Supporting teachers educating about the Bosnian war

An UNDEF project in Bosnia and Herzegovina raises public awareness about the Bosnian war by developing tools for teaching and learning as a means to counter revisionist and denialist narratives. The UNDEF grantee “Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN)” held a training for teachers on the 10th of December 2022 in Sarajevo to enable a clear understanding of how to use the developed database of narratives and specific material to educate young people about the 1992-1995 conflict.
The event was attended by 26 participants. The participating teachers had the opportunity to explore through nine potential activities on how the database could be used in different classroom scenarios. This involved a series of preparatory materials and questions/assignments for the prospective students which were designed to enable critical thinking. 
One of the activities proposed dealt with thinking through and researching what childhood in war looks like – starting from today’s perspective of how everyday life looks like for students. Other activities looked into what siege and living cut off from the world means for people as per basic human rights guaranteed by the Universal declaration on human rights. 
The event also used filmed personal testimonies which are part of the database, thus giving a human face to the facts presented.
This event helped in the development of a special curriculum for all regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina that will be made available publicly by BIRN.