In the past two years, the Institute for Youth Development KULT has allocated around 330,000 BAM for youth initiatives within the program “Strengthening skills and building leadership in youth”. During that period, 29 youth initiatives were supported in 17 communities throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. All initiatives are visible on the interactive map available at this link.
Initiatives focus on development sector, implementation of existing youth legislation, youth participation and involvement, activism, and capacity building of organizations. Ongoing financial and mentoring support to civil society organizations working with young people will strengthen the youth work sector and provide them with the necessary support for advocacy initiatives to represent the interests of young people.
One of the initiatives is “I kopija vrijedi” implemented by the Association of Secondary School Students in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As part of their initiative, they advocate a change in the enrollment policy in Republika Srpska, which limits high school students to apply to only one faculty, because they have to submit original documents when applying for different faculties. The solution offered and advocated by the Association is a change in the articles of higher education laws that limit high school students to one choice. Before the start of the advocacy campaign, the “I kopija vrijedi” camp was held where 36 high school students were successfully informed about the goal, structure and previous results of the “I kopija vrijedi” initiative, and information was collected from participants about the (un)successful implementation of the initiative in their local communities. In addition, the publication “Analiza stavova srednjoškolaca o mogućnosti apliciranja na studije sa ovjerenom kopijom dokumenata” was finalized, which will create an argumentation platform for advocating the initiative in Republika Srpska. The Association, in cooperation with other partners, in previous years has successfully implemented this initiative at almost all public universities in the Federation of BiH.
Most of the initiatives are supported through the Emergency Fund. The Institute occasionally has an Emergency Fund for Civil Society Organizations. The goal of this fund is to improve the position of the youth and youth sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through this fund, applicants can very easily support existing or create completely new programs and activities for a better position of young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Young people part of the Association of Citizens “Korijeni/Roots” Ugljevik, together with their friends and partners from the Youth Association of the Municipality of Sapna “Korak/Step” implemented the initiative “Together for Majevica”. They educated young people from these communities, but also left a lasting mark by arranging and equipping with sitting areas for tourists, a place for rest and leisure near Lake Mezgraja in the municipality of Ugljevik and a place for rest and leisure near Lake Sniježnica in the municipality of Sapna. By working together on these locations, young people have shown that they are ready to build the future of BiH together through cooperation, dialogue, work and activism.
Support for young people and civil society organizations is of great importance for young people, but also for entire communities, and is one of the mechanisms to keep young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The support of the Institute in this period was provided by the Embassy of Sweden in BiH, and the Institute will continue with similar activities in the future in accordance with the resources at its disposal and support young people and improve their position in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
