The first Convention on Youth Work in Bosnia and Herzegovina produced numerous recommendations and conclusions, reflecting the majority view of participants. These aim to highlight to all stakeholders, especially decision-makers and the public, the importance of youth work, recognizing all contributors, and integrating Bosnia and Herzegovina into current regional and European programs.
While the youth sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina aligns with European programs and activities, including the Bonn process, its implementation within BiH has not yet begun adequately. Many European youth programs in BiH are only partially implemented. The event gathered individuals eager to have their voices heard, aiming to address key issues in the youth sector and foster new partnerships, connections, and joint initiatives.
In September, a follow-up event will be held to reconnect with participants, review their progress, discuss the implementation of the advice received, and explore further opportunities for support and improvement of their work.
Participants worked in groups to discuss how to improve youth work, and to share recommendations and conclusions, which will be used as inputs in future work on the topic. The participants directed their recommendations and conclusions to the wider community—including the media, academic institutions, religious organizations, researchers, and the private sector—as well as to government institutions, decision-makers, the youth sector, and young people themselves.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE COMMUNITY
Regarding recommendations for the media, participants emphasize the importance of carefully curating content shared with the public and conveying key messages effectively through titles. The goal of a published article should be to promote positive stories that benefit the community, rather than simply drawing a glance and being instantly forgotten. It’s important to recognize that not all young people use the same news portals, and many of these portals don’t provide content that is tailored to their interests.
Participants also emphasized the need for more active involvement of the academic community in youth-focused organizations because achieving the final goal requires collaboration. It is important to adapt to modern methods and innovate the academic community’s approach to working with youth. It is also necessary to promote activism through the education system – forming clubs, holding additional classes, etc. This approach will help the academic community better understand young people. Teachers should participate in non-formal education and support young people in becoming activists and leading change.
Through religious studies, religious communities have the opportunity to promote youth activism, altruism, and the positive aspects of multiculturalism. They should take advantage of this position and guide youth towards becoming active members of the society.
Researchers who deal with youth issues should adjust the research methodology so that sampling and data collection are focused on the target groups. It is important to ask young people what they think about the topic before they start the research process. The needs of young people change, so the research methodology should evolve accordingly.
The participants believe that the for-profit sector should work on aligning the needs of the labor market with education and training, and help young people use the knowledge they have in practice.
The conclusion reached by the participants as they deliberated recommendations for the broader community was that young people should be recognized as equal members of society in all aspects.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GOVERNMENTS AND DECISION MAKERS
The group of participants also engaged in discussions with government institutions and decision-makers, leading to several key recommendations. First of all, it is necessary to acknowledge young people and youth issues at all levels and in all documents, not only in youth strategies, because young people are important in every segment!
What is unfortunately not often talked about but is extremely important for young people is the appreciation and recognition of their volunteer work. The groups agree that volunteer work should be recognized in the enrolment processes of public schools and universities because it is an extremely important part of young people’s lives, benefits the community, and requires youth to make sacrifices and give their free time to good causes.
Entity and Brčko District Governments should analyze the implementation and enforcement of laws and regulations and give a clear answer to questions of how much space there is for youth, what the youth budget is, and other provisions outlined in youth laws. The implementation of youth laws is also very important, as is sharing the results of the implementation. Just as it is important to monitor the implementation of youth laws, it is equally important to monitor the implementation of youth strategies. Otherwise, both of these documents will exist in name only and will not benefit youth or the community.
The group also believes it is necessary to establish a Youth Commission at the state level, define the position, responsibilities, and functions of youth officers in legislation, increase budget allocations for youth at all levels, work on changing the regulations for commission appointments, particularly the Youth Commission, and regularly analyze the conditions and needs of young people together with authorities.
In conclusion, government institutions need to work not only on the adoption of documents but also on continuous implementation and routine monitoring.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE YOUTH SECTOR
As the most important recommendation, the groups emphasized the need to unite the youth sector and organizations working with young people. They believe that a more unified and defined approach within the youth sector will allow them to achieve much more together.
The youth sector should not and must not be invisible and non-responsive in the face of problems that affect it. Participants agreed that there is often a lack of understanding from the wider community and donors, and a lack of solidarity in situations where support is needed. The youth sector should be an example of proactive action, unity and perseverance in the development and achievement of goals that are important to young people.
How do we meet, network and collaborate?
The participants presented several valuable proposals for the future work of organizations dedicated to youth: create a state-level calendar of activities for all youth-related topics; organize semi-annual or annual meet-ups for the youth sector to exchange experiences; introduce ‘peer-to-peer’ education, which they believe, based on their experiences, is the most effective way to learn.
The participants also noted that the youth sector should be a little more open to young people, because sometimes its openness is limited by current capacities or donor support. They recommended establishing stronger and continuous cooperation with the academic community, advocating for youth policies, and making sure that the youth sector is acting on real problems, which can be identified through surveys and research on youth and their needs.
During the event, young people repeatedly emphasized the need to define who youth workers are, their responsibilities, and who deals with their capacities, functions, and duties. Some of these questions were answered in earlier sessions during the event. Detailed information about the talks and discussions are available at mladi.org.
The bottom line on this topic is: We are not enemies; we are partners – we have to strengthen partnerships between organizations that work with young people. Let’s go where young people are – social media, the streets, we’ll be there together!
MESSAGES FOR YOUTH
These are the messages for young people:
- Learn about your rights and obligations you were given in the Law on Youth!
- Be proactive citizens in your communities.
- Set your own boundaries, but respect others’ boundaries as well.
- Be young and responsible.
- Follow your dreams.
- Be resourceful and persistent, and bring back the spirit of activism to the youth sector.
- The non-governmental sector offers more than certificates and short-term benefits. It generates opportunities for the present and the future!
- Do not judge those who do not see themselves in activism or the youth sector; try to explain the advantages to them.
- Activism is not just about having fun at events. Activism means being loud in the right place at the right time.
- Start with yourself – be more active and less reactive.
The Institute for Youth Development KULT organized the First Convention on Youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the support of the Embassy of Sweden in Bosnia and Herzegovina. RSG is our exclusive radio partner.
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