The Hastor Foundation constantly presents its proactive and socially engaged scholarship holders, and Aleksandra Đukić from Bijeljina is one of them. Aleksandra is in the second year of her college studies, and is studying journalism at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Tuzla.
She regularly takes part in workshops regarding journalism, youth activism, and democracy. At the moment, Aleksandra is a member of a project called “Encouraging Democratic Values and Active Citizenship among Youth”. The project was established by the nonprofit organization “Humanity in Action”. The main agenda of the project is to teach and to introduce the young activists to the concepts of democracy and civil rights over the course of ten months with the aim of encouraging them to start thinking critically.
The program was divided into a few phases: the first phase subsumed attending lectures. We were also given a task to write a request based on the Law on Freedom of Access to Information which regulated the right of each person to access information in relation to a public authority. I chose to send my request to the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports of Republika Srpska and asked them to provide me with some pieces of information which were of public interest.
The next phase encompassed debate workshops where Aleksandra was proclaimed one of the best debaters who had participated, and therefore had the task of writing a policy brief on a particular topic:
The topic of my choice was “Regulating Hate Speech in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina” and the policy brief was sent directly to the Government of the Federation. As a part of the group project, we plan on making an educational film or creating an educational game once we have finished activities set to take place in Neum at the end of May. Our work will be presented to the media and hopefully promoted live in summer, if the pandemic conditions allow it.
This is what Aleksandra had to say about the Hastor Foundation:
I am very happy to be a part of the Hastor Foundation and meet other scholarship holders. Volunteering in the local community gives me special joy, since I am able to give my small contribution to the place where I grew up and went to school. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that I have been given and I will try to give my best in the future, so that my own success can be the success of the Foundation.
Nejla Komar
