A series of talks on human rights atrocities around the world are being organised by Fermanagh & Omagh District Council designed to help people understand the past and learn lessons from it.
The first talk in the series will take place online on September 21 and will centre around the genocide which took place in the town of Srebrenica, Bosnia in 1995.
The talks form part of the 'International Lessons Programme' being organised by the council.
The first event will see a talk given by a survivor of the Srebrenica genocide, Nedžad Avdić, who will speak about his own experience of what happened and how he survived the atrocity.
8,372 Bosnian men and boys were murdered during the genocide, simply because they were Muslim.
Speaking about the event, FODC Chair, Councillor Errol Thompson, said the build-up to the atrocity in Serbia included many words which would be familiar to people in Northern Ireland.
"The genocide at Srebrenica 26 years ago remains a salutary reminder of the inhumanity and cruelty of war. It serves as an important reminder of the need to find a peaceful resolution to all differences with tolerance and respect as a basis for conflict resolution," councillor Thompson said.
"I would encourage anyone with an interest in peace building to tune in to this online event and learn about the lessons of this particularly harrowing period in recent European history.
"The build-up to the genocide included words we will find familiar in Northern Ireland – polarisation, classification, discrimination, the use of symbols, dehumanising language and much more.
"We hope that participants at this talk will learn of what led to genocide at Srebrenica, the impact of hate speech, the use of polarising symbols and give them the confidence to challenge prejudice and discrimination."
Nedžad’s personal story will be followed by a question-and-answer session and will be facilitated by Peter Osborne, Chair of Remembering Srebrenica in Northern Ireland.
“Srebrenica is little known yet happened just 26 years ago in the heart of Europe. The killings were generated by religious and identity differences, fuelled by the language and behaviour of hate and intolerance," Peter said.
"It’s not just about remembering the victims, important as that is. It is also about understanding and challenging prejudice and racism before it goes as far as what happened at Srebrenica.”
