In the words of Ana Šego: “The world needs a new and clear vision for building peace”

Born in 2000, the year the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325, Ana Šego is a law student from the small village of Bijakovići in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina. A single day never seems to hold enough hours for everything she does or plans to do, yet she is always reaching for more: more education, more engagement and more opportunities to make her local community a better place to live. Šego is also a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Law of Džemal Bijedić University in Mostar and the youngest council member in the Municipal Council of Čitluk.

She is actively involved in the Broćan Youth Association (Broćanska udruga mladih), an organization dedicated to promoting interaction and the inclusion of people of different ages through social activities and community projects. In her limited free time, she studies the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Her goals are to complete her postgraduate studies, pass the bar exam, and one day open her own law office.

Ana Šego believes that young women in Bosnia and Herzegovina are active and strong, yet they still lack genuine opportunities and sufficient space at the tables where decisions are made. Only when that changes, she argues, can a society truly claim equality and build itself on foundations that recognize and respect the needs of all its citizens.

“I imagine peace as perhaps a ballerina moving gracefully to a Beethoven composition. At first glance, it all seems very simple and beautiful, but in reality, it is quite complex – something that, in a way, also represents peace itself. As a young person actively involved in political life, I honestly cannot say that I confirm the presence of peace. 

The UN Resolution on Women, Peace, and Security speaks not only to my specific context - if we consider the local community of Čitluk - but also to the context of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole. It emphasizes that women should participate, or rather have the opportunity to participate equally, in decision-making in order to build peace and address all security-related issues that affect our everyday lives. 

However, young women lack real opportunities or tangible spaces that would enable them to enter decision-making circles, contribute, and work on peace and security issues. Still, I believe that change will come, and that women will fully participate in areas where they belong and for which they have every opportunity.

When it comes to maintaining peace, young people from my community participate in various activities, such as promoting dialogue and communication through education. What particularly excites me is that in the municipality of Čitluk, we also take part in youth initiatives across the broader region. Through these activities, we work continuously on inclusion and interaction of different age groups. This is a wonderful way not only to promote friendships and communication but also, I would say, to contribute to peacebuilding.

Unfortunately, the voices of young people are still insufficiently represented in discussions and decision-making processes related to peace, security, and many other issues that affect our lives. If the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda were fully implemented, we would achieve genuine inclusion of women and young people in decision-making, peacebuilding, and security-related policies. This way, we would realize the principles of equality and equity, bringing them into balance, and I believe this would represent a positive step forward for our world.

The world needs a new and clear vision for building peace – one that gives young people a clear place at the table where decisions are made.”

This story is part of the Born in 2000 storytelling project under the “Women Lead, Peace Follows” campaign, marking 25 years since the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.