Home PublicationsAcademic - Articles - Reports

CHALLENGES AND POSSIBILITIES OF APPLYING THE PRINCIPLES OF PEACE IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Written by: Sladana Lolić
" Ivo Andrić" Elementary School, Banja Luka
January 2002

Participant in the Education for Peace (EFP) Program

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is unique because of the structure of its population. There are three large world religions on its territory: Orthodox, Catholic and Islam. All these three nations have had tempestuous and difficult histories. They have had frequent wars and different governments. The economic and cultural progress of the people was not possible under such conditions, as in the other European nations. After the Second World War, the region was under communist ideology. This ideology would also have a lot of influence on later happenings. After the break of ex-Yugoslavia in this region a process of diversifying people has taken place on a national level, which has led to a bloody war. After the war, and after the Dayton Agreement, peace, finally, starts to occur in this area.

The challenge of peace, even before the war was welcome. BiH was already far along in this process. Slowly but thoroughly peace is being built. By introducing democracy to BiH, there are better quality approaches to the problems that have shaken up this region due to nationalism, religion, language, etc. The democratic principles as a universal model give slowly, but obviously the first results here. Peace should be implemented in each part of the BiH society asit is the only possible path for permanent survival. In this process, one of the most important aspects of education is the acceptance of the values of the democratic world. These changes must be implemented through all structures of the public life: schools, courts, medical institutions, media and others. The changes of the conscious flow must move on in the spirit of international tolerance and respect. A process of this type will contribute to eternal peace in BiH.

Considering the awful history, fears, violence and conflicts, which are part of the human nature, I ask the question:

IS PEACE POSSIBLE?

THERE IS HOPE: That is why I attend school, learn, make friends, have fun with the others, travel, learn to LOVE, to LIVE. This is how most of the young people think in this area. We have passed hell, just a bit kept this region from total destruction but WE ARE HERE, WE ARE NOT DAMNED. The war was imposed to us. That is why we should use our minds to find our ways towards PEACE.

We return to the man as the main factor, and start from:

• OCCURRENCE of the biological dimension, parental love, adjustment
• GROWTH of the kindergarten, challenge of the new environment, adjusting, belonging to the community, unity, friendship.
• SCHOOL GROWTH possibilities, intellectual aspect, challenges of adjustments, existence. Our abilities are directed onto the knowledge, love, and will, represented in all subjects. We create entire and universal beings. DEVELOPMENT.
• SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENING - we belong to the world, and the world belongs to us.

Thus, only when peace is established completely in the personality of a man can the fears that he has lived through be calmed. Then encouraged by his faith in life is he capable of seeing unity in everything that is, and the value of the democratic world. We go back always to the pre-condition of peace:

When we consider man as the main factor and excitable savage of his instincts, the issue of the enlightenment of that man is very important. Democracy, as such, understands man in a developing ideology. Therefore I claim that there are no thoroughly democratic organizations without conscious citizens, nor conscious citizens without personal enlightenment.

With a man’s right to do whatever he wants to do, go wherever he wants to go, what he wants to know is that he is also capable of implementing peace in all parts of the society. The BiH region has been often shaken with war historically. But after every war there has been a period of peace. The periods of peace and war have alternated regularly. The challenges of both were strong and they drew the forces in those directions. But after all those happenings, in my understanding, the opportunity for peace has much bigger chance now.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is on its way to leave behind the war and to move to permanent peace. In these areas the ideas of peace are being promoted:

• Idea of belonging to wider space, cosmopolitan;
• Idea of international tolerance and understanding;
• Accepting and respecting religious differences;
• Democratic principles and norms;
• New educational approach.

However, it is not easy to face all of these ideas and challenges. Therefore, the people retreat into themselves, become apathetic or aggressive, and violent.

I am one of the people who have survived all the difficulties and danger in the BiH region. All those events brought nothing good. The people have been dreaming of and desiring PEACE. Weapons are not a source of happiness, everybody is afraid of them.

Obstacles for peace:

• Differences between the rich and poor
• National conflicts
• Economic issues, aggression does not lead to anything good.

If we want to create peace we have to build a mindset that focuses on the development of peace. Mankind’s worldview in the past and nowadays is not the view of peace. It is based on pre-occupation of the survival of the group, on one’s own interest and on the way that power can be accumulated. During its childhood and adolescence, mankind concluded that its goal is to achieve power and pleasure. These are the most essential issues on which mankind is individually and collectively pre-occupied.

New ways of thinking are appearing by gaining new knowledge, by developing new consciousness and worldview. At the same time, the ideas of true justice, unity and equality are just ideas, unless we carry out them in practice. At this time of history it is necessary to act, not only talk. Societies can unite and live in peace only when we realize the PRE-CONDITIONS AND DYNAMICS OF PEACE, what is actually more important when we transfer our knowledge into activities. In the area of BiH we know what war means, and even better we know how much to appreciate peace. The language of peace is mutual for all the people in the world. The dynamics of peace and pre-conditions for peace-justice, love, understanding, respect, unity and equality-are universal.

Peace is necessary for all people in all the corners of the world in all time zones. Peace in the area of BiH is necessary after the war, in order to build a peaceful political situation, in good and bad economic conditions. PEACE IS NOT TRULY PEACE, UNLESS IT IS PRESENT EVERYWHERE. Peace is the responsibility of every one of us. Peace belongs to everyone.

PEACE CANNOT BE SUSTAINED BY FORCE; IT CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED BY UNDERSTANDING.

We believe that force will be replaced by the sense of unity and mutual concern.

People are tired, and thus we have to change the way of thinking. We are on a good road. WE HAVE MATURED. Maturity is possible only when we have a new look at the world which is characterized by unity, justice, equality, and peace.

In order to promote all these ideas, I find it necessary to support:

• All non-governmental institutions;
• All presidents of developed countries and governments and all scientific institutions;
• All representatives of the religious communities;
• All parents of the young people of the world and other associations that have similar or identical views on this project, hoping that soon everybody will see that

THE EARTH IS ONE COUNTRY, AND MANKIND ITS CITIZENS.

The ideas and possibilities of the Education for Peace project have epochal significance for mankind; therefore it is necessary to respect all progressive forces aimed at achieving them. Because, the world that we leave for our children must be without conflicts, hunger, war, rich with new scientific research, discoveries, progress, wakening of the human consciousness, and it needs to be exciting, progressive.

Many people today must learn how to face the challenges that are in front of them. They should create a universal, unique world organized in a way that all people are free, where they can live in a safe society; a world where health, education, food, and all other essential needs are available to all, as basic human rights; a world which will give the chance for all people to be engaged in the activities that are satisfying to them, and to be useful and creative. By experiment it is possible to implement it and to set it up as the basic value for human beings.

I END WITH THE LYRICS FROM "PEACE MOVES":

Maturity is only possible when we have a new worldview, a consciousness of humanity’s fundamental oneness. It is through the impact of this new consciousness and worldview that our vision becomes world-embracing, our thoughts become focused on the welfare of all humanity, our conduct toward others becomes marked by humility, and our love becomes unconditional and all-embracing. It is then that our sole objective in life becomes to serve humanity.

I believe that the citizens of this world will be engaged in the creation of peace, relying on the forces of love, growth, unity, maturity, understanding and nourishment of a new consciousness, and will look at the world and move towards the era of a lasting, progressive, civilization of peace.

THE LITERATURE

Web design by Plethora Design