5 May 2023
Around 100 youth organizations and organizations for youth operate in Serbia and work on different youth related fields starting from democracy participation, education, art and culture, environment, policy making and research etc. Throughout their engagement in youth organizations, activists can foster their personal, cultural, social and political competencies, which are highly needed for them to succeed in life.
In partnership with DG Regio, CDI organized in Belgrade on 5th of May a workshop addressing youth needs and involvement ways in Interreg IPA projects through the promotion of the Youth Manifesto to Programme authorities. The document foresees concrete recommendations for embedding youth needs and planning dedicated actions in the programming documents and call for proposals.
Ms. Sanda ŠIMIĆ, Assistant Minister at the Ministry for European Integration in Serbia spoke about the role of Interreg and CBC programmes in boosting the cohesion, helping the integration of WBs and overcoming the obstacles that borders are presenting and trying to use them as opportunities and not as a challenge.
Mr. Gilles KITTEL, Team Leader – IPA, Enlargement Negotiations and EUSAIR, DG REGIO, European Commission, in his open remarks highlighted the role of youth in these programs. ‘Youth Manifesto, written by young people aims to show us how can we involve youth in the preparation of the programmes and later on in the implementation of these programmes. The document is organized in three chapters, but what I notice is that we are focused in the third one, on ‘How to take action within Interreg programmes’. I find it really important to pay attention and focus to the other chapters as well. This is why I am open to hear your suggestions on the other two chapters, on boosting exchanges amongst EU officials and young people and communication towards young people via educational programmes’
While Mr. Darko ČUKURANOVIĆ, CBC Programme Expert said: ‘We are encouraging youth organizations to try to implement projects related to youth activism, promotion of dialogue, creative thinking, volunteering, increasing their professional competences etc. as in the future calls, the new Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina CBC Programme ‘Investing in youth, education and skills’ is a priority that stands in its own. ‘
Ms. Tijana DIDANOVIĆ, NCP of INTERREG Danube Programme at Ministry for European Integration valued this workshop to be significant when it comes to sharing information. ‘Workshops and events like this should be organized more often as we see a general lack of information among youth not only regarding Interreg and IPA CBC but also other opportunities that they can benefit from. Interreg Volunteer Youth is one of the programmes for young people that help them gain new international experiences through volunteering and interested to contribute to solidarity projects’.
One of the project beneficiaries Dr. Milica VESKOVIC ANDJELKOVIC representing Faculty of Philosophy of University of Belgrade pointed out the importance of qualitative internships, especially for students that engage in Interreg projects implemented by universities. She also stressed out that Interreg projects should help us learn to welcome social innovation and recognize education institutions as actors that bring change in the society. It is very important that universities from different countries create consortiums and include and motivate youth to take action.
Coming together in such events provides a chance for young people to interact directly with authority programmes and increase their knowledge about programmes and opportunities they can benefit from. Furthermore, this workshop enabled an open communication among different stakeholders that implement Interreg projects to share their experience, expertise and discuss about the relevant changes that are needed in order to enable meaningful youth participation.
Consult here:
PowerPoint Presentation:
