Genesis Project

National Network
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Address

Kalemegdanska 20
78000 Banjaluka
Bosnia & Herzegovina

Telephone
+38751461477
Fax
+38751461477
E-Mail
genesis@blic.net
E-Mail (2)
genesis@inecco.net
Mobile Phone
+38765527794
Mobile Phone (other)
+38465623327
Organisation Type
Non-Governmental Organization
Year of Establishment
1997
Fields of Activity
  1. Arts
  2. Democracy and community development
  3. Human rights
  4. Youth and education
General Information
Structure of the organization, including number of staff employed and/or partners: Genesis Project Budgetary resources available in a year: Approximately 300,000.00 EUR per year.  Sources of funding: Donations from international donors such as Delegation of the EU in BiH, UNICEF, Stiftung Schüler Helfen Leben (SHL), Berlin, Germany,  US Embassy, Netherlands Embassy, etc. Modalities of action (concrete projects, exchanges, seminars, scholarships etc.): Concrete projects implemented currently:  1.  “Bridges of trust and cooperation” (budget 190,000 EUR) 2.  “Rebuilding trust and confidence among children, teachers and parents in divided and segregated schools of Middle Bosnia canton” (budget 80,000 EUR) 3.  “Promoting Intercultural, Inclusive and Peace Education and Prevention of Violence ...” (budget 100,000 EUR) 4.  Prevention of Peer Violence and Gender Based Violence in Primary Schools (budget 15,000 EUR) Main partners involved in the organization's projects/activities: Primary schools, Ministries of education (entity and cantonal), different NGOs, etc.   
Mission and Objectives

Genesis Project mission is to, through our professionals and dedicated individuals, help children and adolescents throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina in fulfilling their rights to have free and correct psychophysical development regardless of their religious, ethnic and racial belonging whilst respecting their individual differences and potentials.
Our main objectives are:
• To overcome the ethnic segregation.
• To develop and support various co-existence initiatives throughout B&H.
• To implement and support different peace building initiatives.
• To educate children and adults about the peaceful conflict prevention and resolution,
child safety and violence prevention.
• To reduce the negative impact that mines, unexploded ordinances and small arms and light weapons have on children and their communities in B&H.
 

Main Projects / Activities

Through our work, we are seeking to build the trust and change the attitudes among different ethnic groups as a precondition for the creation of a safer environment. Through our work in the primary schools we want to improve the communication and cooperation between the divided ethnic groups and to create the peaceful and safe environment for the children in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The peace building is the main activity of our organization and therefore we have undertaken numerous peace building projects and activities. Our work is mostly focused in the primary schools located in the ethnically divided communities throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina and through our activities we are affecting a large community of people: children, teachers and parents.
In the schools where we worked, the communication skills were improved and bridges of trust and cooperation have been established. Correspondingly, the pupils have shown a higher level of knowledge about conflict, peaceful conflict prevention, etc. They also participated less in the violence and had more active role in stopping the violence in their inner environment.
Small but consistent changes in attitudes and behaviours in the field of multi-ethnic relations have also been recorded. The pupils have shown greater willingness to socialize with their peers from other ethnicities. The prejudices were also reduced.
Similar results were obtained with the teaching staff and our projects have improved the interethnic relations at school and approximately 80% of the senior grades teachers pointed out that they now spend more time with the colleagues from other components, and 94% stated that they are now closer. Over 60% of respondents supported the cooperation between the school components. After our workshops a higher percentage of teachers are for integration of the school components.
Our experiences with the pupils have taught us that children gladly participate in the joint activities; they quickly overcome the ethnic separation and develop friendships being highly motivated and dedicated to the project and its aims. For example, the teachers who have participated in our workshops have asked for the activities to be continued because they felt that these workshops offered the opportunities to expand their skills and knowledge jointly.
More about our work in divided schools you can see in the following story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY3a8xSeI9khttps://www.youtube.com/watch...
Furthermore, our work in the field of the mine risk education is very successful. The BiH Mine Action Canter recorded more than 18,200 minefields, but it is estimated that the total number of the minefields is 30,000, containing about one million mines. The locations of many minefields are still unknown. The minefields were placed along the former confrontation line, which was the subject of frequent changes, so that the mines can be found throughout the country. The members of the Genesis Project are working simultaneously on several levels and including several groups of direct beneficiaries: peer educators, teachers and students. Through our activities we are supporting the long-term school battle against landmines and UXO.

How can you contribute to the Network in your country?

We are willing to share our experience gathered through peace building project implemented throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Through our work, we are seeking to build the trust and change the attitudes among different ethnic groups as a precondition for the creation of a safer environment. Through our work in the primary schools we want to improve the communication and cooperation between the divided ethnic groups and to create the peaceful and safe environment for the children in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The peace building is the main activity of our organization and therefore we have undertaken numerous peace building projects and activities. Our work is mostly focused in the primary schools located in the ethnically divided communities throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina and through our activities we are affecting a large community of people: children, teachers and parents.
We have gathered significant amount of experience and lessons learnt which we would be happy to share with network members.
 

Why do you want to join the ALF Network?

We appreciate work of the ALF tremendously and we think that we can benefit from the membership in the ALF network.
There is always room for improvement of our work and for learning new things, and we hope that we can do that by learning from other members of the ALF network. 

Contact (1) Full Name
Dijana Pejic
Job Title
executive director
Head of the organisation
Dijana Pejić
Contact (2) Full Name
Sasa Saric
Job Title (2)
member of the Executive board