Youth officers provide support and help to youth organizations and young people to overcome daily challenges in their work and be strong actors for the development of the communities in which they operate. The Institute for Youth Development KULT especially emphasizes the improvement of the position and the promotion of the role of youth officers, with the aim of working with and for young people together to be a step forward towards their better position in society.
Throughout her life, Tatjana Letić has been around young people through various activities. Since his high school days, he has been actively engaged in youth work as a member of the youth group of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, but also in handball as a member of the women’s handball club “Radnik”. She graduated from the Faculty of Business Economics at the University of East Sarajevo and is an economist by profession. Tatjana has been an employee of the City Administration of the City of Bijeljina for seven years, and has been working as a youth employee for the last three years.
When asked how important her formal education was to her career path, Tatjana states: “I often say that economics was not my original choice. It just happened that way and I don’t regret it because during my studies I met a lot of quality people with whom I collaborated in the future. The knowledge I gained through formal education is only the first step in my further education.”
She emphasizes that informal education through various seminars and trainings played a very important role in her personal and professional development.
Tatjana attended the Basic Training for Youth Officers conducted by the Institute for Youth Development KULT. She believes that this training was very important for her: “The basic training for youth workers is the best thing that happened to me personally and a tailwind in my professional development. Only when I came to the first module and met phenomenal colleagues from other cities, I realized how little I know about my report and what phenomenal things youth workers from other cities do. For me, the creation of a strategic document was a “spectre”, a totally unknown concept. “Cooperation with colleagues from other cities is very important ,” she states.
When it comes to the role of a youth officer in local government, Tatjana believes that a youth officer should be a person who is always available to young people.
“I often tell young people in my town that being a youth worker is not a scary role and that I am available for any possible questions that concern them. “I should be the link between them and the decision-makers, to help their ideas come true ,” he states.
On the adoption of the Youth Policy for the period 2023-2028. year, as well as the Action Plan for 2024 and the work process so far, he says: “A team of five people worked on the creation of the Youth Policy of the City of Bijeljina in cooperation with high school student councils and youth organizations in the area of Bijeljina. In Bijeljina, the results of work with young people can be seen every day, such as support in organizing various events, workshops or projects.”
Tatjana’s future plans in working with young people will focus primarily on revising the register of youth organizations and starting the first phase of creating a space for young people.
“Unfortunately, we have many inactive youth organizations in the area of the city, and therefore we do not have accurate data on the actual number of active young people. When it comes to space for young people, my personal satisfaction would be to create a space for young people because I think that space would mean a lot to young people in Bijeljina ,” she says.
He tells young people in Bijeljina and the rest of the country not to give up on their dreams, to be persistent, to work on themselves, to take advantage of all the opportunities offered, because every new acquaintance, something new learned helps to build a personality!
The Institute for Youth Development KULT plans, organizes and implements training programs for youth officers and certification of officers who work with young people in city, municipal and cantonal authorities. The training program consists of basic and advanced training. The basic training program qualifies the participant to perform the duties of an expert in the state service for work with youth and is attended by persons who meet the criteria for applying for a public invitation according to the Rulebook on training procedures and certification of youth officials of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports. Advanced training is attended by persons who have a certificate of the basic training program for the purpose of improvement and further training. The basic training program for an official lasts 120 working hours, divided into modules.
Source: madi.org
