My hometown is beautiful, but thorny, the Rose of Krajina, Banja Luka. Although my academic field is Law, my passions have led me to the path of volunteering, youth and humanitarian work, activism, peace building, regional and interregional cooperation with or through different organizations.

I associate peacebuilding within society with finding the inner peace of an individual. I believe that progress in personal academic development or individual growth is impossible without finding inner peace. We understand our conscious-subconscious thoughts, behaviors, thoughts and feelings through psychological methods, such as self-reflection, self-awareness, etc.

For me, peacebuilding is a set of methods and processes of creating lasting and functional peace in our society. “Understanding the internal and external behaviors, beliefs, values, and thinking within our cultural iceberg - the matrix” (Edwin T. Hall).

This is achieved through education, cooperation, exchange of goods, ideas and services that create social compromises and consensuses that most of us use. Therefore, peacemaking is not only necessary, but essential to creating a more egalitarian and healthier environment, advanced education systems that lead to better employment opportunities, stronger markets, and a public system that adheres to the rule of law.

From my personal experience, the best way to narrow social gaps is real human exchange. The more individual - the better. The best example from me was during the IOM BHRI project, which lasted more than six months. I had the opportunity to associate with Cazin (youth) local patriotism and the privilege of being “re-educated” by them in “local patriotism”. Having seen how much they love, represent, respect and passionately advocate for their city of Cazin, I realized how little I cared about my city. It really made me question myself.

Am I representing Banja Luka in the best possible way? Is it just the city I live in or the city I love? For me, Banja Luka has turned into a rose over time. Wonderful fragrance and beautiful petals, but possibly painful to the touch. That is how I coined the phrase “Beautiful and thorny, Rose of Krajina, Banja Luka”. This phrase will stay with me for the rest of my life, only thanks to the many young Cazinians.

Through the UNFPA Young Peacebuilding Programme, I want to create space for young people to learn about our cultural iceberg - the matrix. To find inner peace so that they can contribute to the process of building peace in BiH. To exchange our local cultures, understand and accept our differences.

As a friend of mine would say, “If you had THE RIZZ, you would know!” and I think that building peace requires some rizz.