Date of implementation: 2020 – ongoing

Partners: Srebrenica Memorial Center, House of Good Tones Srebrenica, Sarajevo Memorial Center

Supported by: National Endowment for Democracy, Sigrid Rausing Trust, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Srebrenica Youth School is a week-long educational event organized every July at the Srebrenica Memorial Center for youth activists, artists, and students (ages 18 – 30) from the Western Balkan countries and the world. By engaging youth in a series of masterclasses, keynote speeches, and workshops, the school aims to contribute to learning and critical thinking around the subjects of dealing with the past, transitional justice, and prevention of genocides and mass atrocities.

Since 2020, every July ahead of the annual Srebrenica Genocide Commemoration, PCRC has hosted a one-week-long, multi-disciplinary summer school at the Srebrenica Memorial Center for 50 young people annually from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans. Srebrenica Youth School presents a new curriculum for discussing prevention of violence and memorialization of violent past by exposing youth to local narratives through a global lens and master classes by experts from notable universities such as Stockholm University, Columbia University, University of Salzburg, University of Sarajevo, University of Novi Sad, London College of Communication, RMIT University Melbourne, and Manhattan College.

Additionally, the School provides a platform for young people to engage with various local and international stakeholders, including OSCE Mission to BiH and Kosovo, Youth Initiative for Human Rights Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro & Croatia, International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, House of Good Tones Srebrenica, ADOPT Srebrenica, International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, and the United Nations Special Adviser for Genocide Prevention, Emmaus Srebrenica, and many more.

“I have a better understanding of the history of Srebrenica and am now conscious of how important it is that everyone retains the memory of the Genocide.” – Kristina (youth participant)

In a couple of months, I too, will turn 25 years old. I cannot begin to express how lucky I am to be learning about the conflict the way I am rather than experiencing it firsthand. – Alma (youth participant)

 I’ve met some extraordinary people who made my worldview even wider and made lifelong friends which helped me grow to be a better person. – Matej (youth participant)