For the past decade, the Young Bled Strategic Forum (Young BSF) has brought together young leaders aged 18-35 from around the world to engage in lively discussions and develop innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems. . During the Young BSF, young people from the Western Balkans had the opportunity to discuss youth issues in the region, within the framework of the Western Balkans Youth Cooperation Platform (WBYCP), established in 2017. This platform aims to connect and empower youth organizations in the Western Balkans. Six.
During its five years of operation, the WBYCP created the first bottom-up platform for youth cooperation, provided a systematic forum for communication and coordination, and empowered the youth of WB6 with the aim of reaching them and involve them in the process of developing regional policies.
Announced in 2020, the Economic and Investment Plan (EIP) will support growth and reforms in WB6 to the tune of €30 billion across six main themes and 10 flagship initiatives. Although one part specifically targets youth, WB6 youth have a direct interest in the IEP. Within the framework of the 10 flagship programs of the EIP, it is crucial to involve the perspective of youth, as a key beneficiary of all investments and projects implemented in the Balkans.
While the Youth Guarantee – Flagship Program 10 deals directly with youth, the implementation process of the flagship mechanism is vague and not comprehensive for youth CSOs who should follow this process and be an integral part of its implementation .
During the YBSF working sessions coordinated by WBYCP partners, the WBYCP invited young people to discuss the youth perspective and their practical involvement in sectoral policies, as well as relevant stakeholders linked to the EIP flagship projects , in order to examine current events and prepare concrete recommendations on possible actions to deconstruct. the participation of young people in these policies.
One of the key topics of the two meetings held so far has been the economy and youth employability.
Nikolina Radonjić, a participant from Montenegro, explains for ISF that particular attention has been paid to the Youth Guarantee, as it is one of the flagship products of the EIP.
“We also discussed topics such as digital connectivity and green transformation, as they are of particular importance in the difficult circumstances we live in,” says Radonjić.
She emphasizes that these meetings are of great importance because they offer the opportunity to map the current challenges facing young people in the region.
“Particularly the obstacles that have arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Young people from the region also had the opportunity to discuss possible solutions to current challenges. In addition to mapping the problems, we found that even though we come from different countries, our problems are the same, such as youth unemployment or brain drain. In this way, being able to communicate not only with young people from the WB region, but also with young citizens from EU countries, gave us insight into how they cope or how they have faces the challenges of the WB countries. that we are facing at the moment,” emphasizes Radonjić.
Dafina Pecione of the Young BSF coordinators, who also participated in these sessions, says that for the European Western Balkans, the importance of these meetings mainly lies in two main elements: capacity building and networking.
“As young people are educated, trained, mentored or guided by top professionals in their field of expertise, this provides them with a huge opportunity to acquire new information, increase their capabilities, formulate new ideas and become more aware, while simultaneously transforming them into process-oriented people. On the other hand, they also have the unique opportunity to create cross-border cooperation and advocate resoundingly in larger scale decision-making spheres, such as regional mechanisms and institutions, EU institutions or the “UN,” says Peci.
What are the main challenges facing youth in the region?
The economic situation of youth in the Western Balkans has been a persistent problem for years. Decent jobs, good education and further training are often sought by young people in the region and developed European countries.
Nikolina Radonjić highlights that the main problems regarding the economic situation of WB youth are unemployment, as well as the high percentage of young people who want to leave the WB countries where they currently live.
“Another element that consequently influences the economic situation of young people is the divergence between academic programs and courses offered in relation to the knowledge and skills that the market sector needs,” says Radonjić.
According to Dafina Peci, the lack of coherence between the education system and the needs of the labor market, outdated labor laws, insufficient resources and poor trade policies torment the region’s youth.
Following these two-day working groups at the Young BSF, the WBYCP/CDI compiled key recommendations with concrete actions aimed at involving young people in sectoral policy-making processes.
“The recommendations are first brought together in a joint statement, which serves as an agreed baseline for distribution to all relevant stakeholders, as well as a public statement for the media and society. On the other hand, young people, young leaders and partners are encouraged to adopt these recommendations by adapting them to the local context and also inviting government institutions to participate in a structured dialogue for joint action,” explains Nikolina Radonjić.
According to Radonjić, during the WBYCP session, the main solution that was highlighted regarding the economic situation of young people in the WB was to facilitate youth dialogue with the government, with the possibility of creating a digital tool for consultation of young people. .
“One of the solutions was to give more opportunities for youth umbrella organizations to cooperate with institutions, as they can play a role in representing the challenges that young people face,” she noted.
“Strategically build connectivity infrastructure between EU countries and with potential EU members, in order to strengthen cooperation and mutual benefits in the economic field. This connectivity plan must integrate young people as the main beneficiary in a multi-sectoral perspective,” says Dafina Peci.
She added that in order to ameliorate the biggest economic problems facing youth in WB countries, labor law legislation encourages a dialogue between civil society, institutions and the business community for an approach renewed employability programs and the fight against brain drain. some of the recommendations.
She mentioned the launch of sectoral growth careers for young people, blue-collar careers to bring young people closer to sectoral policies and opportunities. The EU can help improve the situation through the Western Balkans Economic and Investment Plan.
Nikolina Radonjić highlighted the importance of the economic and investment plan for the Western Balkans.
“This plan is of great importance for the entire region as it aims to support long-term economic recovery, as well as digital and green transformation and accelerate much-needed reforms in WB countries to help them to follow the EU path. One of the ten flagship projects was discussed in detail during the WBYCP session, and it was the one that directly concerned young people. The Youth Guarantee should guarantee young people that within four months of losing their job or finishing formal education, they will receive a good quality job offer, further education, apprenticeship or internship. The lesson learned from the case of North Macedonia, as was mentioned during the session, is that for the Youth Guarantee to be effective, there must be a strong cross-sectoral institutional priority, as well as cooperation between institutions and youth organizations,” concluded Nikolina Radonjić.