On Tuesday, September 26, 2023, the book ‘Feminism and Religion in the 21st Century: Technology, Dialogue and Expanding Borders’ was promoted at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo. It was edited by Gina Messina-Dysert and Rosamary Radford Ruether and in Sarajevo it was promoted by Đermana Kurić, MSc, and Prof. Pavle Mijović, PhD. The promotion moderator was Adnan Rondić, MSc. This event was jointly organized by the TPO Foundation and the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo, and in addition, the TPO Foundation, as part of the UNIGEM project, supported translating of this book from English and its printing.

On Friday, September 15, 2023, a session of the Gender Equality Council of the University of Sarajevo was held. There were present: Prof. Jasna Kovačević, PhD; Prof. Zilka Spahić Šiljak, PhD; Lamija Subašić, Ivana Kulić, Gaj Trifković, PhD; Prof. Amila Ždralović, PhD; Miroslav Živanović, MSc.; Prof. Ajla Demiragić, PhD; and Prof. Valida Nikšić, PhD. The topics discussed were the following ones: UNSA’s Gender Action Plan (GAP) and the need for its updating; Evaluation of educational activities for teaching staff at partner universities of the UNIGEM project; The new UNSA Statute; Education on the prevention of discrimination procedures at universities; Activities for the forthcoming 16 Days of Activism Campaign in 2023, and A new research on menstrual poverty (MenGa) within the UNIGEM project.

On the 18th of September in the premises of the University Gender Resource Center (Unigerc), the TPO Foundation and a representative of the Sarajevo Open Center held a meeting with the aim of exchanging experiences regarding advocacy on the topic of menstrual poverty.

International Day of Peace has been established since 1981 and is observed on September 21st as a reminder of the importance of non-violence, reducing wars, and destruction. On this occasion, v.prof.dr. Zilka Spahić Šiljak, the academic director of UNIGeRC (University Gender Resource Center) and director of the TPO Foundation, appeared as a guest on N1 Television. She talked about the neglect of women's contributions to peacebuilding, as they work for peace at the local level but often do not have a seat at the negotiating tables at higher levels of decision-making. She also presented the UNIGEM project and achievements in integrating a gender perspective in higher education.

At the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Tuzla on the 13th of September 2023., the promotion of the book by writer Leyla Karaça entitled “Heaven in Your Heart” and the panel discussion “Spaces for Women in Literature” were held. Panelists, prof. Anisa Avdagić Ph.D. and prof. Melinda Botalić Ph.D. spoke about their impressions of the novel, which follows the spiritual journey of the main character Dilruba, who questions her existence through dreams and hallucinations and goes through different stages on the way to come to the knowledge of God.

The TPO Foundation and the University Gender Resource Center organized the promotion of the novel “Heaven in Your Heart” by the Turkish author Leyla Karaça on September 12, 2023, in Sarajevo. The first promotion of the mentioned novel in Bosnia and Herzegovina took place in Sarajevo on September 12. starting at 6 pm in the premises of the Museum of Literature and Theater Arts. As part of the promotion of the novel, a panel discussion “Spaces for women in literature” was organized, and the participants were Prof. Adisa Bašić Ph.D. and B.Sc. comparativist Nikolina Todorović, while the discussion was moderated by Prof. Ajla Demiragić PhD.

The TPO Foundation and the University Gender Resource Center are organizing three promotions of the novel “Heaven in Your Heart” by the Turkish author Leyla Karaça in Sarajevo, Mostar, and Tuzla.

The book “Mainstreaming Gender Equality at Universities in the Balkans: Fighting Gender-Based Violence” by authors Zilka Spahić Šiljak, Jasna Kovačević and Jasmine Husanović was published in English language. This edition was published by the American publishing house Scholars Press.

The conference “Ethics of Reconciliation – European Perspectives” was held in Sarajevo from August 24th until August 27th, 2023. The conference was organized by Societas Ethica from Uppsala in cooperation with the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Sarajevo and the Center for Human Rights of the University of Sarajevo, with the support of the Renovabis association. The conference brought together about fifty scientists from Europe, America, and India. They have provided a view of the phenomenon of reconciliation from the point of view of various scientific disciplines, including theology, philosophy, and sociology. At the same time, they shared practical experiences from the arduous process of overcoming divisions and the legacy of the past, from the Republic of South Africa, Germany, Colombia, but also from the Balkans.

Within the framework of the UNIGEM project, a three-day teacher training on the integration of gender perspectives into the teaching of social and humanistic sciences was held in Sarajevo from August 28th to 29th, 2023. One of the major challenges in education is how to incorporate a gender perspective into existing curricula and programs without it being merely “adding women,” as it has traditionally been understood and still is.

As part of the Societas Ethica Conference, on behalf of the UNIGeRC Center, professor Zilka Spahić Šiljak PhD held a workshop with doctoral students from Western European countries dealing with issues of ethics and reconciliation. The gender dimension is crucial to feminist approaches to justice and reconciliation because without this dimension it is not possible to see how both conflict and peace building affect women and minorities who carry the biggest burden as collateral damage.

From the White Tower in Gradačac, the song about the lost love of Captain Husein was not heard today, with famous lyrics: "From Gradačac, the white tower of the Dragon of Bosnia, the falcons chirped mournfully..." but the cry for the murdered woman broke through. On August 11, 2023, Nizama Hećimović was murdered by her husband, Nermin Sulejmanović, who killed her in front of their two-year-old daughter and broadcast it all live on Instagram, and then killed several more people and finally committed suicide.
Zilka Spahić Šiljak