After this year’s summer camp of activism, we continue socializing and working with an excellent group of young people from 12 local communities (Bihać, Centar Sarajevo, Gacko, Goražde, Gradiška, Istočno Sarajevo, Mostar, Novo Sarajevo, Prozor-Rama, Prijedor, Ugljevik and Vitez) and follow their successes in trying to make the voice of the youth of their communities stronger.
The team from Prijedor is large and consists of seven girls: Ana, Jovana, Marina, two Majas, Drena and Sonja. These young activists, along with their colleague Medina, a UN volunteer who works directly with the ReLOaD2 program in Prijedor, shared their impressions, ideas and thoughts about the reasons for entering the world of activism, about what they want to achieve for themselves and other young people in their community, and how they intend to make it happen. The girls say that activism just happened to them. Medina explains: “Activism is all of us together in search of change.” It seems to me that activism can be one of the ways to love the community and the landscape to which we belong, by looking for ways to maintain dialogue on sensitive and important topics, by making our criticism consistent and constructive…”, and Ana adds : “To provide generations after us with a better life and resources.”
Maja Đ. and Maja Z. say that everything actually started with the questions: “How to bring good change to society? How do we even know what exactly is the change that is needed, and what is the right way to plant and nurture it in the community we live in? ” The entire team confirms that they joined the story of activism and change out of a desire to improve the environment and make the changes true. As it is the case with generations born in the 21st century, these activists are aware of how important it is to contribute to positive changes in their community and society and how important the role of young people is in shaping the future. Sonja points out: “We wanted to be active participants in that process. We were also motivated by the desire to express our views and ideas and to encourage others to join and support common goals.”
The question about the experiences from the Activism Camp and organizing a dialogue with young people in Prijedor brings a smile to the faces and the team is happy to talk about the changes that happened to them as well as the newly acquired experiences, skills and knowledge. The girls say that the experiences they gained through the camp and organizing a dialogue for young people in the community changed them in many ways. Ana starts first and admits: “I have never, until now, thought about some things. I have a different view of activism and volunteering.” Marina, building on Ana’s story, gives us her opinion: “It was a new experience for me, and I think for all of us.” We learned how to successfully collaborate in a team environment, develop communication skills and organize events and activities . We gained a deeper understanding of the importance of young people in society and different aspects of activism.”
The girls emphasize that actually the knowledge and skills they acquired during the camp, as well as organizing dialogue for young people, were crucial for them to feel that they can and know how to continue working on changes, or as Drena said: “We became better acquainted with specific topics that interested us and they heard a lot of other educational things so we became more confident in our efforts to change things in those areas.”
“And we also learned about various ways to ask for help from the City Administration ,” adds Ana.
The youth dialogue in Prijedor, which was organized by young activists with the help of a mentor from the Institute for Youth Development KULT, the support of a UN volunteer engaged in the ReLOaD2 program and the support of youth officials, gathered 36 young people from the city, and such a large response to the dialogue confirms that young in Prijedor, they want greater involvement in decision-making processes, an opportunity for education and skill development, and support in employment and professional development . Marina points out that it is also important for young people to have a safe and stimulating environment, and the opportunity to express themselves and contribute to the community .
Ana tells us about what young people want, what young people need and how it can be achieved: “Young people want change in the community, they have motivation but not support. Young people need education, because in reality we do not know much about the world around us and the environment. We are only educated from the book and not educated about life. This can be achieved with the help of the education of various professionals from various fields, where they teach us about different topics.”
Jovana says about the experience during the dialogue: “Their passion and engagement inspire us to continue with these kinds of events.” We look forward to future activities that will enable young people to contribute to positive changes in the city.”
In accordance with the European Youth Strategy 2019-2027, which focuses on affirming the participation of young people in civic and democratic life, empowering young people through the quality and innovation of work with young people and its recognition, and emphasizing the importance of active citizenship and engagement of young people in decision-making processes and their key role in shaping positive social change, young activists remain committed to the task of working to create opportunities and encourage collaboration between youth and other community members to achieve these goals.
“Well, first we planned to dedicate ourselves to education” , Ana tells us, explaining that the team and a lot of young people first want to get more life skills and knowledge in various fields: “To begin with, we want to see how to find specific people for those lectures/presentations. With that, we are starting the implementation of the “Life and business education” project.
“The voices of young people are essential for a better future and only together young people can redefine what is possible” , Sonja tells us, and the young people in Prijedor definitely have concrete proposals on how to improve their position and realize their needs. In order for the proposals to become initiatives that will bear fruit in the coming period, many activities are ahead, but the girls are aware that they cannot and should not do this alone. They say they learned that activism must be wise and that allies must be found.
“Allies can help young people by providing resources, information, mentorship, and practical support.” “Also, joint cooperation with different allies can help young people to realize their initiatives and contribute to positive changes in their community ,” Marina tells us.
Local authorities and youth organizations and schools, citizens and the community, other young leaders and activists, as well as the media, are seen by the girls as their allies and those who can help the young people of Prijedor to initiate an initiative or concrete activity.
“The Youth Council of Prijedor and the City Administration of the City of Prijedor can help us ,” Ana tells us, explaining that the relationship with the local authorities is crucial in terms of support through access to resources, the relationship with citizens, the community and the media is important for the promotion and mass of supporters of the initiative carried out by young people and a partnership relationship with schools, other young leaders, activists and organizations is vital if one wants to achieve sustainability, constant development and improvement of skills through mentoring, training, exchange of best practices and promotion of volunteering and activism and participation in dialogues, in order to address the needs of young people.
Thanks to the project “Strengthening the capacity of young people from 13 partner communities”, which is part of the Regional Program of Local Democracy in the Western Balkans 2 – ReLOaD2, funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Institute for Youth Development KULT gathered these excellent young people at the Activism Camp in the community where we learned and transferred the best practices of active participation of young people in the local community and in decision-making, work of local authorities, activism, volunteering and starting initiatives and starting a dialogue with young people. Mentorship and support for the organization of the Dialog for Youth consultative mechanism in Prijedor was an opportunity to get to know this excellent team even better and to together answer all the challenges of positioning young people and their key role in shaping positive social changes.
Source: mladi.org
