The municipality of Ilidža received its first safe map. SafeMap Ilidža is the result of the work of eighteen-year-old Emina Zolota, a student at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Sarajevo and a student of the fifteenth generation of Learn, Think and Act! training for youth leaders (UMiD). This young girl focused her local civic initiative (LGI) on the issue of security, and the website and safe map was created through free programming workshops organized by Emina for her peers at the Educational-Leisure Centre Spajalica.
“I think that SafeMap is very important for the Municipality of Ilidža. I am confident that security on the streets of my municipality will increase. If we talk about the satisfaction of young people with the security situation in the place where they live, the conclusion derived from the research of the position and needs of young people is that young people are more dissatisfied than satisfied with the current situation. Our idea was to collect all the recorded locations where criminal acts that endanger the safety of our citizens most often take place. People have the right to security and my goal with this map is to contribute to increasing their security.”
Emina points out that, despite her experience in implementing projects, it was challenging to follow the planned activities in an uncertain epidemiological situation that was changing day by day. She also adds that she is very proud that she managed to implement the initiative to the end and does not hide her excitement because the map is available to the public.
“The implementation period of the local civic initiative was very important for me. I admit that there were a lot of challenges, especially when it comes to budget planning and when unplanned expenses occur, but I really learned a lot from this process. From developing the idea and writing the project, planning the project activities, budget, to unforeseen situations and thinking about plan B, C… Although it is really nice to see the product of my work in the end, I think I am still not aware of how much this initiative helped me improve my skills.”
SafeMap Ilidža is available to the public at www.safemap.ba. The map combines data collected directly from the competent institutions, but also data collected from citizens who can report attacks via the website and mark the location where the attack took place.
“The concept of a safe map is to mark each location where the danger is recorded in red as a warning – a “danger zone”, so that citizens have an insight into which locations pose a potential danger. After a certain period, if there is a decrease in the number of such cases at a certain location, the color gradually changes from red to orange, and then to green, and thus the location acquires the status of “safe zone”. I am really proud and happy I had the opportunity to work with my friends on a project that will help our local community. That feeling is irreplaceable and everyone should experience a similar process. Teamwork on this project gave me great pleasure. With this initiative, we wanted to give our contribution to the community and we always try to make life better in our community, city, country through different projects.”
Emina, who has many years of experience in the IT sector, as a youth leader who is changing her community for the better, tells her peers and young people in BiH to believe in their ideas and not to be afraid to realize them.
“We young people should be aware that we have the opportunity and the chance to change whatever we want. Indeed, the future is in our hands! I am grateful to the Institute for Youth Development KULT for their support during the implementation of the local civic initiative. This is definitely the icing on the cake of my UMiD training.”
The local civic initiative SafeMap Ilidža was realized within the fifteenth generation of Learn, Think and Act! training for youth leaders organized and implemented by the Institute for Youth Development KULT with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
