Following a successful dialogue with youth, the Municipality of Stanari quickly took action, putting concrete measures in place to better address the needs of young people.
At the meeting, the Stanari Municipality Working Group, in collaboration with representatives from the Institute for Youth Development KULT, focused on developing a youth budget—an essential strategic tool for improving youth work and ensuring comprehensive support for young people.
The youth budget would improve multiple important areas:
- Support for education – through scholarships for young people and additional training programs.
- Addressing housing issues – facilitating young people’s access to housing.
- Improving the position of volunteers by promoting volunteering and improving conditions for volunteering.
- Youth mobility, youth work, and activism – by awarding grants for projects implemented by youth and youth organizations.
The dialogue with young people clearly highlighted that their top priorities are access to information about community opportunities and support for launching their own initiatives. The Working Group explored the most effective models for providing systemic and ongoing support to young people in their development.
They acknowledged the need to improve the health and safety of young people and proposed the following:
- Strengthening cooperation with public institutions by establishing mental health counseling centers.
- Educating on bullying prevention to enhance youth safety in the local community.
Budget for youth – an investment in the future of the community
The Municipality of Stanari is creating a youth budget to ensure that allocated funds directly support meaningful improvements for young people. These funds are an investment in young people as key drivers of development that benefits the entire community.
Building on examples of good practice, the Working Group began defining clear procedures for managing funds allocated to youth projects. These improvements will make it easier and faster for young people in Stanari to apply for funding while helping the Municipality better assess the impact of youth initiatives on local development.
Youth in focus: dialogue as the first step toward change
The dialogue with youth in Stanari demonstrated that change begins with conversations. When given the opportunity to shape their future, young people become active drivers of social change. The Municipality of Stanari has proven its commitment to prioritizing its citizens and placing young people and their needs at the heart of its activities through the development of youth policies.
With the financial support of the European Union, the Institute for Youth Development KULT, in partnership with the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO), the Youth Council of the Federation of BiH, the Network of Youth Centers for Animation, Development, and Training of Republika Srpska (M.O.C.A.R.T) and the Association of Secondary School Students in BiH, is implementing the project “Designing, Developing and Adopting Youth Policies,” which supports communities across Bosnia and Herzegovina in creating youth-focused mechanisms like youth budgets, which guarantee continuous support for youth.
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