone, and were starting to think that there were not going to be any participants from Kosovo at the training. But a week before the seminar we received a call from the OSCE in Kosovo, applying to send three local OSCE staff to the training. They had inquired with OSCE Sarajevo before calling us, to find out more about what CNA is and whether our trainings are worth attending. OSCE Sarajevo recommended us, and we received our first three applications from Kosovo. Then a number of days later, applications from an independent radio in Pristina arrived. Because of this and the cancellations, we decided to take one person more from Kosovo than originally planned. However the expected total of 9 women and 9 men changed because one woman from Pristina did not actually turn up at the seminar.

The participants came from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. The age range was 20-35, in average 25 years. Their professional background included:
- Work with traumatised children
- Youth centre leaders
- Activists of human-rights groups and political parties
- Media
- Peace group members
- Children's rights
- Civic initiatives
- Student activists and civil resistance activists
- Women rights
- Democratisation and training sections of OSCE.

One member of the trainer team and three participants were not able to get seats on the scheduled bus for Trebinje. And so could not arrive in Trebinje until the morning after the training was planned to start. This caused a delay of half a day, affecting the work plan from the very beginning. However we were able to implement the whole programme because the participants decided to use half of the free day to work, therefore enabling them to deal with all of the themes planned into the seminar. This is a good illustration of the extremely high motivation of the group.

The workshops often lasted longer than originally planned, sometimes up to 10 hours a day. Whenever confronted with the question 'Should we leave out an exercise in order to finish on time?' the group overwhelmingly requested more work. The energy of the group energised us in the team as well, but it was at times exhausting and difficult to keep up. It was a challenging but wonderful experience.

Some of most interesting moments of the training were in the second half, as the group had formed by this stage and was ready for open communication and confrontation even about the most controversial/taboo issues. The theme of gender brought out very strong emotions among participants. Strong emotions appeared again in the 'constructive conflict transformation' workshops, which were conducted with the method of 'forum-theatre', done in the form of a role-play that participants set up themselves and then tried to change the violent situation (structural or direct).

The theme power and leadership revolved around issues of individual and group power, responsibility, and often not perceived possibilities to challenge oppressive power. This was also very emotional and appeared to bring on strong personal re-questioning within the individual participants. In the leadership workshop the group's and the individual's understanding of 'leader' was analysed. This included their expectations, responsibilities, and the relationship a group establishes to a leader. Widespread feelings of fear towards an idea of group leader were transparent, as the understanding of the leader role focused on that of one that oppresses and less than of one that serves, and has special responsibilities defined by the group (including leaders).

The last workshop before the training evaluation was identity/national identity usually a very sensitive theme. But despite that the workshop passed in a notable atmosphere of listening, trust and respect, giving space for each individual to express their own understanding of the issues. After this we were able to move into the evaluation workshop in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. The participants put much effort into filling out the evaluation questionnaires that were handed out on the last day before the lunch break, so the verbal evaluation that followed covered only two questions:

* What did I get through this training, and what do I still miss?
Some of the responses to this question included:
- I found out that there is a completely new form of training, where I'm really trained, and have received new insights about conflict and it's resolution with nonviolent methods
- I think that this is a big step for me, everything can be used... I need time to settle the impressions
- The most valuable thing I have got is you as a team and your style of work. It is my first time that no models where imposed in a training. With time this gave me a feeling of freedom. The team said important things in a non-imposing manner. I would like to deepen themes like
identity and gender.
- I have discovered that despite my belief that I am very tolerant, many obstacles are in my way, and that I can do better - this is something I did not expect to get and I got that. I missed the debate, just to do it and have a look at it, to see what it is.
- It is my first time, although I have been on other trainings, to meet such methods and such group. New horizons and thoughts are open for me. I will need all that in my work. I am missing more work on gender issues, that is a taboo theme in Kosovo, starting from my organisation up
to a society, because the situation of women is very bad
- The whole picture gets together piece by piece. Although some exercises were very difficult emotionally, it is a way of confronting a problem. I miss more work on gender and power.

* What did I particularly like, and what did I particularly dislike?
Some of the responds to this question include:
- I liked that all of you in the team are so different but so complementary at the same time. I am delighted with brainstormings and particularly liked the themes: power, leadership, differences, forum-theatre. I did not like the following that much, because they were not so deeply covered: nonviolent communication, understanding of conflict, gender, and perception.
- I liked the permanent possibility of expanding the themes. I disliked the beginning of the workshop perception, because I had the feeling that there is a trick behind it, and that I would mistake, but my God, we all have to make mistakes!
- Communication, forum-theatre. I am extremely satisfied, I am carrying something new with me - I liked the work dynamics, well timed relaxing exercises, the methodical approach - I liked practicality of work and methods
- Liked:non-imposing approach of the team, disliked: the lack of time to deepen the themes
- I missed the theme 'civil society'
- I missed different theoretic models

The team evaluation of the training was extensive covering various aspects including: single workshops, teamwork, the group, what were new/nice/difficult, organisational aspect and learning points for future CNA trainings and programmes. In view of the fact that the training team included former participants of the CNA programme Training for Trainers, this training has raised relevant issues that deserve deeper coverage through the programme Training for Trainers including: trainer role, team expectations, facilitation, communication skills etc.

Learning points from the training include:
- The need for longer preparation (longer than 5 days, as for the Trebinje training) when less experienced trainers are included in the team (usually the case)
- The need to introduce a co-trainer role, which offers less responsibility and pressure, but is an equally respected member of the team in preparations and evaluations
- The need for work on specific themes for the trainers (possibly attending specialised seminars e.g. facilitation, communication skills, gender etc)

One thing that was mentioned in the team evaluation as a lack was the intense political dimension in the group discussions. The participant group selected the issues to be dealt with in the workshops, and they seem to have preferred working on personal issues. Nevertheless our
perception is that the group did not avoid sensitive issues (war, current political situation, etc), over which much discussion took place during informal times.

The general feeling in the team was the one of extreme satisfaction with the training itself, our teamwork and our ways of dealing with occurring difficulties and different views and opinions within the team.

The training has also widened the network of CNA contacts, just as in contacts and trust development between the participants themselves, paving the way for future co-operation. And last but not least, many of the participants of this basic training offer huge potential for the programme Training for Trainers, which is created for very specific needs of multiplication through educational work, seminars and workshops.
The evaluation by participants clearly indicates that the goals of the training have been achieved, partly even beyond their (and the team's) expectations. This was possible due to the motivation for work by the group and not least the trainers ourselves.

In the night before departure one of the trainers spoke to one participant. This participant said 'the thought of leaving the country and going somewhere far away is something that keeps me busy for a while, more or less intensely, but this training here and these people I have met, have really given me hope and energy to continue on with work back at home'.

Documentation of the training (in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian) offers detailed information on contents of the workshops, minutes of discussions and evaluations. This documentation, along with photographs is available through e-mail at cna.sarajevo@gmx.net, and also on the CNA
website at www.soros.org.ba/~cna

TUZLA-IPAK

In May 1999, CNA received a request by the Youth Centre 'IPAK' from Simin Han, near Tuzla, to train members of their organisation in communication and teamwork skills. On accepting that request we started working on the preparation and organisation of the event. Unfortunately the training was postponed twice during August and September due to fund-raising problems. By the time the funding seemed to be organised, CNA already had a full schedule for the rest of the year, which made it impossible to implement the training in 1999. Also IPAK and CNA made a mistake in the funding proposal, and this also affected CNA's possibilities to do the training. We are currently unsure, whether this project will ever be realised.

The Balkan wide training events to be implemented in Macedonia in partnership with Embassy for Peace-Macedonia (EfP) were cancelled after many months' work and intensive preparation by all involved. The war in FR Yugoslavia and its effects on the region postponed the dates planned originally for earlier in 1999, but this was not the only problem that the training encountered. Communication between EfP and CNA was not regular or always clear. For various reasons it was not possible to recruit participants from Turkey, Greece and Kosovo. And raising sufficient funds for the project was extremely difficult, to the extent that it was the lack of commitment from one donor that had agreed to fund the project, which finally caused the cancellation of the training events.

The Soros Foundation Macedonia agreed via contract with EfP to fund the accommodation and travel costs for the training. Soros informed EfP that the travel arrangements would be organised by the Soros Foundation Regional Offices in the countries from which participants and trainers would be travelling. This meant Soros offices in BiH, Croatia, Albania, Bulgaria, and Serbia.

Just over a week before the training started, CNA received a call from a participant saying that Soros had informed them that the training was postponed. Neither CNA nor EfP were at that stage aware of Soros Macedonia's intention to postpone the training. EfP informed us that when they asked for further information from Soros Macedonia, they were told that the main Soros office in Budapest could not process everything on time for the first training event. But that they would be able to process everything necessary for the second training. However CNA felt so insecure with Soros that we decided that it would be best to cancel the project completely at this stage.

This chain of events resulted in the cancellation of 2 training seminars. This meant informing 40 people that they could not attend the training as planned, 20 of whom could only be informed a few days before they were due to travel to the training. It also meant the cancellation of travel arrangements that had been reserved, re-arranging work that had been shifted in order to facilitate the original postponement, informing other funders why we would no longer be in need of their donation, and many smaller pieces of work connected with cancelling 1 month worth of out of country training which involved all members of CNA.

CNA complained to the Open Soros Institute Ombudsman (OSI Ombudsman) about the conduct of Soros Macedonia. EfP decided not to complain or to be involved with our complaint. EfP was the direct contact with Soros Macedonia, and so CNA was in effect a third party in this contract. The complaint that CNA has filed does not stand because we are not in a position to give first hand accounts of what has happened. The OSI Ombudsman has informed us that unless EfP complains, Soros cannot further investigate what has happened. CNA has requested that EfP re-consider their decision not to complain to OSI, but we have not received a response.

Many points have been learned from this, including clarifying responsibilities, motivation, policies, expectations, and perceptions of all parties involved, before the actual organisation of an event takes place. We plan to apply what we learnt in the organisation of the Macedonian training, to the planning and organisation of a Balkan-wide training that CNA is planning to implement in BiH in April of next year.

Lack of funding and a tight schedule has led to the postponement of TfT part III until early 2000. We have kept in contact with the participants of the programme who despite the long delay still voice the desire to attend the final 2-day session, and show a readiness to wait until next year.

NEW CNA MEMBER - ADNAN HASANBEGOVIC

In the period after the war everything looked quite depressing, senseless and destroyed to me; which it was. The depression and inertia of the war was felt in every step, and I was part of that atmosphere.

At the end of 1997 I met with people from NGOs, and I attended a few trainings in nonviolence. This for me was a very useful experience. Then I saw that there exists a way that we can take action, we do not need just to sit and wait for the politicians to cook up their own intrigues. That there does exist the possibility for us to fight - nonviolently - for justice, of which, especially today, there is not enough.

And that whole story about NGO's and trainers as an effective way of building peace and civil society, I really do like it a lot, and I was lucky/happy that I could become active in it. I decided I would try seriously to learn something about training work; NGOs and peace work in general because I foresaw that it could be useful for me and all the suffering around me.

In my previous organization (CIP - NGO information Centre) we already considered that building peace in BiH needs and must have a regional approach with people and organizations from SR Yugoslavia and Croatia.

And so in October 1998 in Jablanica I participated in Training for Trainers, which was organized by CNA. That was my first meeting with them and will be an essential part of my life and my work. Among other people I met Nenad, Ivana, and Otto Raffai who were in the team of that training. I had the luck that I knew Otto from before. In that training I met new friends from all parts of BiH, Kosovo and Belgrade. That was my first postwar experience with people from Belgrade and was important, both for me and for my work. Especially interesting for me was Nenad's life story. At that time there were really hardly any people from Belgrade that live and work on building peace in Sarajevo. That was very meaningful to me, and very dear.

The process of Training for Trainers (2 parts) really helped me a lot in my work and in my life in general. That experience reminded me that CNA and other similar organizations have something that is needed by me and the people I live with.

After that I was continuously in contact with CNA and co-operating on joint projects, in which I found the style and approach to work very pleasing. When they suggested that next year I am included in their team I was happy to accept. For various reasons, I actually started work in CNA in October of 1999. That was really good for me. I have more time to get to know the team and their way of work. For the year 2000 the process of localization is foreseen, and it will be dear to me to be a part of that.

And so with all of those useful problems, I feel good in CNA.

A 12 DAY JOURNEY THROUGH SERBIA
from 12 - 24 October 1999
"We Need Changes, But Without Violence"
A Short Report by Jasmin Redzepovic

Even before the war in BiH I had the desire to travel through Serbia, which never came true until now. While I was a child, people spoke about Serbia where the people are so hospitable, ready at every moment to give everything they had. But also I heard other stories. That the
people 'from there' are bearded creatures who gladly go into the army, and are violent and macho in order to get what they want even in their civilian life. That was before the war on the territory of former Yugoslavia, and it had an influence on my prejudices about the people of Serbia. Today after many wars in the whole region, after all the blockades and borders, I felt an even stronger desire to get to know the people in Serbia, where and how they live. So I could at least partly get my picture of the people, the events and the general situation in Serbia.

In this short report I will try to describe and bring over some of my feelings and experiences that I had on my journey through Serbia. For me they are really important, because after many stories and 'information' about Serbia that I heard from people from my neighbourhood, family,
and from the media, and particularly in the course of the war that I spent as a soldier in Sarajevo, I had the chance to personally I get to know this land and it's people. Because of the specific job that I had there as translator, I will not speak about the contents of the business discussions in which I was present.

My journey to Serbia was quite spontaneous. A representative of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICTFU) for BiH asked me whether I would go with him to Serbia to translate for him. My response to that question was 'YES of course'. I thought that it was a chance that does not happen often. After 7 days we left Sarajevo and went through Zvornik to Belgrade. On the border with Serbia we waited in a long column of cars with people. Many of their drivers turned off their engines to economise on fuel, because it is more expensive in Serbia, if you can get it at all - on the black market (in canisters).

After the police at the border security point checked my identity with Belgrade, we moved on after one hour of waiting. We paid for a tourist visa for Serbia, and then we left for Belgrade. Besides Belgrade I was in Nis, Leskovac, Vranje, Kragujevac, Uzice, Smederevo and Smederevska Palanka.

The people of Serbia are situated in a terrible financial, political and economic situation. Today many live much worse than they did before. Many are unemployed, because their factories were destroyed or went bankrupt under sanctions. Because of that, many do small-scale trade on the black market so that they can feed themselves and their families. Monthly wages are around 40DM, and it is rarely that they are paid on time. The dinar loses value every day, because they are printing money that is not of value.

The political situation is very complicated because in Serbia the government oppresses their people. Free media is threatened, and there are attempts to control and censor it. Daily demonstrations on the streets of Serbian cities attempt to show a certain number of citizens want change, and to depose Milosevic's regime. Meanwhile, in those demonstrations not everybody who is dissatisfied with the politics of the government and the President take part. This is because they do not want to be manipulated by the opposition parties that organise the protests. In 1996, after mass protests after election fraud, the citizens felt that they do not want to be manipulated again. Many hopes immediately after 1996 were directed to the EU and USA, despite a media campaign by the regime, expecting that the developed countries will support democratic forces in Serbia. But instead of that the countries that are more democratically developed recognized the election result of 1996, and in most recent times they have destroyed factories and infrastructure through NATO attacks, which today mainly effects ordinary citizens of Serbia. Faith in the political parties is something that the inhabitants of Serbia today need very much, and it will need much time and work.

I had the chance to meet with representatives of the Unions, NGO's, and with individuals who are not in organizations or groups. In all of these conversations I did not feel hatred towards me as a Sarajevan who comes from 'Muslim Sarajevo'. Infact, even opposite. At the mention of Sarajevo and Bosnia they would start talking about their nice memories, with much nostalgia in their tone of voice. Usually they were experiences from the period before the war in BiH. On mention of the war in BiH people with whom I spoke, talked with bitterness. And then at one stage somebody was stirred up enough to ask me whether it is worth creating a BiH that is 'mixed', but where people live in completely separate enclaves. In that moment I recalled many pictures from the war. Pictures of damaged houses, large gravesites and children who were waving to UNPRFOR in their transporter, who would throw sweets at them. I think that I was absent for that moment while the pictures where rushing through my head. A few seconds later I responded to the person 'when I think of all the people that were killed and injured, and all the destruction that I saw, all I can say is NO'.

I was amazed by the openness of the people that I met in Serbia where I felt the space for criticism and self-criticism, different to the people in Republika Srpska. The difference between action and initiative in Serbia and BiH is the idea, without expectations from the activists that someone should pay for their work. The opposite of that in BiH is very noticeable, and it has a strong impact on the development of sustainable civil society. I could also hear in Serbia an opinion that is very wide spread in BiH that foreigners and the international community are to blame for the wars in Former Yugoslavia, so therefore they should pay for all the damage that has been inflicted during the war. But in Serbia I felt a lot of self-criticism in the form of clear articulation of their personal responsibility for the previous events. In particular for those of the past 10 years. I think that only this way, not only in Serbia and BiH but in the wider region, a peace can be achieved which is more than just a lack of war, which is so significantly expressed in the high troop presence in BiH (SFOR).

My impression after my trip to Serbia is that people who live there want changes, but in a peaceful and nonviolent manner. Changes are really needed and I think that NGOs and Trade Unions will play an important role in this process. In my picture the activists have a critical and pro-active approach and engagement. I got this impression after some meetings with the members of the group Yugoslav Action - an umbrella organization of many groups in Yugoslavia. And also on hearing about the activities of the trade union Nezavisnost (Independence) towards the political parties in Serbia, particularly the undemocratic government. One example of Nezavisnost's activities is that they did interviews with the public on the question of 'whether to go into the future with Milosevic?'

The power that I have recognized with the Serbian NGOs, and that I lack in BiH, will be of great importance for Serbia and it's neighbouring countries as well. The changes that will happen in Serbia will not only be felt there, but also in neighbouring countries, and that could influence the democratisation of this place.

Adnan Hasanbegovic
Ivana Franovic
Cara Gibney
Jasmin Redzepovic
Nenad Vukosavljevic

For Centar za nenasilnu akciju
Center for Nonviolent Action
Project office of KURVE Wustrow

In Sarajevo, December 1999

Many thanks to all of those who are supporting the project of KURVE
Wustrow - Centar za nenasilnu akciju, financially or through their
engagement that made this project possible and helped to secure its
implementation and all of those who are with us in their thoughts.

Agency for Personal Services Overseas - Ireland
Aktionsgemeinschaft Dienst fuer den Frieden - AGDF
Berghof Stiftung & Berghof Institute for creative conflict menagement
Care International - Banja Luka
CNA Support group Hamburg
Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft Vereinigte Kriegsgegner - DFG VK Bielefeld
Internationale Aerzte zur Verhuetung des Atomkrieges - IPPNW Deutschland
International Voluntary Service - Belfast
Menschenrechtsreferat des Diakonischen Werkes
OSCE Democratisation office, Sarajevo
Pax christi - Deutscher Zweig
Quaker Peace and Service
Schueler Helfen Leben
Towae Stiftung

CNA will very much welcome feedback, suggestions, questions and criticism concerning this report and our general work.
Your thinking along, helps us!
Thank you.

This report may be distributed freely with the aknowledgement of the source.
� CNA