CEV V::I::P - Volunteering in peace building and conflict resolution

V::I::P project aimed to bring together representatives from volunteer centres, volunteer organisations, youth organisations, peace organisations, intergovernmental organisations, private donors and policy makers to exchange best practices, concepts and ideas in order to raise awareness of the potential and relevance that youth volunteering has in conflict resolution and peace building in (post)conflict regions across Europe.

The seminar "Volunteering in peace building and conflict resolution" as a main activity of the project took place from 25 to 30 June 2008 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. This venue was deliberately chosen as it was a “showplace” of one of the most recent conflicts in Europe and nowadays is a base of many stakeholders and donor organisations working in peace building and conflict resolution. The seminar was organised by the Europea Volunteer Centre in cooperation with the South East European Youth Network (SEEYN) with the support of EU Youth in Action Programme and it gathered 42 participants from 29 organisations placed in 17 different countries.

The speakers from United Nation Volunteers, Croatioan Council for Civil Society, East East Programme of Soros Foundation and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs ensured high quality discussions and full spectrum of views on the role of volunteering on peace budilidng and conflict resolutions.

Participants had also chance to discuss the topic during the Dialogue Cafe, visit the local projects , take part in the intercultural activities and, last but not least, to get to know and exchange opinions on the examples of the good practise on how to involve young people in volunteering for peace.

Inter-ethnic Project Kumanavo from Macedonia presented the Project Youth Magazine Time-Out. The aim objective of this project was to train young journalists about journalism and about their rights in the school and in the society, promoting youth participation and increase inter-ethnic tolerance. After the conflict in Macedonia in 2001, schools are separated on ethnical and language barriers. Students from Macedonian and Albanian nationality go in separate schools and moreover locations of those schools are in separate parts of town. Ethnic distance is present in everyday life leaving them with no experience of living in fully integrated multi-ethnic environment. Through the activities around Time Out magazine young people from Kumanovo and Lipkovo, especially high school students spend more time together and learn how to be more tolerant and how to communicate with young people from other nationalities. Presentation

The project of Slovenska Filantropija, Developing Voluntary Work of Children and Youth on Territories in Western Balkans as a Means of Civic Education and Preparation for Citizenship in Democratic Society is a joint programme of 5 organisations form Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia financed by respective USA embassies. In this project, volunteering enables young volunteers to be active at their own recovery and the recovery of their community. The objectives of this programme are to create opportunities for social activism of children and youth combined with civic education and to promote their active participation in their own communities. Presentation

Volunteers in peace building and community development implemented by Centre for peace, non-violence and human rights in Osijek , Croatia (Volunteer Centre Osijek was a part of that organisation at the time) was a project implemented in four Slavonian multi ethnic Communities ( Vukovar, Dalj Tenja and Beli Manastir). These communities were heavily effected by war and still suffering the consequences. So the objectives were: to strengthen cooperation between civil society and local self-government on community revival and development, to support volunteers from local communities to form community volunteers' centres and to network them and connect them with regional volunteer centre and to sensitise local communities for creative ways of dealing with conflicts and support development of mediation services. Presentation

Kansalaisareena from Finland presented the Peace School Project, implemented by the Peace Education Institute with the Peace Union of Finland. In the school, volunteer teachers are trained to give workshops for student groups where through the means of drama and stories young people face the everyday conflicts. Peace school aims in giving children and young people the tools to handle the conflicts they come across in everyday life. The participants receive training in such areas as conflict prevention, non-violence, human rights, environmental issues, disarmament and refugees issues. Presentation

Service Civil International presented two Youth Exchanges for Peace which focused on Israel-Palestinian conflict. First, Drops of hope was organised in August 2006 in Samen in Zee- (The Netherlands) and aimed at bringing together youth from Israel, Palestine, Belgium and The Netherlands to make them get to know each other, to listen to each other and speak about the conflict in a constructive way. The second was organised in August 2007, it was a training- Youth Energy for Peace (The Netherlands and it aimed at giving the youth tools to become active citizens and be able to develop peace or social responsibility project either on local or international level.

Community Volunteers Foundation from Turkey talked about the Divided God Project, during which young people used video technologies to make short films and discussions on religion and the role of religion in people’s cultures and lives. The project also included an exchange program that allows young people to better understand the role of religion in different cultures. Presentation

Corrymeela with help of the Volunteer Development Agency provided participants with the background of the conflict in the Northern Ireland. The Project SEED Group gives a chance to young people to explore how conflict presents itself within Irish society. This involves exploration of sectarianism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia and gender, socio-economic issues. The group shared learning through their own communities. Therefore, the project aimed to train the young people in an understanding of the causes and consequences of conflict on a variety of levels, to train them in an awareness of North South issues pertaining to young adults and in awareness of class, culture, religion, educational and ethnic issues which impedes community cohesion across the Island of Ireland. Thanks to the programme, young people have a chance to involve in the voluntary activities, set up their own initiatives which meet needs of their local communities.

SEEYN presented the volunteer exchanges between young people in Balkan region, an initiative funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The projects addressed conflicts in Balkan region and aimed in building bridges among youth from the region. The main objectives of the programme were to increase pro social values and employability among youth in SEE and reduce their prejudices towards peers in neighbouring countries.

Finally, participants had a chance to participate in the Training of Volunteers for Peace-Actions organised by PATRIR from Romania. PATRIR is a peacebuilding network which explores the understandings of what is peace and conflict, empathy, creativity and non-violence as fundamental concepts in peace building work. The objective of the training was to give the participants a basis of knowledge, values and abilities needed for a volunteer in order to work in conflict affected areas based on the DO NO HARM principle. Presentation