OSCE awards Bosnian students

High school students from the Municipality of Jajce in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) were selected as the winner of the 2018 Max van der Stoel Award. The award is given in recognition of their outstanding courage and inspirational activism, which led to the prevention of further segregation in schools in Jajce as well as throughout the country.

Beginning in the summer of 2016, the students in Jajce, a small town in central Bosnia, organized protests and creative actions in opposition to a plan by local government officials to divide high school students based on ethnic identity. The plan to create a new high school serving only Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) students would further a policy called “Two Schools Under One Roof,” established after the end of the Bosnian conflict and still applied in over 50 schools across the country. The policy segregates students according to their ethnicity.

Commenting on its decision, the international Jury, chaired by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Lamberto Zannier, stated:

“These students from Jajce had the courage to define their own needs and priorities. They are best placed to identify and advocate for ways to create a more harmonious environment for themselves as they prepare for their future. Their achievement followed a year-long battle against further segregation to divide them along ethnic lines. It is an unprecedented victory and deserves to be widely promoted as a positive example of how non-formal groups with limited resources can achieve progress where formal channels failed. While it is the responsibility of the state to ensure inclusive and high-quality education with respect to diversity, combating segregation and discrimination must be an imperative for all of us in order to build sustainable peace. The achievement of the high school students in Jajce serves as an inspirational example.”