Youth Dialogue to be launched soon in Montenegro

Following the youth initiative entitled “Baš ti” (You’re the one), our support for the first international youth camp in Montenegro and the online school on European citizenship for young people, we have decided to take things a step further and initiate a Youth Dialogue together with the state. This is the name of our new campaign, which aims to enable young people to get involved in decision-making processes on issues that affect them. The campaign, which we are announcing symbolically today on International Youth Day, will also seek to raise awareness of what exactly youth participation means and why it is important.

That is already clear at the level of the EU, which this year is organising the EU Youth Dialogue for the eighth time, with young people and decision-makers from all member states participating in the process. Montenegro will have to join this dialogue mechanism once it becomes an EU member, which is why the present campaign can be regarded as a pilot project and a preparation for future activities.

“Young people are a population group that permeates all sectors and themes. That’s why they have to be the ones who will give the green light to all policies and solutions of concern to them, while it’s up to us to provide them with mechanisms to do that and thus gain their trust. One of the ways to achieve this is continuous dialogue, so that young people, in addition to pointing out problems, could have the freedom to be creative and give concrete proposals for improving their status,” said EU Ambassador to Montenegro Oana Kristina Popa, who wished young people a happy International Youth Day.

Ms Popa is convinced that young people in Montenegro have the knowledge, experience and ideas to design their environment in line with current developments and as such should be partners in the decision-making process.

“Apart from the dialogue itself, it is equally important to undertake concrete activities that will result from that dialogue, so that young people could understand that their views have been acknowledged in the process of shaping policies that affect them. Otherwise, young people become passive and marginalised, and sometimes even invisible,” Ms Popa concluded.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport said they gladly accepted the invitation to collaborate on a joint project that will strengthen the position of young people in Montenegro. In that regard, they announced the formation of an Advisory Body in accordance with the Law on Youth, which will be composed of representatives of state authorities and youth organisations.

“By creating synergies with all other stakeholders at the national level, representatives of international organisations in Montenegro and the Delegation of the European Union, as well as with the budget currently available to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, we will provide all the necessary mechanisms to improve the lives of young people in Montenegro,” said Minister Vesna Bratić.

The Youth Dialogue campaign starts in September and will run until June next year. Initially, a team for the implementation of the Dialogue will be formed and will include representatives of the Government and youth associations. Once the main topic has been identified, the focus will be on finding innovative and effective ways to consult young people. Concrete consultations will take place in the first months of next year. All this is expected to result in increased participation of young people in making concrete decisions and particularly in drafting the Youth Strategy, which is currently in development.