There are around 700,000 youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina, persons aged 15-30, according to the Youth Law. The most productive and the most perspective category of populace, the future of every country, as many would agree.
Today we celebrate the International Youth Day.
The United Nations (UN) declared August 12 as International Youth Day in 1999, and since then, it has been commemorated every year in order to promote youth activism and recognize the efforts and actions of youth who contribute to positive changes, development and the economic welfare of communities and the society in general all around the world.
And where are youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina?!
At the social margin, as many other of their fellow citizens. This is not some pointless criticism of those who sit in the comfort of their homes and slander in blogs, forums and social networks… That is the devastating statistics that might be even worse than the current data, because the data is published sporadically.
According to the data of the analysis of states and requirements of youth in FBiH, realized by the Institute for Youth Development KULT, since the war ended, over 150,000 youth have left BiH. Is it too much to wonder why?!
Is it enough to say that there are around 67% of youth unemployed in this country?! That out of three youth, one is employed and the other two are searching for employment?
We are forgetting the fact that high unemployment rate not only “forces” youth to leave the country, but that it also has a negative effect on BiH economy, destroying the competitiveness of workforce and bringing youth in a long-term disadvantaged position.
The data from the 2013 Census was a certain alarm, but still, we primarily focused on counting blood cells, and after allowing things to settle down, we took interest in illiteracy, in the number of youth with no formal or informal education, the number of people capable of working and the number of people who are actually employed.
It seems as if we are still insufficiently concerned by the fact that 60% of youth want to leave the country in search of employment, quality education and a better life. We are not even concerned by the fact that one third of youth in BiH fail to complete their high school education, nor that the unemployment rate is highest among youth aged 15-24, because if we were concerned, we would have a Youth Strategy, we would procure relevant data about the position of youth and twould implement the Youth Law. The Youth Councils, as legitimate representatives of this populace, would muster greater support and be more involved in enacting decisions relevant to them.
So far we have the Youth Law and the Youth Policy of RS for 2016-2020 and we are still waiting for the Youth Strategy of FBiH to be adopted. Still, individuals claim that things have improved significantly, and that we should not be worried by the fact that 2016 has almost ended.
Today is August 12 – the International Youth Day. We commemorate this significant date without 150,000 youth who decided to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina in search of a better life somewhere else. We are simultaneously waiting for a new miracle because this country still pursues the parole “Fish and visitors stink after three days”. We are waiting for the three days to pass, so that the attention of youth would be directed toward something else, so they would forget about the laws, plans and strategies. To live lethargically for a little while longer and repeat all this next year, on August 12.
To publish the same text, with the exact or more alarming data, problems with no solutions or willingness to solve them. To observe the rise in the number of departing youth and change nothing in this country.
Leave a comment