1999 ORR Bosnian Conference Summary

A Bosnian Conference, convened by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), was held in Washington, DC, on November 12-13, 1999. Over 180 participants, mostly members of the Bosnian community in the United States, attended this two-day gathering. The theme of the conference, "Moving Beyond Resettlement: Bosnian Community Development," was intended to focus on ways to improve the quality of life of Bosnians in the United States. The conference also provided a forum for both Bosnians and members of the host society to network and share information about long-term adaptation challenges as well as innovative approaches to ethnic community building.

A thirteen-member planning group, convened with the assistance of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and its contractor the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC), included a wide array of Bosnian community leaders residing in various parts of the United States, as well as ORR staff members and technical assistance providers. The committee reflected the heterogeneity of the Bosnian community in terms of gender, ethnicity, political opinion, socio-economic background, professional skills, and length of time in the United States. The committee played an instrumental role in both the planning process and the execution of the conference.

The interests of Bosnian community members filled the conference agenda. The conference opened with a plenary session moderated by Tajana Surlan, conference coordinator. The plenary session featured Ms. Lavinia Limón, Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and Ms. Karen AbuZayd, Regional Representative of UNHCR, as guest speakers. Ms. Limón spoke of her twenty-three years in refugee work and of ORR's involvement in the recent refugee crisis in Kosovo. She provided an overview of U.S. refugee programs and stressed that though these programs have been very helpful in the short-term, the long-term adjustment of refugees will depend upon ethnic communities themselves. She complimented Bosnian community organizing efforts carried out thus far, and called this conference a mark of progress indicating that the community has moved beyond the initial stages of resettlement.

After a brief summary of challenges currently faced by UNHCR in the Balkans and elsewhere in the world, Ms. AbuZayd shared her personal experience of working in Bosnia and of witnessing the strengths of Bosnians faced with the harsh reality of war. She concluded her presentation by expressing a firm belief that despite many adjustment challenges, Bosnians in the United States will find ways to effectively solve problems and integrate into the new country.

Ms. Darija Pichanick, one of the members of the planning committee, joined the plenary at the end via telephone, to welcome all the participants and thank the Office of Refugee Resettlement for organizing this historic gathering.

The conference continued with five rounds of workshops over the next two days (totaling 21 workshops). The themes discussed during the conference included education, ethnic community development, employment/small business development, stress management and intrafamily violence. Most of the workshops were designed and presented by community members. This was a particularly important aspect of the conference, appreciated by all participants, as these presenters were able not only to provide information, but also to share their personal successes and failures in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways.

Workshops focusing on ethnic community development (including cultural heritage preservation) were particularly well attended, and ethnic community development emerged as the main issue at the conference. Most attendees emphasized the need for continued community organizing, both at the local and national levels. Participants also stressed the necessity to identify and learn about successful community organizing strategies existing among Bosnian and other refugee and immigrant communities. Bosnian community development programs in Seattle, WA; Sioux Falls, SD; Santa Clara County, CA; and Erie, PA, were featured in two different workshops. These efforts were representative of the current level of Bosnian community organizing in the United States. Discussions focused on the rationale for community organizing, strategies, programs, priorities, and current challenges, including lack of resources.

Since cultural heritage preservation is often the starting point of ethnic community organizing, workshops dealing with this issue were extremely well attended. One of these workshops focused on the preservation of Bosnian folk singing and dancing, while the second workshop provided an overview of two successful programs in the Chicago and Seattle areas aimed at preserving Bosnian culture and language among Bosnian youth.

Of special interest were workshops broadly categorized under the heading of education and employment. These workshops covered a variety of topics, ranging from existing educational opportunities for the younger generation to non-traditional training for refugee women. Two workshops - "How to Pursue Your Professional Career in a New Country" and the "Small Business Development" - were especially well received. Both were conducted by a group of Bosnians and Americans, representing a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences.

Several sessions focused on issues related to stress management. Stresses resulting from refugee experiences and resettlement challenges were discussed. Presenters emphasized personal and social strengths and tools that can help in dealing with difficulties of the refugee situation.

Other workshops included discussion of issues related to intra-family violence, health education, fundraising, financial planning, buying a house, use of the Internet and media in community building, and immigration. Of these workshops, the use of media in community organizing and in financial planning was of greatest interest to participants, as these are issues unique to the American system and largely unknown to the broader Bosnian community.

On Friday night, a panel discussion titled "Bosnian Diaspora: What Do We Need to Know?" was held at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Discussion was facilitated by Ms. Kathleen Newland of the Carnegie Endowment and had four panelists: Mr. Nedzib Sacirbej, Ambassador-at-Large of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Alex Lupis, Soros Foundation; Harold Northrop, International Rescue Committee (IRC); and Catherine Schwering, U.S. Department of State. Mr. Sacirbej spoke about his life in the United States and the Bosnian Diaspora in general. He also addressed the issues of participation and responsibilities of Bosnian Diaspora members, both towards their new homeland as well as towards their native country. Mr. Lupis spoke about the Soros Foundation Lawyers' Project in Bosnia and human rights and democracy in general. Mr. Northrop provided an overview of IRC programs in Bosnia throughout the crisis, and IRC's current activities in the Balkans. Ms. Schwering spoke about prosecuting war crimes. The lively discussion kept the audience involved and was followed by a networking reception sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment.

A closing plenary session, facilitated by Ms. Anna Mary Portz of ORR and Mr. Ed Silverman, the State Refugee Coordinator from Illinois, concluded the conference. Ms. Portz provided a summary of high points of the conference, while planning committee members spoke about the process that led to this conference and what they personally got out of participating in this event. The session was also a forum for all attendees to express what they had gained from the conference and to propose new initiatives.

Overall, participants pronounced the conference a great success and benefit to the Bosnian community in the United States. Participants spoke very positively about the theme and structure of the conference as well as about its more latent outcome of an opportunity to network and share information. A comment found in one evaluation was representative of the tenor of the conference: "It is about time for the Bosnian community to move beyond resettlement. The workshops that were offered indeed achieved that goal." Zdenko Jendruh, the Editor-in-Chief of Stecak, a Bosnian monthly published in Seattle, wrote, "The most beneficial aspect of the conference was the opportunity for Bosnians to meet, share their stories...make new friends, exchange addresses and promise to meet again very soon." Another participant wrote, "I could not imagine it possible for so many Bosnians to be together again at one place in such a relaxed yet productive atmosphere."

One year after the completion of the conference, a feedback form and draft summary were sent to all participants. The feedback form consisted of eight questions designed to gain a better understanding of the conference's impact on the Bosnian community and potential benefits to the participants. The responses attested to the diverse and important impacts the conference had on the participants and their respective local communities.

In all of the returned surveys, participants agreed that the 1999 conference was a success and that similar gatherings should be organized in the future. The most beneficial aspect of the conference, according to the surveys, was networking and information sharing. All the participants said that they had shared the information about and from the conference with others in their community upon returning from the conference. Personal benefits for individuals varied, but almost all indicated that attending the conference made them look seriously into certain projects - either personal, such as starting a small business, or financial or professional, such as starting a radio station or school. All participants who responded to the survey expressed interest in participating and helping organize similar events in the future. A few participants commented on the lack of availability of a networking list at and after the conference, and the lack of general networking and information sharing efforts among conference participants afterwards.

Below are some of the initiatives that developed as direct or indirect results of the 1999 Bosnian Conference:

• The Bosnian Community Center was established and received funding in Utica, New York.
• Two issues of a community newsletter were published in Rochester, New York.
• The Bosnian Club of LA County was organized and funded in Los Angeles, California, under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee.
• The Bosnian Language School for children aged 6 to 12 was organized in St. Louis, Missouri.
• A community radio station was developed in Boston, Massachusetts.
• Three small Bosnian-owned businesses opened in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
• Two small Bosnian-owned businesses opened in Southfield, Michigan, and two others are in development.
• Round-table discussions and information programs were held in Boston, Massachusetts, to distribute the conference information among community members. As a result of these meetings 35 Bosnian families have bought individual homes and 7 individuals have opened small businesses.