Reconciliation and Dealing with the Past in the Former Yugoslavia: Supporting the Centre for Nonviolent Action – CNA

Since 1998, the research center has worked closely with the Centre for Nonviolent Action (Centar za nenasilnu akciju, CNA) in Sarajevo and Belgrade, supporting them with project evaluation, self-reflection and helping them to develop fundraising strategies. From 1999 – 2002, using funds provided by the German Federal Foreign Office, we carried out training in nonviolent action and various other networking activities. Berghof staff conducted regular evaluations of CNA’s activities during and after this period. CNA was founded in Sarajevo in 1997, by local activists who work across borders to establish links between civil society actors in the former Yugoslavia, providing training in nonviolent conflict transformation. Above all, CNA works with people employed in youth work, education and social work, who can disseminate their ideas in these fields. In 2001, CNA opened an office in Belgrade, expanding its sphere of activity to cover Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia. The CNA team has also developed several activities for promoting constructive processes of dealing with the past in Yugoslavia’s successor states. These include workshops and public forums in which war veterans who had fought on different sides during the wars of the 1990s were able to discuss their personal experiences. These were organised in both Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia-Montenegro. Besides this, CNA has developed innovative material for peace education (including training handbooks and documentary films) aimed at motivating people to take an honest and critical look at their own personal involvement – and responsibility – in the periods before, during and after the war. The Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies has also funded several handouts on peace education.

Project duration: partnership since 1998
Contact: Dr. Martina Fischer, CNA Sarajevo and CNA Belgrade
Partners: Centre for Nonviolent Action (Centar za nenasilnu akciju – CNA)
Funding: German Federal Foreign Office (2000 – 2002)