Regional conference on youth policy and youth participation

The regional conference on youth policy and youth participation in society was held in Sarajevo from November 12th to November 13th and was organized by the Forum Syd Balkan Programme and the Coordinating Commission on Youth Issues of the Council of Ministers of the Bosnia and Herzegovina, sponsored by the Office of the Special Representative of the European Commission and supported by the Swedish Agency for International Development. The conference gathered representatives of governmental institutions, local and national organisations, youth wings of political parties, international organisations, youth councils, students and media from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia.

Aim of the conference was to create awareness on the youth and state role in the accession process of the SEE countries to the EU. Special attention was brought to active participation of youth in society and the participants were searching for different concepts and models of civic participation in SEE region on youth participation challenges. Some best practice models from Sweden and Slovenia were presented and models of ensuring preconditions for active participation through informing and education were introduced. The discussion on possible regional initiatives was opened as well.

Croatian Youth Network was represented by Marija Hrebac who held the presentation on youth policy development in Croatia.