After winning the “Tomorrow’s Peacebuilders” award for peace activism that is at the global level given by the international organization Peace Direct (UK), the Genesis Project from Banja Luka is in the final selection round for another prestigious international award given by the Qatar Foundation.
The Genesis Project has been included at the end of April among 15 finalists from 13 countries, which were selected in the competition from all over the world as the best examples of good practice, innovative approaches to education and encouraging cooperation.
The project, which impressed the representatives of the Qatar Foundation refers to the warning of the dangers of mines and is being implemented in the primary schools throughout the country, primarily in the most affected areas by mines. In both creative and educational way, through the interactive puppet shows and a series of workshops, the representatives of the Genesis strive to convey the useful information and warnings about the danger of mines and unexploded ordnance to the children and adults. In a country that, according to the BHMAC there are still 19,200 minefields, this kind of training is absolutely essential.
What singles out the approach of the Genesis to this problem is undoubtedly a puppet show “The strange trial” which educates the children from 6 to 11 years of age about the danger of mines in a unique way. Based on the pre and post-testing questionnaires, it is evident that the children, thanks to the show, in addition to having fun, are gaining useful knowledge on how the unexploded ordnance and mines look like that they accidentally may encounter in the forest. This project is supported by the UNICEF BiH, the EU Delegation in BiH and the US Embassy in BiH and has been successfully implemented since 1999.
Authorized Consultants of the Qatar Foundation will visit the Genesis Project team and Bosnia and Herzegovina in early June, in order to directly assess the quality of the organization in the field.
The Qatar Foundation established in 2009 the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), and the award for an innovative approach to education which is awarded every year since the founding of the summit.
After the selection of 15 finalists and the visit and evaluation of the organizations, a jury of experts from around the world will choose six winners who will be awarded at the ceremony in London.
This is an exceptional recognition, which is awarded to the organizations that undergo the most stringent selection criteria and a choice among the finalists represents a huge success too.
More about the WISE Awards and the finalists for 2016 is available at the following link:
https://www.wise-qatar.org/wise-awards-2016 Genesis Project
