MIP continues cycle of workshops for history teachers in North Macedonia

On 28 May 2022, the Mechanism’s Information Programme for Affected Communities (MIP) held a follow-up online workshop on the use of the ICTY and Mechanism archives for 15 history teachers from across North Macedonia.

The event was organised in cooperation with the Association of History Teachers of North Macedonia (ANIM) and the European Association of History Teachers (EUROCLIO). Its aim was to train participating teachers on how to effectively use judicially-established facts when creating educational material related to the 1990s conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.

During today’s session, the participating teachers presented lectures they had prepared using judgements and witness testimonies from cases before the ICTY and the Mechanism, along with other material from the digital archives. Their lectures addressed various topics, including sexual violence as war crimes, forced removal and migration, and the use of propaganda during the conflicts. Applying the knowledge and methodologies learned during the previous MIP training held in March of this year, the participants discussed further opportunities for teaching about the conflicts, as well as relevant contemporary topics that could also be addressed.

In order to provide a regional perspective during its workshops, the MIP has developed close cooperation with teachers’ associations from countries across the former Yugoslavia. Ten representatives of national associations participated as trainers during Saturday's workshop, sharing their experience and contextual insights from their own counties with the history teachers from North Macedonia. Importantly, they also brought familiarity and expertise in the use of the ICTY and Mechanism archives, having themselves participated in similar MIP trainings as part of this same project.

Through these workshops, history educators not only enhance their skills in researching the courts’ archives, but also expand their knowledge of the events of the 1990s conflicts, the crimes committed and the adjudication of these crimes before the ICTY and the Mechanism. Once trained, they are better equipped to develop fact-based and engaging lectures about the region’s recent past, using documents and judicially-established facts from both ICTY and Mechanism cases.

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 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.