The discussion was premised on the topics and issues addressed in the book" Hijacked Childhoods: Accounts of Children’s Wartime Experience" - which narrates the experiences of 10 parents and family members of children killed or missing in the war, and narratives of 2 children who grew up with the absent parents because of consequences of the war.
The event opened with the screening of the music/video intervention dedicated to the wartime missing, centered around the poem of Hans Magnus Enzenberger, titled "The Vanished".
The discussion "Children and conflict: Silenced histories" addressed issues related to children’s experiences in war, international conventions on the protection of children in war, social and psychological trauma ramifications, how to deal with wartime violence, agents and agency in storytelling, humanitarian vis-a-vis politicized narration, pluralization of collective memory, etc.
Contributors in the discussion were:
Mr. Bajram Qerkinaj, The Missing Persons Resource Center
Mr. Negovan Mavrić, The Missing Persons Resource Center
Ms. Valentina Vitali, Human Rights Advisor, EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo – EULEX Kosovo (Official)
Ms. Nataša Staletović, Psychologist, Master Pedagogist
Moderator:
Ms. Nataša Božilović, The Missing Persons Resource Center
The discussion was attended by family members of missing persons, youth, and members of the local community.
The promotion of the book in Shtërpcë/Štrpce was organized in partnership between the MPRC - Missing Persons Resource Center and the forumZFD program in Kosovo and was supported by funds received from the German Federal Ministry on Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ).
