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Our Common Beliefs: the Meanings of Peace, Togetherness and Neighborhood"

The member of our Board, Naida Huskanovic, holding the Master of Social Sciences in Religious Studies from the University of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, conducted a scientific research study on "Our Common Beliefs: the Meanings of Peace, Togetherness and Neighborhood", in period between September-December 2017.

The research proposal was accepted and funded by the Ecumenical Women's Initiative (EIZ.hr) within the scope of its programme of fellowships for women scientists who deal with women's rights, peace studies, activism as well with interethnic and intereligious relations in Southeast Europe.

However,

Due to circumstances like technical issues with EWI's website and Naida's pregnancy and maternity leave, this research study has not been published so far.

Why is a believer from another religious community or Church closer to me than I think? What brings us together? Which values ​​do we share from a gender and peacemaking perspective? These are the key issues addressed in this research paper.

Literature and sources consulted in the scope of the research included, among other, recent conference proceedings, publications and research papers, as well as articles from several religious journals of the Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish and Islamic communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In cooperation with the Women's Ecumenical Initiative, a survey was conducted among representatives of non-governmental organisations and public institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as with individuals active in the field of interreligious dialogue and peacebuilding.

The survey response rate exceeded 50% and all respondents were female. Most of them declared themselves as believers (86%), whereas only a small percentage stated they were non-religious (14%). Out of the total percentage of believers, 33% of the respondents were Orthodox Christians, 29% Islamic, and 24% Catholic. No members of the Jewish religious community were involved in the survey.

All respondents stressed that they share common values ​​with followers of other religions and beliefs, and they strongly advocate the idea of ​​nonviolence and peace, considering peacebuilding “one of the great challenges of today”, but above all as “our commitment and duty”.

Among other things, the respondents pointed out actual areas where they find that stronger peacebuilding efforts are needed, namely in educational and cultural events, volunteering, activism, youth education, community-based activities and working with children of school age.

Although religious journals in Bosnia and Herzegovina give some attention to shared values and beliefs, women are generally not adequately represented as authors of articles, but when they are, they are mostly the ones reporting on such issues.

If you would like to read more about the outcomes of these research,

please write to Naida Huskanovic

on her e-mail address: nai.contact@gmail.com

"I would like to thank EWI for supporting this research as well as to Prof. Dr. Ursula Rapp who supervised it. "


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