The Local Democracy Agency (LDA) of Mostar, for the first time in Bosnia and Herzegovina, initiated the celebration of the Neighbors' Day. Both the City Administration and the City Council supported the initiative and so the City of Mostar became the first BiH city celebrating the Neighbors' Day. The celebration was held for the first time on 26 May 2009.
The celebration was organized in two Local Communities, Podhum and Brankovac, involving citizens, representatives of the local government, the Mayor, the President of the City Council, officers of the local administration and councilors as political representatives of citizens living in respective local areas.
The main idea we promoted, in accordance with the main goals of the Neighbors' Day, was to bring neighbors together, having coffee and chatting, reviving the spirit of neighborhoods, once so strong and important in our city. In fact, the City of Mostar was well known for its spirit and specific sense of humor that was unfortunately mostly lost and forgotten during the war and turbulent political post-war period.
In view of the very bad political and economical situation in our city, this event also provided an opportunity for our citizens to meet with their political representatives in an informal atmosphere, having coffee, chatting, listening to music... For them, that was an opportunity to talk about their daily local problems and the way to solve them with support from their political representatives.
Since the objective of this event was not only to promote neighborhood at the local level, but also Europe as one big neighborhood, we also invited the EU Info Center Mostar to promote European values and to provide citizens with practical information about the European Union, offering promotional materials and brochures on their stands. Following that idea, we also invited foreign guests such as His Excellency the Consul General of Turkey, and representatives of the French Cultural Center in Mostar presenting the French poetry.
In addition, the children's choir of five elementary schools from Mostar performed their prepared show in the Local Community Brankovac, singing songs from the CD that they recently recorded as a part of an international project.
Volunteers of the City of Mostar together with international volunteers contributed to the celebration by providing logistics, but also by promoting the spirit of the Neighbors' Day, both verbally and by wearing T-shirts with the Neighbors' Day logo.
The event was sponsored by:
- EUROVIP d.o.o. Čitluk, Coffee roaster "Brazil"
- Pie bakery "MUSALA" Mostar
- Bakery "DIMAL" Mostar
- Bakery "DAN I NOĆ" Mostar
- Pastry shop "AN" Mostar
- Pizzeria "AN" Mostar
- National Restaurant "MM" Mostar
- Butcher's shop "HALAL" Mostar
The event was featured in local media, in two TV talk shows, radio programs and news papers, but also on posters and invitations.
The attendance was modest, but the present citizens and local political representatives were really enthusiastic about the initiative. They hope to have another one in the future, they said, and this time involving the entire City of Mostar.