As we celebrate 20 years of the Reconstruction Women’s Fund, we reflect on the beginnings in a conversation with our founders! First up is Mirjana Mirosavljević Bobić, a journalist, activist, one of the founders of RŽF, and our long-time director!
Why was Reconstruction founded and why was it important to establish it at that time – 2004?
Reconstruction was founded at a time when a large number of donors began withdrawing from Serbia, thinking that their job was done and that Serbia was on the right path to becoming “democratic” (even today we are still living with the consequences of that misconception). We knew that this work was far from completed and everything that feminist organizations had fought for could be erased overnight, and there was a lack of funds and support to continue with what was started. Let’s not forget, this was a period when religious education was introduced into schools with a fanfare, fascist and nationalist (para)state organizations were in full force, as well as the continued glorification of war criminals. It was important to establish a feminist local foundation that understood the context and needs, primarily of women or rather feminist activists, and the fragility of our human rights — a foundation living the same reality as those it supports, which will have to live with the consequences of its decisions and take responsibility for them.
In this regard, what is the role of women’s funds in general, and especially in societies that are going through a crisis and trauma or trying to face them?
The role of women’s funds is primarily to have complete trust that those on the ground know best what is necessary for their lives, their immediate environment, and even their broader surroundings. To act as a barrier between unrealistic and burdensome expectations of donor organizations that do not necessarily understand the context in which they operate. To provide timely and continuous support, without imposing bureaucratic demands that exhaust activists, and uncompromisingly advocate feminist politics without succumbing to trends that dilute it — here I mainly refer to the attitude of “let a thousand flowers bloom, even if among those flowers there might be political weeds.”
What was the role of RWF then, and what is it today?
I think the role is the same, or at least it should be. The mission of Reconstruction to support and sustain a feminist policy against war, nationalism, racism, militarism, and violence against women is universal.
Why was it important for RWF to define itself from the beginning as a fund against war, nationalism, militarism, etc.?
Because we have been living, both then and now, in an uninterrupted continuity of war, nationalism, militarism, and clerical-fascism — from femicide, through “Ribnikar and Dubona” to Ukraine and Gaza (there would not be enough space in this interview to list everything).
Why was it personally important for you to be part of this process, and what would you highlight as the most significant achievements of RWF over these 20 years?
Everything I am today, the part of my political being which I am most proud of, is the result of my work and life with Reconstruction. Everything that Reconstruction is today is partly the result of its work and life with me. And that is a connection I will never consider severed. From my own experience, as well as that of others, I know it is rare for someone who leaves an organization to have such an opinion of it, and that says enough about Reconstruction. It was a safe space for me to think and speak openly and freely (sometimes wrongly), to rejoice and be angry, to “grow” from self-confidence and doubt my own decisions, to learn, step out of my comfort zone, respect and love what I do and the people I work with.
The most important achievement is precisely those 20 years of persistent advocacy of feminist politics, even when some said it was futile and ineffective, when confronting the past was considered an “outdated topic”, and now they wonder “how does a 14-year-old child have a weapon and the impulse to kill school friends,” as well as the unshaken relationship of mutual respect and trust in persistent local and international feminist activists, and certainly the fact that there is still passion, dedication, and political intelligence for future achievements.
Good luck.
2
