Horizon 2020 (H2020) is a strategic framework program that combines all existing EU programs to support science, research and innovation. It is thus a successor not only to FP7 for Science but also to the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Program (CIP), the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, specifically its Innovation Chapters (EIP), the ICT Policy Support Program (ICT-PSP), and the Intelligent Energy Europe Program (IEE). It also covers the financing of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

Projects

 „Children born of war – past, present and future“ (CHIBOW) / Děti narozené z války – minulost, přítomnost a budoucnost

Project website

Armed conflicts have a huge physical and psychological impact on children, especially when these children are in any way connected with the enemy. Lots of evidence suggests that "children born of war", such as children whose fathers were foreign soldiers and mothers came from the local community, are a major obstacle to the integration of their mothers and themselves in post-war societies. Previous studies by the United Nations also highlight the lack of research into the welfare of those children who were born from sexual assault pregnancies during armed conflicts. The CHIBOW project focuses on these shortcomings in previous research, and in the form of a systematic analysis of the life experiences of children born from situations in various war conflicts of the 20th century, and thereafter significantly extends and complements the basis of information that we lacked so far. Its main aim is to find out how and if these children are integrated into society not only at the time of the conflict itself, but also after it has ended, and what role military and governmental authorities play in this process in addition to NGOs. The focus is also on finding out how the life experiences of these “children” reflect the general attitudes of society towards the memories of war and vice versa.

The project, co-operated by scientific institutions from many countries in Europe, the United States and Africa, allows 15 PhD students to collaborate on interdisciplinary research in the field. At the J. E. Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem, the researcher is doc. Mgr. Martin Veselý, Ph.D. (Head of the Department of History), who focuses mainly on the military history of North and Northwest Bohemia. Michal Korhel, M.A., a student of modern history at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena (Germany) and Lomonosov University in Moscow (Russia), was awarded a doctoral position in the selection process. As part of the main project, Michal Korhel deals with the issue of “borderland children” born from mixed Czech-German relations in the Czech border areas in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Based on the study of archival documents, period publications and, above all, interviews with witnesses, he will try to offer not only new perspectives on national issues and the position of children from mixed relationships in post-war Czechoslovak society, but also to what extent and how postwar life experiences influenced the development of their social and personal identity

The project “Children born of war - past, present and future” is funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 Program for Research and Innovation under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 642571.