ZaMirNET

ZaMirNET (ForPeaceNET) is a Croatia-based non-governmental organisation working in the field of ICT (information and communication technology). It describes itself as "a citizen association (not-for-profit organization) dedicated toward civil society development, promoting the culture of peace and the idea of sustainable development in Croatia and the region."

AdvocacyNet.org describes its formation during the turmoil in the former Yugoslavia. It says, "Electronic information became an instrument of war and peace during the collapse of Yugoslavia." Amidst the "worst crimes committed in Europe this century" the first major experiment in email was launched in June 1992 in Zagreb and Belgrade, almost exactly a year after Croatia seceded from Yugoslavia, triggering a brutal response from Serbia.

This venture got the support of the George Soros-funded Open Society Institute, and US peace activist Eric Bachman, living in Europe since 1969, together with the Dutch peace activist Wam Kat (who wrote his daily "Zagreb Dairy" on Zamir), set up an electronic network between peace groups in the region. Eric Bachman enlisted the help of FoeBuD (now digitalcourage), an organisation promoting digital communications and privacy and based in Bielefeld, Germany. In the early years, bulletin board systems in London, Austria and Bielefeld provided the shortest routes for electronic messages across the borders of the emerging Balkan states. The network was named ZaMir ("For Peace") Transnational Net.

A research work titled Documenting the impact of the community peacebuilding practices in the post-Yugoslav region as a basis for policy framework development conducted by Ms. Marina Škrabalo, an activist of the Centre for Peace Studies, Croatia, provides some details.

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