Project description

Title: Establishment and consolidation of youth work structures
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Kosovo
Partner: Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports
Overall term: 2003 to 2012

Context

An independent republic since June 2008, Kosovo is among Europe’s youngest states, including in respect of its population, more than half of which is under 25 years old. The great challenges facing the country affect these young people especially: the youth unemployment rate is more than 70 per cent, and young people suffer the consequences of interethnic conflict and inadequate educational opportunities. Many of them lack both the opportunities and the capacity to change their situation and become involved in the political process. After the military conflict there were numerous projects for promoting the young, but a large number of these had to be concluded due to lack of funding and support. 

The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports has now framed legislation and administrative regulations relating to young people. The Law on Youth Empowerment and Participation and the Kosovo Youth Strategy and Action Plan have both been carried into law by the government. At municipal level, youth officers have successfully completed their training, but there is still a skills and capacity gap within the Ministry and at implementation level; state actors in other sectors are provided too few services dedicated to young people. The lack of capacities and dialogue partners on the government side prevents sufficient use of the substantial potential of youth groups and civil society for promotion of young people.

Objective

The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports is successfully implementing the new legislation and the accompanying Youth Strategy and Action Plan. Public and civil society institutions and organisations work together in the interests of Kosovo’s youth and offer improved youth-oriented services.

Approach

The project has advised the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in the participatory development of a national youth policy and has contributed significantly to its adoption by parliament. Central thematic areas of the strategy are: youth participation, voluntary youth work, youth employment, non-formal education, and leisure and cultural activities for young people.

At the implementation level, the project cooperates with the youth departments in the municipal administrations and with the active non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Kosovo. Training for staff members of public and private sector youth work bodies is developed and implemented. To achieve better coordination and thus increase the effectiveness of youth work in Kosovo, the project places particular emphasis on networking between state and civil society.

Results achieved so far

The new legislation and the accompanying Youth Strategy and Action Plan have been approved for the period from 2010 to 2012. The strategy documents guarantee Kosovo’s youth opportunities for participation and promotion in such areas as youth health, youth participation, education, security, youth employment, culture and leisure.

Following the training and networking of youth officers in the municipalities, the local level dialogue partners needed by young people are now available in Kosovo for the first time.

Youth parliaments have now been established in 80 % of communities in Kosovo, offering young people a chance to engage in youth-related local activities, such as campaigning for children’s and young people’s rights or reviewing the availability of local youth activities. As lobbies and partners of state authorities, the youth parliaments represent the concerns of young people. Regional youth networks and a youth internet portal with a steadily rising number of users empower young people to inform themselves and share ideas among themselves.

The project has strengthened Kosovo’s youth and their organisations and given them a voice.  In addition, sustainable youth promotion structures, both governmental and non-governmental, have arisen which secure the range of youth-oriented services and their improvement now and in the future.