In the period from June 9 to June 15, 2024, the training "Freedom of Religion or Belief and Hate Speech" was held in Sarajevo, organized by two URI Europe Cooperation Circles Youth for Peace (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Sombor Educational Center – SEC (Serbia) with the support of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC ).
The training gathered 20 young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia from the following places: Sarajevo, Belgrade, Banovići, Sombor, Bugojno, Gračanica, Novi Sad, Olovo, Kladanj, Novi Pazar, Visoko, Zenica, and Pale.
Young people discussed hate speech, prejudices and stereotypes as causes of hate speech, hate crimes, alternative and counter-narratives, and freedom of religion or belief with facilitators from Youth for Peace and the Sombor Educational Center. With the guests from the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the participants discussed the OSCE's activities in the field of freedom of religion or belief and their work on human rights in general.
In addition to the workshops, during the training, the participants also visited religious sites in Sarajevo. On that occasion, they visited the Gazi Husrev Bey Mosque, the Old Orthodox Church (Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel), the Sacred Heart Cathedral and the Ashkenazi Synagogue, where they learned about religious sites, but also about religious traditions present in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the last day of training, with a guest facilitator from the organization United Religions Initiative, young people worked on creating a social media campaign to address hate speech. Follow our social media to learn more about this campaign, and join us in our endeavours against hate speech and the protection of freedom of religion or belief for everyone.
Youth for Peace CC
