During their exchange in Belgrade, participants from Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia visited a number of CSOs including the SHARE foundation, National Youth Council of Serbia (KOMS), Center for Green Politics, Renewables and Environmental Regulatory institute (RERI), Centar E8, Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Serbian Chamber of Commerce, GIZ Serbia, and Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO).
Programme participants worked on research assignments within mixed groups, consisting of participants from different countries. Their papers address important regional issues such as youth activism within the framework of dual transition (green and digital), regional cooperation and European integration, migration, and improving employment and education opportunities for young people. All research will be presented at the final conference in October in Tirana.
In discussions with representatives from both governmental and non-governmental sectors, participants had the opportunity to address important topics such as youth involvement in public politics, their rights and mobility within the region, as well as the labor market and the implementation of the green agenda in Serbia. During their visit to the SHARE foundation, they heard about the issues Serbia faces in the digital sphere, particularly due to the lack of adequate legal regulations. In conversations with representatives from the E8 Center, they gained insight into the problems faced by young members of the LGBTIQ community in the labor market in Serbia. Participants were left without an answer to a question addressed to the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue that asked why human rights violation cases in Serbia are resolved slowly, with an answer that complex and large problems cannot be fixed at once.
Aside from meetings and research assignments, participants also joined a tour of Belgrade titled “Memory Walk,” whose goal was to showcase places of cultural and political importance that are often overlooked for political reasons. Participants visited historically significant locations while questioning the existence or nonexistence of monuments in those locations and their role in forming collective identities. The Youth Initiative for Human Rights team took program participants to the location where the assassination of former Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić took place, the Stefan Nemanja monument, the Yugoslav Ministry of Defense Building (Generalštab), the Dimitrije Tucović monument, and Slavija Park, near which the murder of Roma boy Dušan Jovanović took place in 1997. Activists and organizations, such as the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, are advocating for naming the park after him.
Amanda Kote, participant from Albania says how her experience in Belgrade was positive, and that the discussions with representatives of NGOs and institutions were particularly useful. “Aside from that, interactions and cooperation with other participants were immensely valuable, enriching my understanding and experience. I enjoyed every second of this programme”.
The stay in Belgrade was organized after study visits to Tirana in April and Skopje in May of this year, where participants also spent two weeks.
The RYLMP program is implemented with the support of the Open Society Foundations in the Western Balkans, the Open Society Foundation for Albania, the Open Society Foundation for North Macedonia, and the Open Society Foundation in Serbia. RYMP is jointly implemented by SCiDEV, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, and the Educational Youth Forum (YEF).
