"Give me your worst students"

17 June 2020

By Salomé Petit

On Wednesday the 17^th, we once again virtually crossed the bridge into North Mitrovica. This time, we visited people with a Serbian background and got a new insight into the everyday workings of Kosovo. First, we had the pleasure of meeting with Jovana Radosavljevic, the executive director of the New Social Initiative. This NGO’s main pillars are independent research, innovation and the amelioration of inter-ethnic relations. Later, we met with Miloš Golubović from Mitrovica Community Building which specializes in building bridges between Albanian and Serb communities in Kosovo and utilizing youth’s potential for peacebuilding. Lastly, we visited NGO Actif where Ognjen Gogic explained the vital role of the organization in the political and social development of North Kosovo.

All these organizations had something in common: in Kosovo where international presence is overwhelming and top-down processes are the norm, these organizations specialize in grassroots peacebuilding, namely working directly with civil society, providing them with the tools to take part in political decisions, protests, peacebuilding and to be actors for change in their region.

It was interesting to notice that in fact, some of the major obstacles in reconciliation were politicians, international actors and organizations and the state-led media. What these organizations actually sasserted is that change is happening at grassroot levels but that it is often overshadowed by misinformation, polarizing political discourses and fake news.

Jovana Radosavljevic, who is in the preparatory team for the future Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Kosovo, explained how the population is tired of top-down-led inter-ethnic round tables and discussions which often yield few results. She argues that these discussions often only attract politicians and activists and do not engage with the larger civilian population. In her work at the New Social Initiative she tries instead to come up with innovative conversations and solutions to attract not those already engaged but the majority who is not (she put her grandmother as an example). In Kosovo, media often depicts civil engagement in a negative light and therefore it is essential that organizations work directly with individuals, debunking misinformation and prejudice, and instead engaging civilians in decision-making processes. Despite institutional proliferation in Kosovo, only with a strong civil society can the region move closer to democratization.

Even everyday things like language can be an obstacle to reconciliation. Miloš Golubović, stressed the language barrier between Serbians and Albanians. He told us about a summer camp organized by Mitrovica Community Building to bring together young people from both communities. The project was funded by the U.S. embassy and as such, the campers were to take English classes and learn about the American culture. Yet all that the participants wanted to do was to learn each other’s languages: Serbs wanted to learned Albanian and Albanians wanted to learn Serbian. The U.S. initiative was short-sighted in that they were more willing to promote U.S. culture than advancing inter-ethnic relations in Kosovo. This was just an example of Miloš’ argument. He stressed that in many occasions, the international community has been an obstacle to the advancement of reconciliation.

Indeed, top-down processes are not working in Kosovo! Take the Kosovar Constitution, a progressive piece of legislation with the utmost respect for human rights. It highlights the ethnic diversity of Kosovo as the country’s main strength. However, this is not reflected in the Kosovar society because the Constitution has been imposed, and society has not had the chance to catch up with the principles set out in the liberal constitution. Therefore, Kosovo continues to be in a negative peace, without addressing the structural problems that reside at the roots of the problem. 

Like Anne explained when talking about Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in indigenous communities, bottom-up processes promise better results. I praise these organizations for cultivating peace from the bottom and using the huge potential of civil society for peacebuilding. A special thank you to Miloš for demonstrating that even the “worst students” can become agents of peace.