From one vantage point, it’s simply a newly reopened attraction. But there’s a powerful message in the gondola cabs that over the past week have sprung into action once again on Bosnia’s Mt. Trebevic, lifting riders to a commanding and hopeful view of the city of Sarajevo.

Nearly four decades ago, the mountain played an impressive role as what was then Yugoslavia hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics. But the 1990s unleashed the nearly four-year siege of Sarajevo, transforming its peak into a deadly perch from which to rain down violence on those who lived below. Some 15,000 people were killed before NATO intervened.

How do communities recover from such conflict? The question resonates from Iraq to Colombia to Northern Ireland, which today marks the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement that ended three decades of sectarian violence. While getting to true reconciliation may be a slow journey, many point to important steps along that path – including a willingness to hear opponents’ valid concerns and a commitment to peaceful change.

In Rwanda, vast caves that once hid many Tutsis during the horror of the 1994 genocide are now open to visitors, bearing witness to the tenacity of hope. And now, the gondolas gliding up Mt. Trebevic radiate optimism. As a Sarajevo pop band sang: “A new youth is coming. The gates of the city remember our steps…. Trebevic is coming down into the town again.”

Now to our five stories, showing the importance of transparency, respect, and fighting intolerance.