A. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
1. Name and contact details for your organization
Organization: Center for Management of Conflicts
Acronym: CMC
Address: Boro Menkov 6-2/20
1000, Skopje
R Macedonia
E-mail: [email protected]
2. Name of your OSCE contact person
Giuseppina Grillo and Jasmina Todorovska
3. Date this report is submitted
26.01.20064. Project Title
Youth Leadership Conferences � 2005
1. Project Achievements
a) What activities have taken place?
? Selection of Participants
This was one of the most important phases of the project. The project needed a lots of efforts, careful planning and energetic implementation under the pressure of time and other circumstances. Knowing that the success of the project is based on the way of planning and implementing this particular phase of the project.
As mentioned in the project proposal CMC used a combination of grassroots contacts in the schools and its own relationships with student leaders to develop lists of potential candidates. From a great help in this regards were previously established contacts with teachers, parents and students during the previous conference.
Candidates were selected through a competitive interview process and chosen based on their: leadership activities, views on subjects such as leadership, community and ethnicity, communication skills, integrity and ability to act and change.
Added value in the process of identification and selection of the students was the fact that for this project it is already given oral and written support from the ministry of education.
This phase was carefully planed and for that purpose the project implementation team designed an action plan and divided the tasks among themselves so that the lack of time for implementation defeated.
? Activities at the Conferences
This year CMC organised four Youth leadership conferences for the high schools students from: Kumanovo, Skopje, Tetovo and Struga. Although Struga was not initially planed to be involved in to the program, the momentum dictated the need for action in that city. Apparently at that time groups of students had organised fights that crossed the boundaries of their ethnicity.
The conferences were focused on transferring and sharing positive attitudes, values, knowledge and practical life skills that ease the process of management of conflicts. Students were led through a curriculum and programme designed by the CMC in coordination with CBU, specifically designed to achieve the stated objectives. Activities included a myriad of games, debates, lessons and role plays, used and proven by the CMC in numerous similar environments. The young leaders were challenged to come up with projects they can bring back together to their schools and communities for implementation. To them it was also given ample opportunity to socialize at dinners and parties. On the top each participant was paired with a roommate of same gender of a different ethnicity. Not any of participants refused this offer. They even emphasised the importance this kind of way to get to know each other is much more powerful than some theoretical presentation. They were pleased to have chance to share room and to have direct chance to get to know more about culture, tradition and other values of the �other� communities.
? Post Conference Activities
Immediately after the finish of the first conference the students organised party for themselves in their cities. They also came to an idea to gather for a tea at the house of one of the participants and continue the interethnic dialogue that they have started in the seminar. This signal increased the energy if the implementing team of the project. Fortunately this kind of support and ideas ware constantly coming from the participants after each seminar.
Added values to the whole process were the post conference gatherings of the Struga students. Since the seminars were held in Struga, almost all participants from the conference for Struga students came to visit other groups during the social event on the second night.
Another gathering with students happened when the coordinator and assistant of the project organised meetings students and the external evaluation expert.
? Follow up
Financial limitations did not give a chance to all students to realise all their project ideas. However the existing small amount of money for implementation of the follow up activities was successfully spend through giving the possibility to 12 students to participate in the peace exchange conference organised in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the future selected participants will have chance to participate and get additional knowledge and skills on the topics that were not tackled on the sessions of the first phase of the project. Above all, it is existing a big possibility for inclusion of participants in all other future activities of CMC and its partners.
CMC will give all its efforts to find support for organising the 5th follow up conference, that is predicted to be implemented in the second phase of implementation of this project (March 2006). This conference will select the best proven participants and will provide them with additional (advanced) educational program on Peacebuilding and Reconciliation.
In the future CMK and CBU will provide follow-up support for YLC participants by informing them of community and cultural activities, providing advice, support and contacts in setting up their own projects and organizations and organizing a Leadership Speaker Series that will bring recognized adult leaders in to speak to the students about the responsibilities, rewards and challenges they face.
b) How has the project performed against the objectives specified in the project proposal?
Project Goal:
Reducing inter - ethnic tensions and elimination of culture of violence among young people in Macedonia by providing them new practical life skills on peace and non-violence.
This time with this particular project CMC really gave constructive effort towards this goal. The positive signals of improvement were seen among the participants and among the project team.
Project Objectives:
To provide young leaders with: leadership, communication and conflict resolution tools they need to work together to address the problems they face in their schools and communities;
The training program definitely gave to the participant�s possibility to learn more on those topics. The follow up conference and additional supportive project that are going to help to the participants to get more input on the mentioned topics.
To change the existing violent attitudes and behaviours in to positive and practical learning abilities;
This kind of change will be seen more when the participants are going to transfer their knowledge on their micro spheres in their schools to their colleagues.
To identify, support and provide a positive influence to youth leaders of various ethnicities, providing them with the necessary skills, such as conflict resolution and negotiation, to better address the inter-ethnic challenges they face;
Participants in this first seminar definitively got the messages of the basic training seminar on intercultural learning. Further effort will be given to improve more the knowledge and skills gained.
To establish and strengthen the relationship between youth leaders from different ethnic backgrounds, enabling them to work well together both now and in the future;
The dialogue session where the participants hade a chance to ask to each other questions that they have never hade a chance to ask, definitively showed that there is a wiling to break down the existing enemy images among them.
To develop a pool of skilled and recognized youth leaders beyond the narrowly-defined categories, such as student union leader and class president, to include influential students from other areas, such as the arts, the community, sports, NGOs;
The best proven participants were identified in the conferences and the network of skilled and recognized student leaders was already established.
To motivate youth leaders to use their talents to instigate and implement confidence building initiatives in their local communities;
The initiatives of the students already started. Fortunately they do not need a lot of material support.
2. What issues affected the achievement of the project objectives (highlight any problems, opportunities etc)?
The project in general was implemented according to the previously made action plan. There was not any obstacle that influenced the success of the project. The only thing that influenced the budget spending was the fact that this year CMC got less support in photocopying and using the transporting possibilities.
Otherwise the project once again showed its specificity in:
? Involving of ex- YLC students in to the process of implementation of the project from the beginning to the end. Two ex-participants from each working city were selected to be involved in to organization and facilitation of the new conferences. Extra effort from the CMC staff was given to educating these two participants to take lead in some small workshops.
? Secondly on the core training team was involved a student from the first group of YLC seminars;
? Thirdly having interview process that showed to be very successful in identifying new young leaders;
? Fourthly organizing seminars only for one city; and lastly
? Involving directly in to the process almost all secondary schools of the selected cities to be worked with. from the ministry of Education
3. How did you address the issues identified above?
The budget implications were neutralized through savings in the other budget lines.
4. What are the key learning points from the project?
As in the other YLC seminars also in this we realized that most of the things in terms of learning points are repeating. From all them we can say that:
? As much as the process is inclusive for the participants that have participated in previous YLC seminars, the possibilities for better success are increasing;
? The project should really respond to the need of the youngsters through providing them with what they need and through being as much as it is possible close and friendly with them;
? Good planning helps implementation but it needs extra energy and effort;
? More of this kinds of activities are needed;
? Students have much more initiatives that we expect from them;
? The schools definitely need to be supported through some other projects. They feel neglected and used when lots of projects organizers are asking from them to provide participants for different projects;
5. How will the benefit/impact of the project continue in the future?
Firstly and hopefully soon it will be organized the second phase of the project. The predicted conference is expected by lots of students especially the ones that are more ambitious and felt that they want to be part in such kind of process.