The high-level Conference Building a Common Agenda for Prevention in the Western Balkans, held in Podgorica, Montenegro from 21st to 22nd March 2024 was organized by the Post-Conflict Research Center, Impunity Watch and the Western Balkans Coalition for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Crimes Prevention (CGMAP). The conference was supported by the high-level presence of Ms. Dunja Mijatović, the then Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe.

The objective of the conference was to strengthen civil society work in the Western Balkans on dealing with the past, and atrocity prevention. Recent years have seen a backslide in the region on dealing with the past, with an increase in denial and revisionism. Civil Society is bearing the brunt of this negative trend, which also impacts their own operations and security.

The conference urged for action to counter these negative trends. It recommended the development of a common agenda for prevention. In this respect the conference identified components of a common agenda:

• To combat increased denial and revisionism
• Focus on making a tangible difference for victims through reparations
• Strengthen efforts in the area of education
• Recognize the link between dealing with the past and prevention, and new technologies.

What follows is a report with the key recommendations that came out of the conference under each component of this new Common Agenda for Prevention in the Western Balkans.