High school students contributed to the media literacy about refugees

Participants of this year's "In their Sneakers" project, ©UNHCR/Kharim Nsengiyumva

This year’s cycle of the refugee inclusion project “In their sneakers”, which the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is implementing with high school students across Serbia, has officially ended today with the announcement of the best solutions. UNHCR and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia, which supports the project, have once again emphasized the importance of young people’s potential and creativity in supporting vulnerable social groups, in this case – forcibly displaced persons.

Even though certain public opinion polls have shown that, unfortunately, misunderstanding, non-acceptance, and sometimes even active xenophobia towards people who come from different countries is present with young people in Serbia, the project “In their sneakers” has proven otherwise. The students who participated in the project have shown openness and readiness to actively participate in coming up with activities to support refugees and asylum seekers in Serbia.

After careful analysis, the jury unanimously decided to award the first prize in this year’s cycle of the project “In their sneakers” to the team of the “Sava Šumanović” Grammar School from Šid, which has successfully demonstrated just how harmful unprofessional media reporting about vulnerable social groups can be in the local context. Based on a detailed analysis of media and social network content, the award-winning team organized a series of lectures in local schools, filmed a short film, and designed digital quizzes and interactive games that serve as an exercise to recognize words and expressions that are key to media literacy.

The first prize winners of this year’s “In their Sneakers” project, ©UNHCR/Kharim Nsengiyumva

„In a time in which anyone can post any content without prior verification in a public space, especially on social media, the project that the team from Šid presented and implemented is of high importance. In their local community, the students clearly identified cases of information manipulation and the damage it can cause to the people involved. More importantly, they prepared a set of tools that can help young people check the accuracy of the information they come across”, the jury explained.

It was decided that three schools – the Technical School from Žagubica, the Technical School from Trstenik, and the Art School from Užice, share second place due to the large number of high-quality projects. A musical, a recital, and an exhibition which included many local actors, are all activities the schools presented, each showing a high level of understanding of the importance of inclusion of refugees, as well as the artistic choice to spread the idea of helping forcibly displaced persons to the general public.

The second prize winners of this year’s “In their Sneakers” project, ©UNHCR/Kharim Nsengiyumva

According to the jury, two schools earned the third prize in this year’s round of the project “In their sneakers” – Tehnoart School and the School of Design, both from Belgrade. The art school’s teams have successfully used all the advantages of visual communication to convey the message of the challenges forcibly displaced persons face in a clear and impressive manner. What is particularly significant is the readiness of these teams to include in their activities the very people the project is for – refugees. In addition, by organizing exhibitions in some of the most popular exhibition spaces in Belgrade, the schools largely contributed to the visibility and recognition of the topic of refugees among the general public.

The third prize winners of this year’s “In their Sneakers” project, ©UNHCR/Kharim Nsengiyumva

Aside from the three regular prizes, the jury decided to issue a special award to the Mathematical high school from Belgrade, whose team created a website that contains all relevant information and advice for young refugees starting high school in Serbia.

The special prize winners of this year’s “In their Sneakers” project, ©UNHCR/Kharim Nsengiyumva

The “In their sneakers” project is part of the activities that UNHCR conducts with young people in the state with a firm belief in their creativity and determination to change the world for the better, creating a society in which everybody will have equal chances, including those who were forced to flee their homes because of war and persecution.

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