Project 1948 embodies the promotion of peace, justice, and strong institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by way of a two-part model: to provide the medium of photography and human rights to catalyze community policy-change through youth capacity building. Societal inclusivity is the cornerstone of this non-profit organization. Engagement with the arts propels young adults to become community leaders, effectuate change, and strengthen their institutional representation. Project 1948’s innovative photo-voice approach to achieving sustainable development creates avenues for resource accessibility and empowers young adults to create an international dialogue in order to hold officials and institutions accountable at all levels of government.

Our photo-voice program is an arts-based methodology that will use support received to curate a social documentary through a photo-exhibition to further educate and influence public opinion, bring attention to community concerns, and provide a participatory learning environment where guests, parents and decision-makers elicit interethnic dialogue and move toward communal conversation. Project 1948 will utilize resources to sharpen the photo-voice program to achieve stronger results and replicate the workshop among marginalized and vulnerable inter-ethnic divides. Our next step is producing new trends from a platform of photos to bridging the gap in developing the capacity for evidence-based policy-making to further build strong institutions.

Leadership development, collaboration planning, and information technology enable Project 1948 to support individuals in local communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Capacity-building is socio-politically facilitated through modes of community solidarity, recognition of intergenerational trauma, and by way of creating pathways between youth citizens and governmental structures to advocate for accountability and legislative reform. Additionally, capacity-building is facilitated on a social level by mediating conflict resolution, providing means to empowers young adults, and including all generations in an overarching dialogue about advancing communication and collaboration between ethnic and religious groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Our photo-voice Initiative is governed by the curriculum made available to workshop participants during the summer-term. The workshop implements different forms of arts-based methods to further empower young adults living in post-conflict societies. The “Cup of Peace” curriculum generates a dialogue by workshop participants that serve as the interpersonal application of our program mechanisms. The NGO Founder oversees the work and volunteerism of members living near its Headquarters in the United States and those living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where our work and resources are distributed. All UNV members and Interns coordinate their work through e-mail and modes of social media: Instagram, Facebook, Slack, Twitter, etc. All international trips to BiH are coordinated by the NGO Founder in order to maximize the work of experts and collaborations with NGOs (i.e. Post-Conflict Research Center, Vladimir Photographers Without Borders, Mothers of Srebrenica, OnGood), educational institutions (i.e.The Academy of Fine Arts) and national capacity-building agencies and bureaus (i.e UNDP Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Photographers Without Borders; United Nations Volunteers; Predictive Network (Data Scientists Without Borders); UNDP; BiH; UNDESA; ECOSOC; CURA for the World