CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VIII (1) ContemporaryEurasia81 | Page 114

THE UN “SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAMME” IN UNPA SECTOR WEST …
project 400 individuals from the United States responded by email to the
students’ expressed desire for contact with U.S. print media.
The volunteers produced a tri-weekly VIP email newsletter and a bi-
weekly journal to address innovative approaches to the “Social
Reconstruction” project and distribute feedback from readers, donors and
former volunteers, as well as other projects.
In April of 1995, with the invasion by the Croat army impending,
volunteers went as living human shields to the houses of Serbs who were
particularly imperilled politically because of having cooperated with
UNPROFOR.
After the re-capture of Western Slavonia by the Croat army in May
1995, the “Anti-War Campaign Croatia” together with local and
international NGOs and UN Civil Affairs, established the “Info Centre
Pakrac”. Primarily to provide the local population, in particular the Serb
minority but also people working at the numerous NGOs in the city, with
legal information.
Over time, there was an increasingly pressing need for longer-term
peace-building training for the project participants, which led to the
formation of the so-called “MIRamiDA Basic Workshop” and other courses.
The goal of these courses was to communicate the theory and practice of
peace building and conflict transformation to activists, local teachers and
other interested parties. Therefore the “Info Centre Pakrac” was changed into
“Centre for Peace Studies” in the summer of 1996.
Although it was not possible to achieve the original goals as defined
by the Vance Plan, according to later analyses, the project, under the
auspices of a “grass roots” human rights organization, turned out to be the
most sustainable project in the conflict region. It responded with adequate
projects, goals and organizational restructuring to local needs and evolving
changes. Moreover, countless international contacts and networks were
created and continue to exert structural influence on the region even 25 years
later.
CARE Home Repair Programme
As a follow-up project to the Village Visitation Programme, a pilot
project for rebuilding destroyed homes was planned. Based on Article 20 of
the Vance plan, the goal of the project was to enable the return of displaced
persons to their homes. It sought to demonstrate that it was possible for both
ethnic groups to return to a relatively normal pre-conflict status and to
coexist.
According to official information, in Pakrac 1,101 houses (about 70%
of all homes) had been affected by different degrees of destruction through
the war in 1991. Less damaged homes urgently needed repairs to be
winterized to make them habitable before the onset of the next winter.
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