In a country where 67% of youth are unemployed and only 9% are married and where there is a large number of youth who wish to permanently leave the country, it is high time to address the youth issues in a purposeful way
As a part of the Youth Watch Youth Policy Initiative and with the support of the EU, on 6 March 2015 in Hotel Holywood in IlidĹľa, the Institute for Youth Development KULT organised a conference „New Parliament – Same Youth Problems“. The Initiative aims to contribute to establishing sustainable mechanisms of cooperation between the governmental and non-governmental sector and the system for monitoring, evaluation, analysis and advocating of youth policy implementation on all levels of government in BiH.
In a country where 67% of youth are unemployed and only 9% are married and where there is a large number of youth who wish to permanently leave the country, it is high time to address the youth issues in a purposeful way. Today, in our discussion with the MPs, we are focusing on the decision makers, those who can bring fundamental changes to the Parliament, and that will be implemented by the governments in Bosnia and Herzegovina according to their suggestions. We believe there is a legislative framework for changing the position of the youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina and it is something we have been working on in the previous sessions of the Parliament. The youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina can make a difference, but only with the support of their senior colleagues, because they themselves cannot make decisions. We expect them to initiate the change in their political parties and to make decisions that are appropriate for the youth. Alas, the government did not respond to youth problems. When addressing the legal possibilities, changes have been brought up, but the major issue of implementation still remains, underlined Jasmin Beši? – the executive director of the Institute for Youth Development KULT.
As a part of the conference, information about youth policy implementation that have been integrated as a part of the platform Institutions’ Integrity Indeks www.integritet.ba have been presented. The online platform enables anyone who is interested an overview of the coordination level of the institutions in charge for the youth according to their purview, legal frameworks and regulations in accordance with the laws concerning the youth in BiH.
The issues of the youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been regulated by the Youth Law of FBiH and the Law on Youth Organising of Republika Srpska. Both of the laws prescribe certain measures for the institutions on all levels of government that should regulate the youth issues and result in a better care for the youth in BiH. Our analysis reviews the youth policies directly, and our results state that the institutions do not dedicate enough attention to the youth. The burning issues of the youth are unemployment and the youth leaving the country. Our researches show that over 70% of youth would permanently leave Bosnia and Herzegovina, while 67% are unemployed. It is important to emphasize that only 16% of the institutions allocate certain funds for incentivising youth employment, stated Ĺ eherzada Halimi?, the presenter of the research into youth policy.
The gathered information resulted in a publication entitled Analysis of Youth Policies at all Levels of Government in BiH for 2012/2013. The publication was presented to the conference participants – the young representatives in the Parliament of BiH, Parliament of FBiH, to the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and to the cantonal assemblies in FBiH. The publication thus galvanised a discussion of making and implementing youth policies that are placed in front of the new session of youth representatives on all levels of government, as well as in front of the civil society organisations.
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