In January 2025, SANCHILD founder Sanela Music was recognized by Rotary International as one of its People of Action: Champions of Peace, an honor celebrating individuals whose work contributes to building peace around the world.
Featured in the April 2025 issue of Rotary Magazine, this recognition shines a light on Sanela’s journey from refugee to peacebuilder. It also highlights the lasting impact of the Harmony Program in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As a child, Sanela fled the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina with her family during the years 1992 to 1995. That experience deeply shaped her understanding of trauma, resilience, belonging, and the long process of rebuilding trust after conflict.
Years later, she transformed that lived experience into a broader mission through SANCHILD Foundation. Today, her work supports communities affected by war, division, and inherited trauma. More specifically, it helps people reconnect, heal, and build more peaceful relationships.
At the heart of this recognition is the Harmony Program, launched in 2021 with Rotary’s support. The program addresses post-war trauma by equipping communities with tools for dialogue, emotional resilience, healing, and long-term peacebuilding.
According to Rotary International, the Harmony Project has carried out 47 initiatives. It has directly benefited more than 1,000 people and indirectly reached nearly 50,000 people across 34 cities. Rotary also highlighted the Harmony Project in Schools, which helps teachers and students strengthen emotional awareness, resilience, and trust. As a result, the project contributes to reducing stigma, conflict, and cultural divides.
For SANCHILD, this recognition represents far more than an individual achievement. Rather, it reflects the value of a human-centered approach to peacebuilding: one that begins with inner transformation and grows through communities. This work also contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions, SDG 3 on good health and well-being, SDG 4 on quality education, and SDG 17 on partnerships for the goals. Through Harmony, peacebuilding becomes connected to emotional resilience, education, dialogue, local ownership and long-term collaboration.
From lived experience to collective impact, Sanela Music’s journey reminds us
that peacebuilding begins with the courage to heal, listen and act.
Indeed, the Harmony Program is rooted in a simple but powerful belief: sustainable peace cannot be built through institutions and agreements alone. It also requires trust, emotional awareness, dialogue, local ownership, and the courage to face the wounds that continue to shape individuals and societies after conflict.
Through workshops, local initiatives, and community-led Ripple Projects, Harmony supports changemakers who are already rooted in their communities. In doing so, it gives them practical tools to create meaningful impact from within.
Rotary’s recognition of Sanela as a Champion of Peace also reinforces the importance of collaboration between local actors, international partners and peace education experts. Inspired by the outcomes of the Harmony Program, Sanela continues to work with Rotary partners and peacebuilding professionals to explore how this model can grow across the Balkans and beyond.
At SANCHILD, we are deeply honored by this recognition, and above all, deeply proud of Sanela.
This title is a powerful acknowledgment of her vision, courage, and lifelong commitment to peace. From her personal journey as a refugee to her work as a founder, facilitator, and peacebuilder, Sanela has turned lived experience into a mission of healing, dialogue, and collective transformation.
This recognition is fully deserved.
We are proud and grateful to have Sanela Music as the founder of SANCHILD, a woman whose vision continues to guide, inspire and open pathways for more compassionate, resilient and peaceful communities.
It reflects years of commitment, courage and collective work: from Sanela’s founding vision to the dedication of Harmony alumni, facilitators, partners, supporters and communities who continue to carry this mission forward.
Peace begins within and through each person empowered to heal, listen and act, it becomes a ripple that can reach far beyond what we can measure.