Avoiding conflicts or

preventing them?

One of the objectives of AIESEC since its

founding in 1948 has been to contribute in
meaningful ways to the development of young
people around the globe, by providing
opportunities for them to develop certain
behaviors and attitudes we call change agent
characteristics.

Those characteristics are:

Active learning, Social Responsibility, Cultural
Sensitivity and Entrepreneurship.

In the Republic of Macedonia, AIESEC focuses its efforts in the areas of Entrepreneurship and Social Responsibility,
using Cultural Sensitivity and Active Learning as foundation for all activities. Based on this fact several projects in
diverse areas and sectors have been developed during the last year.

Social Responsibility was chosen as a topic because of the critical importance the creation of awareness about the role
each individual has in the development of a country. Throughout the world, both in developed and developing countries,
social responsibility has become an issue not just for individuals, but also for organizations. Social responsibility is far
more than responsibility to ourselves, or to our family, or to our business, or to our friends. We, the members of AIESEC
in the Republic of Macedonia, believe that social responsibility is the ability to choose a response in any situation
towards our community, our country, our planet and its people. Thus, social responsibility is the individual’s conscience,
unadulterated by self-interest.

Realities...

The inter-ethnic relations between the Macedonian and Albanian population are
tense. Many initiatives have been put in place, however playing our role in creating
a decent society require the involvement of all of us and require from time to time
the ability of think and see out of the box. That is why we decided to build bridges
between the young people of both ethnical groups by promoting the concept of
understanding at the individual level with views to build a caring society.

One of the basics of this project is the prevention of conflict more than its "AIESEC produces global
resolution. Working with teenagers, providing them with the opportunity to share citizens who will hopefully
ideas with people from different countries, with different backgrounds and understand and practice the
perspectives is one of the unique benefits we can offer as organization. values of open society in
their companies and
If during this interaction process we deliver space for further development of a communities.”
socially responsible individual, we can guarantee the success of this initiative.
George Soros
That was the beginning of this project; intent to increase the social responsible Chairman
behavior of the young people in Macedonia by providing them with the opportunity Open Society Institute
to develop skills, attitudes and values to prevent conflicts and build bridges
between people from different backgrounds. After all, today the world is our
playground.

AIESEC in the Republic of MACEDONIA | Faculty of Economics | Krste Misirkov bb | 1000 Skopje | Republic of Macedonia
www.mk.aiesec.org | e-mail macedonia@aiesec.net | tel + 389 2 328 68 51 | fax + 389 2 311 87 01
Building Bridges
Background
We believe that developing Social Responsible behavior in young people can increase the possibilities to build a
caring society and promote the creation of bridges between people from different ethnical groups. By offering
them access to new perspectives and put them in direct contact with young people from different countries we
aim to increase their ability to prevent conflicts and act in a responsible way. As a way to make this a practical
experience, local students will develop small projects on the topics of this project to be executed within their high
schools or communities.

Project’s Objectives
9 Deliver learning opportunities (workshops, working groups, exercises) that will
promote the development of social responsible behavior within local teenagers.
9 Offer open spaces for discussion and sharing around cultural understanding and
cross cultural communication between people from different nationalities and our
high school students.
9 Increase the ability and skills to prevent conflict in the Macedonian youth by
exposing them to case studies and practical experiences guided by international
university students.

General idea of the Project

The project will take place in Skopje, Prilep and Ohrid, since AIESEC has offices in those three cities. High
schools from Gostivar, Tetovo, Kumanovo, Bitola and Struga will be also invited to participate. The selection of
the High Schools will be based on their commitment with the project and the disposition to provide with the
minimum required conditions for the delivery of the sessions. These sessions are planned as after school
activities and the only requirement for participating is a basic level of English understanding and speaking.
AIESEC will provide with 40 international university students that will deliver different learning activities to the
high schools students in the mentioned cities. These international university students will
be previously selected and prepared in their countries of origin by the AIESEC offices in
the respective countries. AIESEC in the Republic of Macedonia will provide a
preparation package with all the details they will need to know before coming to the
country. The international students will be working full time for the project and will visit
the high schools periodically during two months.
At the beginning of the experience a Global Village will take place in each check point
city. Local students will have the opportunity to learn about the countries of origin of our
trainees and will taste and drink traditional food and beverages from each country.
The presence of the international students is one of the main motivational factors for the
Macedonian students to participate and is also an opportunity for meeting and having chats with young people
from different countries with different realities and perspectives. Also it is important to point out that they will bring
know how and best case practices of conflict prevention and cultural understanding from their countries of origin,
which will enrich the small projects the national students will create to execute within the high schools and
communities.
During the first two weeks the international profiles will receive an intense training in all the necessary aspects
concerning the flow of the project, including psychological advice and understanding of the current reality
between the ethnic groups in the country as well as specific knowledge for the sessions that will be delivered to
the high school students.
A Board of Advisors for the project will be created with national and international representatives. The Board of
Advisors will support the organizing committee in the definition of the project agenda, selection of the training
needed and based on their availability will run some of the learning activities for the international group of
students’ preparation.
As outcomes of the project we are not just counting the abilities, attitudes and values developed by the high
school students and the execution of the small projects created, but also a written report of the whole experience
with interviews and articles that will be used as a tool to increase the awareness around social responsibility,
conflict prevention and cultural understanding as key topics to be address in our country.
As a closing seminar we decided to run presentations of each one of the international teams and special
participation of some of the high school students, local teachers, representatives of the board of advisors and
some of the partners of the project.

AIESEC in the Republic of MACEDONIA | Building Bridges 2004 | building.bridges@aiesec.net

 Flow of the Project
Recruitment campaign will be run in the partner countries to select the students that
will participate in the project.
RECRUITMENT
January – February 2005 During this time we will select the high school that will participate in the project from
Skopje, Tetovo, Gostivar, Kumanovo, Prilep, Bitola, Ohrid and Struga.

International students will start the preparation in their countries

based on the preparation package delivered by AIESEC in the
Republic of Macedonia.
PREPARATION
March 2005 During the first two week intense preparation will be held for them
in Skopje with the participation of different experts in the fields of
cultural understanding, social responsibility and conflict prevention.

As starting point, Global Village will be hosted in each one of the check point cities:
Skopje, Prilep and Ohrid. This event will be open to the whole community.
GLOBAL
Based on our experience with previous Global Villages, this will enable the excitement
VILLAGE around the project and the participation of the local students will be outstanding from
March 2005
the very beginning.

During April each one of the teams will keep constant visits to the high schools,
delivering different session for creating small projects with the high school students
WORKING around Social Responsibility, Cultural Understanding and Conflict Prevention issues.
GROUPS & Different session will be held also during this month with the purpose of delivering
WORKSHOPS skills we believe are crucial for Social Responsible behavior (communication,
April 2005 negotiation, leadership, teamwork, etc).

In April all international university students will attend MILDS (Macedonian

International Development Seminar). MILDS is a yearly hosted seminar where
leadership skills are developed.
MILDS 2005 During the seminar they will have the chance to take further steps in their experience
April 2005 of delivering session to the high schools students, including some new aspects that
will be brought by the presence of externals from different sectors.

During May intensive sessions to finalize and execute the small projects will be held.
At that moment we expect the high school students to have gained the minimum skills
EXECUTION OF and knowledge to put together concrete and feasible small projects for the promotion
PROJECTS of cultural understanding, social responsibility and conflict prevention within their high
May 2005 schools or communities as a way to impact the rest of the students that didn’t
participate directly in the project.

During the final week of May the closing conference will take place. Speeches from
some participants will be hosted (considering different clusters of participants:
international university students, local high school students, teachers from the high
CLOSING schools, members of the board of advisors, partner companies, etc).
CONFERENCE
May 2005 Final report of the project will be delivered by July 2005.

AIESEC in the Republic of MACEDONIA | Building Bridges 2004 | building.bridges@aiesec.net

How to get involved?
There are many ways you and/or your organization can get involved in this project.

Bellow you will find a draft budget of the project. You can support the activity by providing in-kind donations
based on the needs of the project or by giving direct cash support. AIESEC is a registered NGO in the country
and we will provide you with the proper bills and certification of your contribution. Also you can get involved by
supporting the project by becoming a member of the Board of Advisors or acting as speaker in one of our
conferences or workshops. However for further details of your involvement don’t hesitate to contact us.

Brief Budget1

Fix Costs
Marketing Materials Posters, brochures, flyers. 1000
Global Village All included (stands, beverages,
900
music equipment, etc)
Working groups and All included (markers, paper,
Workshops flipcharts, notebooks, copies, 400
equipment)
Closing Conference All included (coffee breaks, folders, 2000
pens, equipment, etc)
General expenses Telephone, internet, office materials, About AIESEC
1200
printings, final report.
Administrative costs Communication, international fees,
600 AIESEC is an international
organizing committe support fund.
2 platform for young people to
Transportation Support fund for traveling within the discover and develop their
4200
country. potential to have a positive
Total Fix Costs 10300 impact on society.

Present in over 800

universities in 89 countries
and territories, AIESEC
Variable Costs (depend on the number of international participants) provides young people the
Support for living Accommodation and food per opportunity to work abroad,
expenses international participant per two and 300 develop leadership, build a
a half months. personal network, and
explore the direction and
Reception Package Welcome package with Macedonian
ambition of their future.
flag, maps, traditional handcrafts, 20
wine.
Total cost per profile 320 Our innovative approach to
developing young people
Total Variable Costs (40 profiles) 12800 focuses on taking a proactive
role, developing self-
awareness and a personal
Total expenses 23100 vision, building networks, and
developing capacity to drive
change.

For further details please contact:

Goce Pesev
goce.pesev@aiesec.net
AIESEC in the Republic of Macedonia
Mobile + 389 70 438 567

1
All amounts are in Euro.
2
Transportation from/to country of origin is covered by the international students. This item relates to the transportation costs within the country for
visiting the different locations of the high schools and conference attendance.

AIESEC in the Republic of MACEDONIA | Building Bridges 2004 | building.bridges@aiesec.net