Ema Smajic

Ema Smajic, born in December 1993, is our youngest Youth Ambassador. She is from Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where she is studying. She wants to go on to study Molecular Biology. She was first introduced to interfaith through UNESCO’s youth programs in Greece. That inspired her to develop some programs and actions in her own community, which led her to Vjekoslav Saje, founder of the “Balkan as a soul bridge” Cooperation Circle. With his she learned more about URI, which brought her to the Three Faiths Summer School in England, organised by URI Europe. Ema comes from both Muslim and Catholic backgrounds. Being raised in a multi-cultural environment that carried fairly fresh memories of intercultural war made her interested in solving, or at least understanding, the human causes of religion-based conflicts. In her free time she is a dancer of both Modern and Latin-American styles, a violin player and a photographer. She had participated in a photo marathon in Zurich, and won a national prize for her school with her photography. As a Youth Ambassador for 2011, she intends to raise awareness of the growing nationalism in her country, involve young people in combating it; and wants to try to make more people understand that faiths have more similarities than differences.

Learn about the other Youth Ambassadors

URI Stories of Impact

Action for Children's Home

Children's home of my town is in a very bad state.  Situation those children are in is hard itself, and bad financial state of the children's home isn't making their situation any easier.