Second online workshop held for history teachers from North Macedonia

On 17 April 2021, the Mechanism’s Information Programme for Affected Communities (MIP) held an online workshop on the use of the ICTY and Mechanism archives for more than 20 history teachers from across North Macedonia. The workshop was the second in a series of workshops and trainings for history educators in North Macedonia that began in December 2019.

The workshop, led by MIP youth outreach coordinator Anisa Sućeska, was organised in cooperation with the History Teachers’ Association of North Macedonia and the European Association of History Teachers (EUROCLIO). Its aim was to train the participating teachers on how to effectively use judicially-established facts when creating educational material related to the 1990s conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.

During the one-day workshop, history teachers from across North Macedonia presented lectures and educational plans for high-school students, which were prepared on the basis of the material contained in the digital archives of the ICTY and the Mechanism. The workshop also featured discussion on a number of contemporary topics that could be addressed when teaching in high schools, such as the destruction of culture, refugees, women in war, and command responsibility.

In preparing their lecture plans, the participating teachers worked together with representatives of a number of history teachers’ associations from across the former Yugoslavia. These ‘focal points’ were previously trained by the MIP team to use ICTY and Mechanism archives and provide a regional perspective in creating educational materials.

Trainings on the use of the ICTY and Mechanism archives for history educators form part of the wider MIP, which is generously supported by the European Union and 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.