MIP holds follow-up workshop for history teachers in Croatia

On 30 April 2022, the Mechanism’s Information Programme for Affected Communities (MIP) held a follow-up workshop on the use of ICTY and Mechanism archives for history teachers from Croatia.

The event was organised in cooperation with the Croatian Association of History Teachers, the European Association of History Teachers (EUROCLIO) and the Sense Transitional Justice Centre in Pula. The event was opened by the mayor of Pula Professor Filip Zoričić, who expressed support to activities such as these and stressed the importance of learning about these topics and dealing with the past for young people. Representatives of associations of history teachers from other countries of the former Yugoslavia also attended the workshop, sharing their own experiences and challenges in teaching about the recent history of the region.

The workshop, led by MIP coordinator Ms. Rada Pejić-Sremac and youth outreach coordinator Ms. Anisa Sućeska, focused on how history teachers can best include judicially-established facts when creating educational material related to the 1990s conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.

Following up on the training held in January of this year, the participating teachers presented innovative lectures and education plans for high school students, which they created using ICTY and Mechanism archival material. Using witness testimonies, photographs, videos and documents submitted into evidence during trials before the ICTY and the Mechanism, participants also discussed a number of relevant topics that could be addressed when teaching students about the conflicts of the 1990s, including the destruction of culture, forced removal and migrations, and children in war.

Trainings on the use of the ICTY and Mechanism archives for history educators form part of the wider MIP, which is funded by the European Union. The recent event in Croatia was supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The aim of the MIP is to improve the knowledge and understanding of citizens and communities in the countries of the former Yugoslavia about the crimes committed during the conflicts of the 1990s, based on ICTY and Mechanism cases.