Conflict Solutions: Southeastern Europe

The challenge:
The people of the former Yugoslavia continue to experience bitter ethnic and religious divisions following the horrors of war and genocide of the 1990s driven by extreme ethnic nationalism. It has been estimated that 750,000 persons lost their lives in the wars of that decade and millions were displaced.

Our role:
Since the summer of 2002, Outreach Strategists partner Randall Butler has helped to design and lead an effective peace-building effort each summer involving emerging leaders from Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania and other surrounding countries. Living together for two to three weeks in a dormitory, the participants interact in completely diverse discussion/work groups, learn the principles and practices of dialogue, openly discuss the horrors of the wars and genocide in their region, and acquire new conflict resolution skills. Ethnically and religiously diverse (including Serbian Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Protestant Christians, and Muslims) these former enemies learn to break the cycle of violence through forgiveness and many find personal healing and release from hatred and bitterness.

The result:
After weeks of intense work they emerge as a community – some would even say a family. Upon returning to their home countries, many work to launch new initiatives to foster greater understanding among different ethnic and religious groups, to address development of a more civil society; and to meet the needs of those injured and displaced by recent wars.