Local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina are behind us. The constituent sessions have been held, and somewhere the second, third or seventh session in a row is already being held. Councilors are mostly new people who have gained the trust of citizens for the first time and are moving in the direction of creating better opportunities and policies. Of course, there are also a number of councilors who are not new and who have one or more terms behind them. All this is behind us. What lies ahead is much more important. So, we are not interested in who had more votes and who is in which political option, we are interested in the results that councilors can achieve in the coming period, and we will talk about some specific examples.
By: Jasmina Banjalučkić, Institute for Youth Development KULT
Training for young politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina participated significantly in the last local elections. Namely, the citizens had the opportunity to give their vote to young people and a significant number of them gained trust. In order for young people to be ready for what awaits them in the election process, but also when they are elected, numerous efforts have been made by domestic non-governmental organizations. Some of them also made noticeable results, such as the UMiDp training for young political leaders, conducted by the Institute for Youth Development KULT, where 13 participants were elected to councils or assemblies, and one participant was elected mayor. The Institute for Youth and Community Development Perpetuum mobile has been organizing the Academy for Political Leaders in BiH for years, where eight young people who attended the Academy through the last two generations were elected to councils and assemblies. The Boris Divković Foundation has trained dozens of young politicians through the Academy of Political Responsibility, and twelve of them in 2020. were elected to councils and assemblies. In addition to the above, young politicians have the opportunity to learn about important topics through trainings organized by their political parties, but also some other international organizations and institutions such as the Council of Europe in BiH.
Each of the trainings contributed in a certain way to the growth and development of young politicians, they were offered knowledge and tools that they can use in their work. The question for young politicians is whether they use the knowledge and tools they received in the trainings? If not, when will it? If so, what is the experience of being the voice of young people in councils and assemblies? Young people in local communities throughout BiH expect changes, they expect their voice to be heard. All three laws governing the field of youth in BiH – the Law on Youth of FBiH, the Law on Youth Organization of RS and the Law on Youth of Brčko District of BiH – clearly state that each community is obliged to have a youth commission, in whose work youth representatives will participate. Youth representatives in this context are young people active in youth councils and youth organizations. Representatives of the youth sector should address requests to selection and appointment commissions, invoke laws, and demand youth participation in decision-making through the youth commission. Young councilors should advocate in councils and assemblies the formation of a youth commission if it does not already exist, but also enable the participation of youth representatives in commissions.
Local youth policies vs. politics
Young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina very often experience participation in decision-making processes only in elections, which is insufficient. It is time to start a discussion in Bosnia and Herzegovina about what needs to be done at the local level, and to say that we really care about young people systematically. It is important that young people are asked, encouraged and respected as valuable participants in decision-making processes throughout the mandate of the local council or assembly. This is an area that must be understood by decision-makers, but also by us who work in civil society organizations and youth organizations, in order to finally take responsible care of young people, which means that their voice is heard and respected in democratic processes. Young people in politics can help their peers, especially those who are elected, because they have the opportunity to make direct decisions that affect the lives of young people in the community.
Involving young people in decision-making processes in local communities is based on their involvement in creating the environment in which they live. In order for young people to be able to participate, they also need support. This support on the one hand comes from civil society, as is the case with empowering young people through non-formal education. On the other hand, it is the responsibility of decision makers to ensure equal opportunities and publicity and transparency of all processes relevant to young people. In this way, young people will be significantly motivated to get involved in various processes themselves. New and innovative forms of youth participation in decision-making processes was presented in a publication made by the Council of Europe, which discusses several important aspects:
- Joint management and creation, consultation as well as the creation of spaces for participation are considered more innovative forms of participation;
- Youth councils and similar bodies, activism and protests are seen as less innovative forms of participation.
However, “more innovative” forms of participation are not more or less productive than “less innovative” ones. “More innovative” forms face the same barriers as those faced by “less innovative” ones, and these barriers include:
- Lack of funds,
- Lack of political support,
- Lack of understanding by the authorities.
The role of young politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be focused on securing more resources, stronger political support and promoting the positive values of youth participation in decision-making among their party colleagues, but also colleagues in councils and assemblies. If we understand why youth participation is important and how much this topic is represented in the European institutions, it is time to ensure the implementation of mechanisms that enable their participation. We mentioned the youth commission. This working body can and should be advocated by young councilors in their communities. More importantly, they should advocate functional youth commissions, not those that exist only on paper.
In addition to the Youth Commission, there are a number of other working bodies in which young people should be involved and through which they should be consulted, such as those that decide on health, education, culture, sports, but also those that decide on scholarships, funds for youth projects, employment and similar topics. If the goal is for young people to be active, then their involvement in creating the environment in which they live is necessary.
All this is the basis for creating policies towards young people, which represent the actions of decision makers in the direction of providing answers to the accumulated problems and needs of young people. Long-term neglect of the problems and needs of young people in the community will not solve the problem, on the contrary. For this reason, young politicians, elected in the last elections, have an obligation to ensure better policies towards young people, based on the real problems and needs of this population. It is time to understand that youth housing can and should be the subject of interest of the local council or assembly, as well as mental health, employment, but also the social care of young people. These are topics that decision makers need to discuss when talking about young people, rather than repeating from session to session that young people are the biggest problem in society, how they are leaving and how they have no perspective. The perspective for young people, but also for other citizens, will not be created by itself.
Good things come to those who wait – young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina do not wait, they leave
The established opinion that young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina most often emigrate in search of better educational programs and better employment opportunities in recent years is changing the paradigm, so we can talk about young people leaving because they do not see the prospect of raising a family, housing and the like. Many of these reasons may also be the subject of local youth policies where local authorities, using existing resources, can create better opportunities for young people. This does not mean that young people will still not leave, but it does mean that by making evidence-based decisions (researching young people’s problems and needs) we will offer long-term care for young people that can produce the desired effects in the future. Young people are not waiting, their hope for a better tomorrow is unfortunately less and less present.
It is often presented to the public that young people very quickly decide to leave the country on the principle of “packing up” and “leaving forever, no matter what.” But young people prone to this option are certainly a smaller group than those who plan their departure from high school where instead of planning the occupation they will pursue (study), they plan to leave. Research conducted in Croatia in 2018 The experience of migration and planned departures of young people in Croatia show, and which is very applicable to young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that young people who decide to seek a “better life” abroad agree to a series of compromises. It means getting out of the comfort zone and at least a partial break with the current way of life as well as family and friends. For this reason, each community should aim to create the conditions for the stay of as many young people as possible, and in the event of their emigration to maintain or build opportunities that would motivate them to return.
Prompted by this situation, decision-makers in local communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina must start acting “yesterday”. Quality local youth policies can provide better living conditions for this population. This cannot happen instantly and it is not possible to expect results tomorrow, but like youth work it is imperative that we see results in the future. True, young people are not just the future and for that reason the measures and decisions made by young councilors must be a response to the needs of young people from the community. In that case, the youth sector, activists and volunteers, as well as youth officers in local communities throughout BiH, play a huge role. It is up to all of us, youth officers, youth workers and leaders, to ensure the flow of information and to be persistent in our efforts. It is also up to us to be informed, to teach and instruct young people we work with not to hesitate to ask, not to be afraid to knock on the doors of decision makers, to organize and demand respect for their rights.
Our voice, our responsibility. The decision of young people to run in local elections is their responsibility to perform the entrusted duty consciously and responsibly in compliance with the constitution and the law. The Law on Youth of FBiH, the Law on Youth Organization of RS and the Law on Youth of Brčko District of BiH can be the starting positions, and there are all other rights of young people guaranteed by the Constitution of BiH, Constitution of FBiH, Constitution of RS and Statute of Brčko District of BiH as well as other laws and bylaws.
