Emina Frljak
Organisation: Youth for Peace; Religions for Peace
Country of origin: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Profile
Emina Frljak is a peacebuilder who dedicates her career to empowering young people as a key component of the peacebuilding process in a post-conflict country. Coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina, she grew up in a multi-religious community where she understood the richness of diversity and recognised the importance of peacefully living together with neighbours from different backgrounds. Emina said she pays particular attention to narrative deconstruction and fostering dialogue in her peacebuilding efforts, as she considers understanding the narrative of different people essential to achieving the goal of seeing her country flourish. Alongside her involvement in the youth-led organisation Youth for Peace, Emina served as an International Youth Committee member of Religions for Peace, which brings together religious leaders and institutions from 90 different countries. She said, this experience fuelled her passion for interfaith dialogue. Noting the lack of government support in this area, Emina recognised the need to empower young people with the knowledge and tools necessary for driving meaningful political change.
Story
Emina Frljak is driven by her passion to make an impact on the peacebuilding process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her ultimate goal is to empower young people so that they can work towards the creation of a peaceful environment for future generations to live in. She said she acknowledges that conflicts persist in her still-polarised country, particularly in politics, education and popular narratives. In order to realise her aspiration, Emina obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Educational Sciences before continuing with Interreligious and Peacebuilding studies in Sarajevo. This sparked the passion for her current work.
Youth for Peace was founded in 2014 by young people from diverse ethnic, religious and geographic backgrounds. Their work primarily focuses on Bosnia and Herzegovina, with additional efforts extending to regional and international partnerships. The organisation welcomes individuals from all backgrounds who share a common commitment to peace. Emina said, Youth for Peace is not simply about promoting coexistence, but about fostering a true sense of ‘living next to each other’. Emina said she embraces her country’s diversity and joins the organisation’s 50 other members in working towards a society ‘where people can live together free from stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination of all kinds.’ Youth for Peace does this by equipping young people with the tools, skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in communities that include people from various backgrounds. Although she acknowledges the challenges of this mission, she said she emphasises the importance of breaking down narratives and fostering dialogue in peacebuilding. She believes it is essential to ‘understand the story behind each and every person you may encounter in your life’.
However, various obstacles stood in the way of both the organisation and her personal career. While Emina highlights the trust that Youth for Peace has earned from young people, she said it often struggles to gain credibility with other key actors. She encountered many instances where young people’s voices were not taken seriously: ‘If you are young, sometimes you get comments like, you're a dreamer, you think you can do or change something. But you know, when you get older, you will figure it out, things are not the way you perceive them.’ On a personal level, Emina said she acknowledges that she faces a lack of motivation at times because it is difficult to see the progress of her work. She said that this is ‘because you work with people and changes in people happens very slowly. And sometimes they happen, but you cannot notice them’. However, she encourages future peacebuilders to focus on the process and to see themselves as a ‘transitional generation’ who lay the groundwork for the creation of a new peace narrative.
https://www.youth-for-peace.ba/en/
