by Dr Marzia Bona

On the 26th of October 2013, the ERMA graduation ceremony took place at the premises of the Center for Postgraduate Studies of the University of Sarajevo. During the ceremony, diplomas have been awarded to the 12th generation of ERMA students. At the same time, the new generation of students has been welcomed, thus opening the 13th Academic Year of this Master Program. This year’s ceremony was preceded by the scientific panel “Human Rights, Education and Managing Diversities”.

As a long term tradition, the ceremony is a unique occasion to gather students, professors
and donors. The welcome addresses of the ceremony were delivered by prof.dr. Ugo Vlaisavljevic, Vice Rector for International Relations of the University of Sarajevo, by Natalia Dianiskova, Head of Operations Section for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross Border Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to BiH, and H.E Ruggero Corrias, Ambassador of the Republic of Italy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The ceremony has been an occasion to recall the remarkable achievements of the program, obtained in the past 12 generations. Among them, professor Bianchini recalled
the success in job placement attained by the students who graduated from the ERMA program; as a consequence of this, the program can be said to be fostering a significant Brain Gain for the region. Furthermore, a remarkable aspect is the participation of ERMA to the Global Campus of Regional Masters in Human Rights and Democratization, headed by the European Inter-University center based in Venice. The global campus epitomizes the strategy of the European Commission aiming to strengthen 2 worldwide the cooperation among the MA in democracy and human rights of Venice,
Sarajevo/Bologna, Pretoria, Sidney, Yerevan, Buenos Aires.

The mentioned outcomes are a tremendous wealth and a clear evidence of how deeply the MA has consolidated, as well as how relevant the follow-ups are, both for Sarajevo and for the Region. These goals have been achieved thanks to the support of the European Parliament, and the grants offered by the European Commission and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its Local Technical Unit of the Italian Cooperation. Furthermore, the implementation of this program has been possible thanks to the
innovation and the generosity of the staff of the Center for Interdisciplinary Post-Graduate Studies, the support of the Rector of the University of Sarajevo, the patience of our colleagues and the students, as well as the comprehensive attitudes of many officials in the embassies.

The 12th generation of students who graduated this year confirms the diverse background of students participating in this program. In the Academic year 2012-2013, thirty students
enrolled in the program, from 13 different countries, as follows: 1 from Albania, 1 from Austria, 1 from Azerbaijan, 13 from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 3 from the EU (United Kingdom, Ireland and Lithuania), 3 from Croatia (who during the academic year became citizens of the European Union), 2 from Macedonia, 1 from Montenegro, 2 from Serbia, 1 from Russia and 2 from the United States.
The appreciation of diversity as an enriching factor is mirrored also in the composition of the teaching staff, set up by over 30 professors and guest speakers coming from 14 countries. The professors and guest speakers teaching in this program were from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, Serbia, Germany, Greece, Montenegro, Russia, the Netherlands, UK, and the USA.

As seen, the structure of the program and the participation to its implementation are a clear evidence of the deep regional character of the MA. The outcomes achieved in 12
3 years represent a tremendous human capital offered to the benefit of SEE. During the ceremony, it was also welcomed the decision of the European Commission to guarantee the continuation of the regional human rights educational strategy worldwide after 2013 through the Global Campus, giving new impetus to a global interuniversity consortium, new basis to its networking, and new financial mechanisms for the years to come.