At the end of November in the now-distant 2008, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights Croatia was founded. In an effort to appropriately mark the anniversary of our existence and activism, as well as to our permanent resistance to dominant exclusive narratives, on November 30, 2023, we organized an event with the aim of highlighting a potentially more positive future.
After the opening words of the program director Branka Vierda, a screening of the short documentary film "They are Coming," produced by YIHR Serbia, took place. The film featured young workers and activists from the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Kosovo, and Serbia, who spoke about the significance of connecting with peers from neighboring countries, learning about different narratives and facts related to the wars of the 1990s, reconciliation, and what the concept of the region means to them.
In the panel discussion 'What Past Awaits Us in the Future?' that followed the film, panelists were Boris Pavelić, Nikola Kožul, and Senada Šelo Šabić, and the panel was moderated by our program officer Senna Šimek. The panelists shared their views on how to meaningfully work towards reconciliation, the rule of law, and the protection of human rights, taking into account current conflicts and polarization in the rest of the world not directly affected. We also opened a discussion on the success of confronting the past in Croatia, as well as the role of young people in that process.
We extend our gratitude to all the guests who responded to our invitation and contributed to the celebration. A big thank you to the panelists for their valuable contributions, journalists, our colleagues from the Initiative, associations, external collaborators, the Kontejner association, the translation service, the photographer, supporters, and those who follow our work, as well as our activists and friends who took the time to support us, providing an extra boost for the continuation of our dedicated fight for the respect of human rights!
Photo: Sanja Bistričić Srića
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