UNIFEM (part of UN Women) supported the activities of 14 young volunteers from Sarajevo and Tuzla during the Sarajevo Film Festival, encouraging young people to take action against gender-based violence and promote gender equality through the SAY NO – UNiTE campaign.

The Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) was founded in 1995, as the city was emerging from a four-year siege. It is estimated that the SFF is the largest film festival in South East Europe and one of the largest in Europe. According to its official website (www.sff.ba), the SFF’s programs are visited each year by 100,000 people, mainly from BiH, but also from other countries in South East Europe and they have a growing international audience. The SFF took place from the 23^rd – 31^st July this year.

UNIFEM (part of UN Women) participated in the Festival Family Day (31^st July), with a stand and various activities. The focus of UNIFEM’s participation in the Sarajevo Film Festival was on encouraging young people to take action against gender-based violence and promote gender equality. 14 young volunteers from Sarajevo and Tuzla held their own events to promote gender equality and erase gender stereotypes.  

The volunteers encouraged participants in the Family Day to sign the general Call for Action to end Violence against Women and Girls of the SAY NO – UNiTE campaign. The stand attracted a lot of attention among women and men of different age groups, who showed great interest in the topic; more than 500 signatures were collected. Parents, children and other Family Day participants left their colored hand print on a white sheet as a symbol of their endorsement of the goal of the campaign to STOP Violence. Volunteers also handed out awareness-raising material (leaflets, bags, badges, pencils, stickers) with the slogan “It is time for gender equality”. The event’s message and logo were their own creation and design. At 12:00, the volunteers gave a street performance showing positive messages, which can be seen in the attached pictures and video.

The volunteers were recruited from among the networks established by two projects supported by UNIFEM. Half of the participants had been previously involved in the project Gender, Youth and Media (July 2009-February 2010) which was run by the Vesta Association in Tuzla in collaboration with the Youth Movement Revolt.  They trained young people to organize public events to promote gender equality. The other half are taking part in the KOSNICA project (December 2009-December 2011), supported by UNIFEM’s Fund for Gender Equality and implemented by the Association BH Expert and the Association Kult from Sarajevo. This project aims to train young girls to become female youth leaders in their communities and to create the KOSNICA nationwide informal network and formal umbrella organization to promote gender equality.