Mitrovica – Barriers and Bridges

By Alexandra von Vultejus

21 June 2022

What a day! After a lovely easy breakfast at the hotel close to Mitrovica of cheese, bread, cucumber, and tomatoes we got picked up by the UN bus and were brought to the regional UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo) office. It was highly interesting to talk to the UN staff, especially since we had heard so much about the mission and Resolution 1244 before.

After they answered our adamant questions, we directly made our way to meet with UNDP (United Nations Development Program) and UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) in the region of Mitrovica. Earlier that day in the bus, I had given a short presentation about their general missions and their region-specific appliance in Kosovo. We learned a lot about their programs, specifically targeted at the region, for example, in terms of capacity building (UNDP) or COVID-responses (UNICEF). Amongst many things, I was particularly impressed by UNICEF’s vaccination campaigns. The topic of decreased funding came up repeatedly. Our focus shifted for much of the conversation to the lead pollution issue of Mitrovica and its impact on the people and the organizations’ work.

Many groups used the lunch break to conduct interviews on the streets of Mitrovica until our meeting with the organization CBM (Community Building Mitrovica). We were all deeply impressed and inspired by their multi-ethnic team and engagement in the community. Our final group activity of the day was visiting the Field of Blackbirds. For me personally, the location had an odd feeling to it. It reminded me of all the battles that had been fought, lives lost, and history being made at this place. We climbed up the stairs inside of the monument from where we were able to see parts of Kosovo and the beautiful surrounding mountains.

Throughout our time in Mitrovica, I constantly had to think about the bridge, separating the North of the city with a Serbian majority of inhabitants from the South with an Albanian majority. In the North, the Serbian currency appeared to be predominant, and the streets were adorned with Serbian flags, whereas stores in the South used Euro as a currency in streets decorated with Albanian flags. The bridge, as a physical and mental barrier yet also connection between the communities of Mitrovica, concerned me lot.

On our way back to Prishtina, I scribbled this sketch in my journal to process my experiences in that city. The hands that move towards each other symbolize the organizations, institutions and individuals that we had met, because of their incredible efforts in community and peace building.