Image of The Other in Balkans Project

1996 - 

This project is based on the reality that many countries in their school books present people of some other countries – “others” - as enemies, with individuals of negative characteristics. This stands as a serious threat against the ideal of peace by contributing the formation of conflicting identities and rival generations fighting each other.

The Umut Foundation led a project called “Image of the Other: Education for Peace” in Washington D.C. in 1995. The foundation has arranged two meetings with participants invited from various Middle East countries and gained experience in research of the aforementioned problem by analyzing the contents of school books.

Directing the second step of the project in the Balkans is rational and meaningful when the current importance of outgrowing the prejudice of people in the region is concerned. The Umut Foundation has carried out preliminary meetings with educators from the Balkan countries and prepared an archive with earlier studies on this subject. As soon as the fund is available, the research will be initiated.