Working for peace from Macedonia to Darfur
FEATURE STORY | PUBLISHED: July 31, 2006
GENEVA/ROME -- Since the Rwandan genocide in 1994, outbreaks of major conflict have succeeded each other across the globe with a weary regularity. From the Congo to East Timor, violence has broken out so frequently that it could be mistaken for being part of the way of life. But as we know, every conflict produces victims rather than winners, innocent people who find themselves caught up in other people’s struggles.
On two occasions in the recent past, conflict has threatened the very existence of the Balkan state of Macedonia. Firstly, in 1999, refugees from Kosovo flooded into the country after they were forcibly removed from their homes by Serbian forces. Their presence in Macedonia created a challenge in the form of a new balance in the ethnic composition of the country as well as an enormous humanitarian burden for such a small state. Then, in 2001, militias from the Albanian community began to stage armed resistance against the state which they claimed was indifferent to their claims for equal rights. Military patrols were ambushed, property in ethnically mixed villages was targeted and people driven from their homes on account of their ethnic origin. These actions were seen as treasonous by some, and threatened to tip the country into a civil war. It became a test of the political maturity of the young democracy. It was also one of last violent episodes in the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia following the end of the original Federal Republic.
Three years ago, in early 2003, news started to come through of the conflict in Darfur, the remote western region of the Sudan. Rebel groups representing different groups of the population began to mount attacks against the Sudanese army in the region in order to press home their demands for a better share of the wealth and development now beginning to be seen in some areas of their country. Once again, poor and innocent people were driven from their homes, deprived of their livelihoods and forced into poverty. The United Nations now calls this "the world’s worst humanitarian crisis".
The international community’s usual response is to provide emergency aid to protect vulnerable lives, or to engage at a political level to address the root causes of conflict. Another response is to send experienced aid workers to conflict areas to offer their skills as part of a humanitarian response. This is one way in which an individual can make a real contribution to the lives of people in some of the world’s worst trouble spots.
One person with first-hand experience in both of Macedonia and Darfur is Vladimir Lazovski, a 28 year-old aid worker from Skopje. Responding to the crisis in his own country, he joined the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, where he worked for several years with refugees, the displaced and the Roma community, the most marginalised group in society. Last year he joined the ACT/Caritas operation in Darfur, a joint emergency operation by the main church-related relief and development networks. As he now approaches the end of his year-long assignment, Vladimir reflects on his experience in both operations.
You saw how your country was affected by conflict in 1999 and 2001. Have you seen any parallels with the situation in Darfur?
There are some striking similarities. Human suffering and fear seems to be the same everywhere. The affected people look similar: broken, often with the feeling of being alone, afraid. Some lose hope completely. My heroes are those people in the camps who resist the hopelessness, provide for their families, and keep alive the hope of returning home one day. Interestingly enough, the women show more of this fighting spirit, they seem to be the moving force behind the families.
On the political level, you see unfair and unbalanced regional development in both countries. You see political elites exploiting cultural differences as a tool in the power struggle. You see a patriarchal society reluctant to change. You see the presence of foreign powers with their own agendas. All this is rather similar to the situation in the former Yugoslavia in the late 80’s and early 90’s where the forces for cohesion were too weak to keep the country together. I feel there is a risk that Sudan might also fall apart, unless there is balanced and fair social development across the country.
And any significant contrasts?
The intensity of these two conflicts and their consequences cannot be compared. Despite its conflict, Macedonia is a positive story because we were able to limit the conflict pretty soon after it started and find a political solution, and the country has held together.
There was so much more media attention during the crisis in Macedonia than here. On a day when 20, 30 or 40 people die in Darfur, nothing is reported in the media, because it’s not news!
What were the main challenges for you personally when you arrived in Nyala?
When I got here, I thought this was the most different culture that I’d ever experienced in my life. The electricity comes and goes, you don’t drink water from the tap, there is a curfew in Nyala every night. There were tropical rainstorms the like of which I had never seen before.
Then I started to find that some of the food here is the same as in Macedonia. There are a lot of Arabic words in Macedonian that came to us from the Turks. This showed me that cultures and nations have a lot more in common than we initially see on the surface.
Even though I come from one of the poorest countries in Europe, I had to change my own definition of poverty. I came across people with diseases that I had only heard about in films, such as malaria, typhoid, cholera etc. So there were great cultural differences, but I also met a lot of great people here and they helped to make my adjustment go smoothly.
How have you been able to make your own contribution to an emergency response?
I worked for the Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation as a project officer during the Kosovo crisis and the 2001 emergency. It was important for us to use emergency aid as a means of providing hope and reassurance to vulnerable groups of people, not just to keep them alive and well. I also was involved in the Roma development programme. Our aim was to develop the capacities of the Roma people, who have always been some of the poorest and most marginalised members of the community in south-east Europe.
As a Donor Liaison Officer for ACT-Caritas in Darfur, I help in a rather indirect way. My work is to prepare applications for the funds to help people in need, and to write reports on the work completed.
Coming from a country which was a recipient of emergency aid twice in the last few years, I’m very keen on working with my Sudanese colleagues, to share and learn from each other.
How do you see the value of the ACT-Caritas Programme?
ACT-Caritas is an organisation based in the churches who provide most of our financial support. In the field, the operation is made up of Sudanese people and expatriates who believe in working for a better world. We are serving people in need, regardless of their beliefs or culture. In fact the beneficiaries we are serving are all Muslim. When people talk about the "clash of civilisations" it is a source of hope to me to see this organisation working and delivering emergency aid to literally hundreds of thousands of people.
What will you take back to Macedonia from your experience in Darfur?
I have a lot of great memories, new friendships, some wonderful experiences. I hope that I will have the chance to return here in 20 or 30 years’ time and see a different, much better Darfur. But the greatest thing I will take home is the real feeling that in this world, we are all one.
Vladimir Lazovski
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