Proceedings Gender and Peace in the Balkans: Sites of Challenges and Hopes is a collection of papers, peace testimonies and conversations that took place at the international conference on gender and peace held in Sarajevo in 2025. The Conference was part of the UNIGEM (Universities and Gender Mainstreaming) project implemented with 19 universities in the Balkans region. By exploring these feminist efforts for peace, the book raises important questions about feminist history, mem-ory, peacebuilding, and how these movements have dealt with nationalism, new state policies, and the rise of populism. […]
At the University of Sarajevo, a conference was held on March 9, 2026, marking International Women’s Day. Representatives of the academic community, judicial institutions, international organizations, and civil society warned that Bosnia and Herzegovina has a developed legal framework for the protection of women, but that the key problem remains its consistent implementation and the social tolerance toward various forms of violence. As part of the conference, Prof. Dr. Zilka Spahić Šiljak and Prof. Dr. Jasna Kovačević presented the UNIGEM project activities run by TPO Foundation over the past four[…]
On the occasion of March 8, International Women’s Day, an online panel was held on Friday, March 6, 2026, presenting key misconceptions about the legal and economic aspects of marriage. The panelists Ivana Radić, Amila Mujčinović, and Gorjana Mirčić Čaluković identified the problems but also offered recommendations for improving legal and economic literacy. The panel was moderated by Nikola Vučić. The TPO Foundation, the University Gender Resource Center (UNIGeRC), and the Gender Equality Council of the University of Sarajevo organized this panel to present regional perspectives on economic and legal[…]
Every human being is worthy of respect, violence against the innocent is a sin, and peace is a shared responsibility, these are the words with which the Interreligious Program held at IMIC Zajedno on February 27, 2026, began. The program and iftar were jointly organized by IMIC and the TPO Foundation, bringing together representatives of various religious and non-religious worldviews with the aim of promoting goodness, togetherness, love, solidarity, and justice. In the introduction to the program, Prof. Dr. Zilka Spahić Šiljak spoke about the importance of dialogue and creating[…]
The third day of the conference “Gender and Peace in the Balkans: Charting the Way Forward” was dedicated to systematizing knowledge, exploring feminist and intersectional approaches to memory politics, and defining guidelines for future action. Discussions clearly highlighted the power of women in peacebuilding and resistance to patriarchal narratives that seek to marginalize their role in reconciliation and transitional justice processes. Memory Politics and Lessons from the Past The panel “Memory Politics and Lessons from the Past” emphasized the need for gender-sensitive memory policies that recognize the contributions of women[…]
The second day of the conference “Gender and Peace in the Balkans: Charting the Way Forward,” organized by the TPO Foundation, provided powerful insights into various forms of resistance to patriarchy, heteronormativity, and populism through literature, art, and activism. Panelists discussed the power of language, artistic expression, and feminist peace engagement in shaping social change. Literary and Artistic Resistance to Patriarchy and Heteronormativity Edisa Gazetić’s presentation highlighted how regressive tendencies manifest through anti-gender ideologies on social media and in public discourse. She specifically analyzed the phenomenon of young influencers advocating[…]
Author: Mirsad Ovčina In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 12 women were killed last year. The victims of femicide are mostly women who had endured prolonged domestic or partner violence, often previously reported to the competent authorities. The most recent case to shock the Bosnian public was the murder of Inela Selimović and her thirteen-year-old son in Kalesija, carried out in a cruel manner – by strangulation and suffocation – by her husband and the boy’s father, Emir Selimović. Prof. Dr Zilka Spahić-Šiljak, a doctor of science of gender studies, director of the[…]
“Why is ‘every journey better than staying in the inn’?” – the answer lies in the need for a more active and visible feminist engagement to counter anti-gender movements, panelists agreed at the conclusion of the first day of the conference Gender and Peace in the Balkans: Charting the Way Forward. The first day of the conference was marked by dynamic discussions on contemporary challenges to gender equality, the militarization of society, and feminist resistance. The conference was opened by Prof. Dr. Zilka Spahić Šiljak, Director of the TPO Foundation,[…]
With the support of the TPO Foundation and UNIGEM, on December 3, 2025, Dr Slađana Stamenković delivered a lecture titled Women Who Wander: Flâneuse in Anglophone Literature at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Novi Sad. The concept of the urban walker, stroller, or wanderer – known as the flâneur – became established in literary history as early as the nineteenth century (when it was first popularized in France and subsequently across Europe and Western civilization). More recently, literary theory has turned its attention to the female version[…]
