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French

ID: <

10670/1.vaba0l

>

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Violence, sport and reconciliation process in Kosovo: analysis of humanitarian actions in Mitrovica

Abstract

Mitrovica is a city decided between two communities: Serbs have gathered to the north of the Ibar border, while Albanians are concentrated in the south. Today, 7 years after the war, each community is trying to define its identity as a rejection of the “other”. There are Kosovo Albanians, Kosovo Serbs, Kosovo Roma, Kosovo Gorans... but never Kosovo. In this delicate context, where the hatred of the Other takes precedence over the construction of identity and in the debates on the future status of Kosovo, various bodies are trying to reconcile populations through sport. Children know only the hatred and violnce of their parents’ ranks. However, the work of the NGO Sports Without Borders and the civil-military actions carried out by the French Army show that sport can be a means of bringing together children from different communities, in a context of extreme violence, and of learning them, through the rules of sport, how to know each other, respect each other or even bind long-lasting friendships. In this case, the challenges of humanitarian operations, regardless of the type of actor (NGO or military), are manifold: to forget war through leisure, to learn from collective living rules beyond the intercommunal divide, and to reconcile the younger generations that are the future of Kosovo, where peace is so fragile today. The purpose of this analysis is to present the context of Mitrovica, where the Ibar River has become a real border perceived and practised by the two majority communities, so as to turn into two cities: a Serbian Kosovska Mitrovica in the north, and an Albanian Mitrovicë in the south. Secondly, the study of the NGO Sports Without Borders in the city shows the willingness of humanitarian actors to replace inter-community violence with dialogue through the formation of football teams involving children from different communities. Lastly, civil-military action is part of the same problem, with priority given to children through the reconstruction of schools, stadiums, sports programmes, etc. However, these are practices that are difficult to put into practice, beyond theory, because of parents’ lack of confidence in these projects and the language barrier.

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