At the beginning of the summer, students of the field of International Development Studies had the opportunity to go on a ten-day excursion to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) - one of the so-called program countries Foreign development cooperation of the Czech Republic thanks to the support of the Czech Development Agency. Part of the trip were visits to dozens of governmental and non-governmental organizations that deal with problematic issues of society in BiH (poverty, unemployment, political problems) and their possible solutions.
Today it is already more than twenty years since the cruel Bosnian War between the three main ethnic groups ended in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Nevertheless, traces of the war can be seen in many places even at this time. Plastering of buildings, blasted by weapons; torso of buildings; according to public opinion, a not very functional government and, above all, cold relations between the three main ethnic groups – Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats. Even today, it is quite common: separate teaching in schools; cities unofficially divided according to the predominance of ethnic groups or mutual intolerance. This Balkan country and the international community (the European Union or the United Nations) have been trying to solve all these problems for a long time.
However, the Czech Republic does not stand aside either. Czech development cooperation with BiH is primarily focused on the areas of state administration, issues of civil society, environmental protection, or streamlining the process of electricity production. The students of the Department of Development and Environmental Studies (KRES) from Palacky University in Olomouc had the opportunity to visit institutions dealing with all these areas of development as part of their recent excursion.
The main place of the excursion was the city of Sarajevo. However, the students also visited the city of Mostar, where they had the opportunity to visit the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) office or participate in a meeting with representatives of the Nansen Dialog Center, which carries out intensive activities and a wide range of activities, aimed not only at improving relations in society, between the three main ethnic groups in BiH. They have been in protracted disputes for many years, and relations between them are typically cold.
Other places on the program were e.g. the cities of Doboj or Tešanj, where employees of the Geotest company presented their development projects in the field to young people from Olomouc. It was mainly an excursion to the regional waste dump in the city of Doboj or a tour of the construction project of foil containers, for the purchase of which funds from the Czech and Tešanjska Development Agency were used. The goal of this project is primarily to support local communities in the area of food and financial self-sufficiency. In practice, the farmer grows different types of vegetables in the foil plant, some of which he keeps for his own consumption. However, he will sell most of it on the local market, for which he will receive money. This is very important for the local population, because (due to political instability in the country) it is very difficult to get a job in Bosnia and Herzegovina and people often live almost on the poverty line, if not below it.
Scholarships for Bosnian students at Czech universities
KRES students also visited the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Sarajevo. There they learned a lot of information about the opportunities that the Czech Republic offers to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Among other things, it concerns scholarships for Bosnian students and the creation of places at Czech universities or assistance in the implementation of development projects of the Czech Republic's Foreign Development Cooperation. The visit to this institution was useful and essential in many ways. It is this institution that often connects two essential parts of development projects – their design and creation in the Czech Republic and then their implementation in BiH. Here, the students had the opportunity to combine theoretical knowledge about the development cooperation of the Czech Republic with the words and experiences of the ambassador and the entire group of Czech development workers in BiH.
University students from Olomouc also met students from the gymnasium in Stolac, with whom they spent several hours and heard countless authentic stories from Bosnian families. They exchanged knowledge with each other, but above all they listened a lot to stories about the history and concept of the entire bloody conflict from 1992-95. It was quite emotional, but also informative.
The entire ten-day excursion became an unrepeatable and unique experience for the entire expedition from Palacký University, from which everyone took away not only a lot of newly acquired knowledge, but mainly the desire and motivation to contribute to changing the current situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries within the framework of the Czech Republic's Foreign Development Cooperation priorities.
Text: Kateřina Biolková, Photo: students of KRES PřF UP in Olomouc