A food market was organized near the Ibar Bridge in Mitrovica, in order to enable local entrepreneurs from the north and south of Mitrovica to present their handmade products. The event was organized as part of the Conflict Reconciliation and Transformation event, conducted by Community Building Mitrovica (CBM), partner organizations New Social Initiative (NSI) and Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR Kosovo) and with the support of USAID in Kosovo.
The purpose of this action is the best economic cooperation between Serbs and Albanians, which, according to the organizers, would contribute to the development of their communities.
01: 20-02: 00 “Today we have 10 local businesses from North and South Mitrovica. This idea actually came from the business owners themselves, because at the beginning of the project we formed an informal group of citizens from different spheres, who are activists, people doing business, the problem was the connection between these two sides and where can complement the businesses and we have decided to give them space to present their products to each other and help them to have some sustainability in their business “, said Milivoje Raicevic, CBM Public Relations Officer .
Visitors had the opportunity to see many handicrafts, but also a good mood among the merchants.
“There is no politics here, there are no conflicts, trade and business are something that unites people of all nationalities, so cooperation is always good,” said Vesna Generalović.
“This is something noble for the people who live here and I am happy to take part in such a joint project, why not stay and share our experiences, collaborate, sell together and trade with each other. “, Said Pakiza Kosova.
“I think that we should make bigger promotions in wider spaces and that we should be given more support from other institutions and help us as much as possible to show what we are doing,” said Ljiljana Drazeljic.
The Reconciliation and Transformation project started in 2020 and will last until 2025, while the food market is just one of the activities.