Newsroom
OSCE Skopje mission supports students in bridging ethnic divide
SKOPJE 8 October 2004
SKOPJE, 8 October 2004 - Thirty members of the Kumanovo Youth Alliance will meet today at Globocica mountain house, Kumanovo, for a three-day capacity and team-building exercise to enhance relations between ethnic communities.
"The aim of this OSCE-supported activity is to enable the Alliance members to conceptualise and organise projects that improve inter-ethnic relations ," said Stephanie Grepo, Confidence Building Officer at the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje.
The Alliance was formed in August this year by high school and university students who have thus far taken an active role in bridging the ethnic divide caused by the 2001 conflict.
They participated in a number of confidence-building activities supported by the OSCE Mission, which included two Youth Leadership Conferences, several MAK Action Ecological Camps, as well as Model UN activities.
Forthcoming projects on the Alliance's agenda include the organization of a music festival, a primary school students outreach programme, a science inventions fair and sporting events.
"They need to be encouraged and supported in their efforts to activate, strengthen and enlarge groups of tolerant young people who will bring about long-term reconciliation," Grepo added.
In addition to supporting students, the Mission will also help the professional development of English teachers from Kumanovo and Tetovo by sponsoring their participation at a three-day English language teaching seminar, beginning on 15 October in Ohrid.
"The aim of this OSCE-supported activity is to enable the Alliance members to conceptualise and organise projects that improve inter-ethnic relations ," said Stephanie Grepo, Confidence Building Officer at the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje.
The Alliance was formed in August this year by high school and university students who have thus far taken an active role in bridging the ethnic divide caused by the 2001 conflict.
They participated in a number of confidence-building activities supported by the OSCE Mission, which included two Youth Leadership Conferences, several MAK Action Ecological Camps, as well as Model UN activities.
Forthcoming projects on the Alliance's agenda include the organization of a music festival, a primary school students outreach programme, a science inventions fair and sporting events.
"They need to be encouraged and supported in their efforts to activate, strengthen and enlarge groups of tolerant young people who will bring about long-term reconciliation," Grepo added.
In addition to supporting students, the Mission will also help the professional development of English teachers from Kumanovo and Tetovo by sponsoring their participation at a three-day English language teaching seminar, beginning on 15 October in Ohrid.