The 2nd Regional Youth Forum for Local Democracy was opened on 16 November in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Theme of the forum is “Towards the culture of regional dialogue and youth participation in the Balkans: Promoting youth mobility as the grounds for peace, stability and prosperity of the Western Balkans”.

Representative of ALDA, Stanka Parac Damjanovic introduced the association during the opening speeches: “In our local communities, we offer to young people a learning platform – non-formal education platform to develop necessary skills and understanding. It’s not enough for young people to participate in democracy only during elections. We need to develop, and this is also part of our mission, the process of public consultation and participation in public policies at local level and through this knowledge we gain competent stakeholders of the regional dialogue.”

Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, the Head of the EU delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, pointed that “one of the main drivers of growth is going to be connectivity, and I don’t just mean building roads and railroads, tunnels and so on, but connectivity in a broader sense. I think you’re all connected, that’s why you’re here”. Mr. Wigemark further stressed the role of connectivity in the economic growth and development, specifically in the region. “One of the main drivers of growth is going to be connectivity, and I don’t just mean building roads and railroads, tunnels and so on, but connectivity in a broader sense. I think you’re all connected, that’s why you’re here,” he said.

The conference included three thematic panels on the topic of youth mobility, regional cooperation, civil society and EU integration perspectives. The Forum continues with a field visit and youth workshop in Mostar and Network meeting on the 17th November as well as a visit of the National Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo on the 18th November.

This forum was organized in the framework of the project Balkan Regional Platform for youth participation and dialogue funded by the European Union. The Balkan Platform is implemented by ALDA and eight Balkan Local Democracy Agencies from Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia. The organisation of the Forum is supported by the Programme for decentralised cooperation France-Balkans and the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The event gathered around 80 participants – representatives of Local authorities, government officials, experts from the field of youth participation, youth workers, CSOs and CSO networks from the Balkans. The main objective of the Regional Youth Forum is to encourage democratic engagement of young people and raise awareness for enhancing the culture of regional dialogue.

Useful links:

Balkan Regional Platform for youth participation and dialogue

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