LDP 7 Group Project: “Trapped in Between”, 1st of February, Sarajevo

On Friday, 1st of February 2013 a group consisting of young individuals from different countries: Elton Capani and Jorida Skenderasi from Albania, Adnan Ovčina and Diana Džaka from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ioanna Fotopoulou from Greece and Berkay Mandiraci from Turkey presented the key findings of their research project “Trapped in Between”. The event took place in Munja Social Innovation Incubator and there were many participants who were interested in both the project and the Leadership Development Programme. The keynote speaker at this event was Ms. Ljiljana Kokotović from the UNHCR office in Sarajevo. Trapped in Between is a project about the issues related to the position of Kosovo Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project is part of the LDP Fellowship and was funded by the the European Fund for Balkans. The Project Team in charge of the implementation of this project has conducted a research on the Roma issues and the problems and obstacles of the Kosovo Roma living in Bosnia-Herzegovina with the final aim of raising the awareness of NGOs in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina on the topic and thereby encouraging them to increase their regional cooperation efforts. Roma in Bosnia-Herzegovina face wide-spread discrimination, but the biggest obstacle for improving their position concerns the problem with their legal status. Therefore, the Project Team tried to address this problem and raise awareness of the possibility to overcome this problem through regional cooperation between different NGOs from BiH and Kosovo. The research included interviews with members of Roma population for the purpose of better understanding the problems related to their overall position in Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of the effort to better understanding the problems of Kosovo Roma in the country. There were 25 participants at the final event. Participants were mostly students and NGO activists in the area of human rights. Furthermore, members of the press from 2 radio stations were also present at the conference. They conducted interviews with the team members and listened to the conference and the discussion that followed. During the Q&A session interesting questions were raised and a fruitful exchange of ideas on how to address Kosovo Roma issues in Bosnia-Herzegovina took place. In the last phase of the project, the research will be disseminated to an array of political and social stakeholders. First and foremost, copies will be sent to the targeted NGOs in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Other copies will also be sent to human rights organizations, international institutions and national, regional and local bodies. This way the results of the project will have a multiplying effect. The project was organized in the framework of the Southeast Europe and the EU – Leadership Development Programme 2012/13. www.seeyoungleaders.org The Group Project is the sole responsibility of the group members who organized it.