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Positive stories encourage reconciliation. Let's create space together and share them!

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We are excited to organize youth training for developing and generating positive reconciliation messaging!

 

This training contributes to reinforced positive healing and reconciling messages through media and citizen-centered reporting focusing on shared values and trust-building. The main impact is that communities are sensitized to values shared by different communities in Kosovo. Also, media, local leaders support objective reporting from a citizen-centered approach. Ultimately, this contributes towards the overall Reconciliation and Conflict Transformation activity -  having a society where there is proactive cooperation, peaceful existence of various groups, and democratic values for all citizens. 

About the training

Albanian and Serbian communities, particularly youth, are facing a lack of interaction, or the interaction is non-existing, due to the vast communities’ division, as a consequence of the past.  Also, Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs do not speak the same language which is an additional challenge in mutual communication, especially among the youth. Therefore, by gathering the youth from Serbian and Albanian communities, we provide the platform for their interaction, understanding the importance of generating positive messaging. Furthermore, the reconciliation stories need their space in media and the public. The news that is generated to the public in regard to Serbian and Albanian communities, unfortunately tends to be spun and in the chase of sensationalist titles, bad stories have an advantage. This initiative will contribute to enabling space in the media for positive stories.

 

Particularly, this training aims to:

 

• demonstrate tools, mechanism of generating positive stories related to reconciliation,
• It is mainly focused on the youth and women from the Mitrovica region interested in sharing their personal or other stories which showcase the cooperation in any way between divided communities and promote reconciliation.
• Young trainees, Serbs, and Albanians together, will research and develop their own stories after the training, and the trainer will monitor and mentor young people, and their stories will be initially published on the KoSSev portal

 

Together with the trainer, Tanja Lazarevic (KoSSev editor in chief) we agreed that KoSSev, as the most followed and trusted media outlet in the city of Mitrovica and its region, and outside as well Kosovo will be the first to provide the space for the trainees to generate positive stories (research about positive examples, cooperation between Serbs and Albanians, etc.) The plan is to include other influential media outlets in Kosovo, for the same reason – providing space for sharing positive messaging.

 

This training is only part of the bigger Media component in the Reconciliation and Conflict Transformation activity. Namely, we are planning specifically for journalists and media outlets to further build capacities for generating positive stories. Additionally, we will sign the MoUs for ensuring cooperation.

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