The Institute for Youth Development KULT held the #YOUTHinkBiH event celebrating International Volunteer Day on December 5, 2019 and promoting the work of young leaders, youth workers and Youth Officers over the past year. The event included more than one hundred young people and representatives of various institutions whose purview includes youth issues. The participants offered concrete solutions to the problems they identified in their local communities. Three of the best proposals will be provided with mentorship and financial support by the Institute over the course of next year. All three ideas concern environmental protection; one group will put up Eco Boxes in supermarkets, the second will build Eco corners, and the third group will set up waste collection hotspots that will be used to eventually turn waste into secondary raw materials.
“Eco Box is an initiative designed to raise consciousness about selective waste disposal. Eco Boxes will be used to sort waste that will be recycled, and citizens will be rewarded with discounts in supermarkets”, said Kenan Suljić from Srebrenik, a member of the group behind the Eco Box idea.
The #YOUTHinkBiH event was intended to reward the young people whose volunteer work throughout the year contributed to improving the society and quality of life for all. Over the past year, the Institute supported dozens of initiatives and businesses launched by young people that were presented during the event.
“Today, the Institute has 30 employees, and it all began with volunteering. So, I know that volunteering is the foundation for success in anything you do. I’m grateful to these young people for improving our society, and to those a bit older who spend their time working with youth. I wish you a happy International Volunteer Day from the bottom of my heart”, said Jasmin Bešić, Executive Director of the Institute for Youth Development KULT.
Today’s event was organized with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden in BiH. The Embassy’s Program Officer, Nedim Bukvić, said he was pleased to take part in today’s event, and believes that youth work is important not just for youth, but also for institutions in charge of creating better conditions for youth development across BiH.
