The final press conference of Mlada Evropa initiative, where the results of the initiative were presented, was held in the EU info centre on 30 April 2015.
Mr Vladimir Pandurevi? spoke to the press as a representative of the EU Delegation, emphasizing that the EU is happy to support a project such as Sarajevo 2014 that includes Mlada Evropa initiative that aims to honour the 100th anniversary of World War I. It is crucial to continue working on the development of sustainable peace, which is indicated by the recent unfortunate events in Zvornik. Mr Pandurevi? emphasized that youth are the brightest point of the society. Mr Jens Wagner, the culture attache for the German Embassy in BiH spoke at the conference about the activities of Mlada Evropa Initiative and the most important conclusions that youth listed through the international youth conference, which are: active youth participation in democratic processes, international youth networking and overcoming nationalism. Mr Wagner emphasized the positive experience of Germany, that has good relations with France and Poland after the conflict, due to, in addition to other factors, youth exchanges between the countries.
Following the international youth conference, three regional conferences were held in Mostar, Banja Luka and Tuzla in which the most significant strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats were emphasized through the SWOT analysis workshop. The project coordinator Nejra Neimarlija Poi? presented the results from the three regional conferences. Youth officials, representatives of youth councils, youth orgainsations and youth leaders at the conferences concluded that the most important youth strengths are their number, creativity, knowledge of foreign languages and computer skills and the familiarity with working in agriculture of most youth from rural areas. Their greatest weaknesses are lack of awareness and volunteering experience during their formal education which could increase the chances for employment. Opportunities for youth are provided in the civil sector, developing the economic sector through governmental incentives and benefits and the opportunities for education abroad after which the youth with experience and knowledge return to BiH. Also, opportunities for youth are hidden in the legal solutions for the youth that present the mechanism and diverse ways of improving youth position. As the greatest threat for the youth is the bad economic and political situation in BiH and a lack of institutional care for the youth.
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