Positive Story towards Interethnic Reconciliation and Dialogue: Youth Group Svi Zajedno

Svi Zajedno (All Together) is a group of young people who gathered seven years ago with an aim to enhance interreligious and interethnic dialogue as well as reconciliation between peoples in BiH. The group works under the Inter-religious Council of BiH, and its creation was encouraged by the British Council within its project Leap of Faith Together (LoFT). They are all students of different university departments, who belong to different religious communities. In short, the aim of their work within the Inter-religious Council of BiH is to demonstrate and prove that young people from different communities can work together indeed, regardless of their religion and ethnicity.

Last weekend, more precisely three days in a row, one of several meetings was held on Trebevic Mountain, where 20 volunteers, some of them as permanent members of the Svi zajedno group, others as new members, gathered together and spoke on the interreligious dialogue and further projects.

The main focuses of the series of meetings were to meet new members who will work as a part of the Svi Zajedno group and to make further decisions on the project’s aim and implementation.

What is important to note is that these twenty volunteers will work on a project that has an aim to bring closer children who belong to different religions and different ethnic groups in BiH. Additionally, through series of interactive games and visits to sacred places of worship and to different cities as well, these young volunteers will enhance dialogue and reconciliation among BiH youth.

Not only the group is successful in implementation of the projects so far, but they managed to strengthen young people in understanding and respecting others, to overcome the differences and to develop the social cohesion and reconciliation among them.

The Interreligious Council of BiH exists from 1997 and currently the Assemly consists of Husejin ef. Smajic, Sarajevo Mufti, President of the Assembly of IRC, Bishop of Eparchy of Zahumlje, Herzegovina and the Littoral, Grigorije, member of the Assembly of IRC, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, Archbishop of Vrhbosna Archdiocese,  member of the Assembly of IRC and Jakob Finci, President of Jewish community in B&H, member of the Assembly of IRC.

The main aim of the Interreligious Council of BiH is to decrease religious prejudice and raise awareness of the importance of inter-religious dialogue and cooperation through developing relationships between churches and religious communities throughout BiH.

ST