On May 22, 2024 Peace Education Hub hosted the lecture of Mardjan Montazemi who presented her research on emancipatory peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Marjan has more than 30 years of experience in community and international development as well as peacebuilding.  Over the years, she has worked with NGOs, foundations and the United Nations including in senior leadership positions.  Her interest in peacebuilding started after spending 3 years in the Western Balkans, volunteering with local NGOs in North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.  In 2022, she took early retirement from UNICEF after 14 years of serving the organization and went back to university to study international peace studies at the University of Peace.  This was an opportunity to connect her practical experience with the theories of peace.  She did her MA thesis about the practice of emancipatory peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2023) at the University of Peace – an international university founded by the United Nations General Assembly in 1980.  

During her lecture, Mardjan shared her personal and scholarly experience with the students and teaching staff of the Faculty of Philosophy. She emphasized the importance of peace education as a “game changer“ and an essential connection between formal and informal education in BiH, while also pointing out the necessity of empowering young people as „legitimate agents for change“.