President Milanović Meets Members of Association Peacekeepers on the International Day of Peacekeepers
On the occasion of International Peacekeepers Day, which is celebrated on May 29, President of the Republic Zoran Milanović received today the members of the Association Peacekeepers, a non-governmental organization dedicated to peacebuilding, fostering tolerance, and providing humanitarian aid.
Members of the Association Peacemakers, led by Marijan Gubin, introduced President Milanović to the activities and projects of the Association, founded in 2011. The main activities and projects highlighted were the implementation of educational programs on tolerance, organization of school workshops for children, development of projects preventing peer violence, and connecting with global peace networks.
As one of the most important projects of the Association, Marijan Gubina highlighted his lectures in which he speaks through the lens of a personal life tragedy about the importance of peace, human dignity and the power of forgiveness. As a child, Gubina and his family were imprisoned for 260 days in a Serbian camp during the Croatian Homeland War, about which he wrote in his autobiographical novel “260 Days”. A feature film based on his novel was also made and premiered in November last year.
He holds lectures for pupils, students, educators, parents and the general public. Since 2013, the lecture “Peacemaker” has been held more than 2,000 times in Croatia, Poland, Germany, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and has been attended by more than 300,000 participants, he said, emphasizing that the main goal of his lectures is the development of a culture of peace.
The Association Peacemakers has around 300 volunteer members and no one from the association receives a fee for their activities, as stated at the meeting which was attended by the vice president of the Association Zoran Šegić, the representative of the Association for the Federal Republic of Germany Žarko Tomašević, the representative of the Little Peacemakers project Anastazija Gubina, the representative of the Little Peacemakers project Marijan Gubina, the president of the Kultura Snova Association Zdravko Odorčić, the founder of the Center for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights Osijek Katarina Kruhonja, the coordinator of the Peacemaker project of the Bjelovar-Bilogora County Igor Crnomarić, and activists Darinka Rašuo and Zoran Torbica.
Alongside President Milanović was the President’s Adviser for Human Rights and Civil Society, Melita Mulić.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta