Region: Serbia, Eastern Europe

Main Areas Of Interest: human rights journalism

Fellowship Period: July- September 2007

Keywords: refugee rights, social integration

Biographical Profile:
Jelena Grujic is a journalist from Belgrade, Serbia. She has devoted her journalistic career to the problems of marginalized social groups, particularly the plight of refugees. Jelena has also worked as a war reporter, covering Bosnia as well as the situation in Kosovo. She is currently a staff member of VREME, Serbia's largest independent news magazine, where she reports on human rights related topics.

Jelena is also a member of the Association for Truth and Reconciliation, which strives to find the best means of combating trauma in a post-conflict society. Jelena's main concern is to create public awareness about the continuing effects that war has on its victims and to achieve full social integration of victims and building their sense of equality with others. She is currently working on a book entitled: Political Framing of Refugees which analyzes political, humanitarian, and cultural aspects of the war in Yugoslavia from 1990 to 2005.

At the ICTE, Jelena was interested in expanding her knowledge about how to confront the psychological and sociological impact that war has on its survivors. As a journalist, she considers that understanding the effects of war will help her effectively communicate with people living in post-war territories. Therefore, Jelena seeks to explore new ways that the media can be used as an instrument of peace during times of reconciliation.