Mar 15, 2023
Kumanovo was the last town in North Macedonia that CDI visited to bridge the communication between Interreg IPA programmes and beneficiaries in the community in the framework of the “ Raising awareness on the Youth Manifesto in the Western Balkans” project.
‘How to make young people get more involved in INTERREG IPA and IPA IPA Programmes?’ was the question that prompted the discussion of the workshop held on 15 March 2023 at the premises of Kumanovo municipality.
Gathering INTERREG IPA programme representatives and beneficiaries at the same table, to discuss positive examples of projects that have involved youth, share their experiences and also bring to everyone’s attention the main challenges that institutions or NGOs face when it comes to involving youth not only as end-beneficiaries but also as an integral part of the projects.
CDI’s Executive Director, Mrs Hackaj in her opening remarks, among others, stated: “Youth Manifesto was built by youth, to loudly talk about what they need from the IPA programmes – the youth talk about the areas where they want to be included, they want to address climate change, youth employment etc. A lot of projects have been implemented in schools and universities in North Macedonia and through these projects, youth can start the change from the ground level.”
A positive example was shared by representative from Antenna Office in Strumica, INTERREG IPA Programme Bulgaria – North Macedonia, Ms Irena Babamova Stojcheva, who said that out of 78 projects that have been implemented in North Macedonia through this programme, more than 20% were youth projects, not just young people that were involved indirectly but youth that was directly and actively engaged.
Through IPA II CBC Programme Kosovo – North Macedonia 2014-2020, 15 projects have been implemented in total, from which 3 of them in Kumanovo. This shows the persistence of Kumanovo when it comes to applying for such opportunities.
Berat LIMANI, Project Officer at this programme, mentioned during the discussion that despite the fact that this CBC programme does not target youth directly, they are being involved. Positively, under this programme, at least 640 young people were direct beneficiaries of training, workshops etc. He further stated the importance of collaboration among public institutions and youth NGOs: ‘NGOs need to be more proactive – the bureaucracy of public institutions should not serve as a stop sign. Youth councils should participate in meetings with public institutions and promote their ideas. Simultaneously, the public institutions must ask the expertise of NGOs, for the capacities that they don’t have themselves.’
Ms Jasminka Pashaliska, President of the Association AMBROZIJA, pointed out the importance of informing youth about the existing opportunities: “Young population doesn’t have information about IPA programmes. In the future, we should work on disseminating the information to everybody. Interreg IPA and Erasmus programmes are excellent opportunities for youth. Our youngsters can see and learn how youth operates in Europe. Each programme has a website where you can read the previous projects in order to be inspired for ideas that can be transformed into project proposals and be implemented at the local level in our cities”
The present audience was involved in discussions and put emphasis on the role of public structures which have the main responsibility in tackling youth-related problems.
The most concerning issue in the region remains youth emigration. As Ms Pashaliska mentioned in her speech: In 2021- 8% of youth in the east-north region emigrated from this territory. There is depopulation and a decreasing number of newborn babies.
However, she finds very valuable the effort of the central government to bring together in regional forums representatives from NGOs, the business sector, students etc., forums organized as a way to generate ideas for different projects that serve youth empowerment in general.
Despite the challenges, in the workshop were shared also the positive experiences of CBC programmes such as:
The CBC ECO KID project implemented by the Municipality of Ferizaj in partnership with the Municipality of Çair and the Local NGO Business Support Center in Kosovo; Business ecosystem as an integrated system – Be In, Think Composting – dedication to the organic full circle, Cross-Border Cooperation in Forest Fire Fighting projects implemented by Center for Development of the Southeast Planning Region; Cross-border Young Entrepreneur Center project implemented by the Center for Development of the North-Eastern Planning Region of Kumanovo; Green Buildings for a common green future GREEN and Our common past-road to the joint future project implemented by the Center for Development of the East Planning Region, are all examples that show that when there is strong will and dedication it is possible to merge youth even in projects that seem difficult to create a direct connection between.
CDI in cooperation with DG Regio and local stakeholders will organize a series of events throughout the WB6 to better inform youth on EUSAIR, INTERREG IPA and Youth Manifesto with the aim of increasing youth participation in EU territorial programmes.
Consult here:
Powerpoint Presentation:
Centre for Development of the South-East Planning Region
Cross-border Young Entrepreneur Center – CBYEC
More information about CDI’s engagement in “Raising awareness on the Youth Manifesto in the Western Balkans” can be found here.
