Let's Step Together

Bosnia has struggled to repair the societal rifts wrenched open by the Bosnian conflict in the 1990s. As a result, the country is host to many schools which are home to homogeneous ethnic-groupings of students and teachers alike. Such segregation breeds prejudice from ignorance.
Projects such as “Let’s Step Together” are essential in the nation’s long-term peacebuilding process. Alen serves as Project Coordinator and leads various inter-religious projects for Youth Centre St John Paul II. These initiatives all seek to provide a Bosnian solution for a peaceful society, aiming to erase prejudice by integrating the younger generation across ethno-religious lines. 
Annually, the projects reach around 70 students generally aged between 15 and 18. For the first step, the project enters schools, introducing the students to the concept of prejudice through games. The next step is to explore the notion of shared heritage. The final stage of the project is to take three study troupes to a different part of the country, where they engage with a community where they are not the ethnic majority, and meet with local, religious leaders. 
Alen also hosts an inter-religious summer camp, where 55 students from schools and universities socially integrate across ethno-religious divides. The project is also beneficial for the 20 youth educators, who in return for their time are provided with training on how to communicate, run workshops, and receive real-life teaching work experience.
Alen attended the One Young World 2014 Summit in Dublin, and credits his recent inclusion as “Ambassador of the Month” for One Young World as providing international recognition to help him forge partnerships and be viewed with legitimacy in Bosnia.