Kosovo Youth Center Key to Easing Iraqi Ethnic Tensions?

Coalition peacekeepers and administrators in post-war Iraq are looking for ways to cap deadly ethnic tensions among that country's Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish populations. They may want to ask 16-year old Adona, a Kosovo teenager.

Sitting together with her new friends, Amra and Maya (ethnic Bosnian and Serbian, respectively) Adona is surfing the net from the comfort of a new computer lab at the Multi-Ethnic Youth Peace Center in Mitrovica, Kosovo. "My parents keep reminding of the past, and warning me about the friends I'm making. I respect my parents and I guess history is important, but the future is important, too."

A former hotbed of ethnic tensions in Kosovo, Mitrovica has been cited by the U.N. and international groups as the symbol of intractable racial hatred in the province. "The simple act of teens sitting together at a computer may seem ho-hum in Seattle, but in Kosovo, it's a news event," says Eli, the JDC representative in Kosovo. JDC helped establish the center and rebuilt Kosovo's school system, complete with new computer labs. "These kids are finally getting the chance to get to know each other in a neutral setting," Eli declares. "That's how you change things. Working with the youth."

The Mitrovica computer lab is located in the "Confidence Zone" set up by UN security forces in Kosovo. The zone is tightly monitored by peacekeepers to assure residents and visitors that snipers will not strike. "At first, I was amazed," says Adona. "I was told by my family that I would be shot if I just spoke with anyone here. Where I live, you have to know which streets are safe, and which have the snipers. Here, I can go down any street I want to and speak with anyone. Talk about freedom."

Minna Jarvenpaa, the UN administrator in Mitrovica says Adona represents a positive, critical change in the history of hate that has plagued Kosovo. "Many adults on both sides of the line say that Serbs and Albanians cannot live together. But we must not allow the children to grow up believing in division. The computer lab sponsored by JDC is one step towards bringing them together."

The computer lab was first proposed by Eli in 1999. The Serbs were willing, but not the ethnic Albanians. "The war was too fresh in their minds," he says. "Today, with the Multi-Cultural Youth Peace center in place and with the full support of the UN, space was allocated, renovated, and updated. Then, free internet access was offered by the Soros Foundation, and the project went on-line."

"A lot of people said this wouldn't happen," smiles Adona from her seat in front of the terminal. "They said the different groups couldn't mix. But in here, we're not groups, we're people. And it's easy for people to make friends."

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