Youth Banks Hub for Western Balkans and Turkey
Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation (Serbia) – Leader
Partners Albania or Centre for Change and Conflict Management (Albania) – Partner
Association for Education Mladiinfo International (North Macedonia) – Partner
Association Prima (Montenegro)- Partner
Community Volunteers Foundation – TOG (Turkey) – Partner
01/01/2016 - 31/12/2019
Overall Objective
To establish and develop a regional network of CSOs working towards social, economic and political inclusion of young women and men (“Youth Banks Hub of Western Balkans and Turkey” – YBH for WBT)
Summary of the Project
The purpose of the Youth Banks Hub (YBH) for Western Balkans and Turkey (WBT) was to foster social, economic and political inclusion of young women and men, through the implementation of policy and advocacy initiatives. The aim for YBH was to become, at the end of this action, an unavoidable dialogue partner in policy-making in the respective countries and at the regional level; equally, the purpose of the YBH network was to become the hub for the empowerment of youth civil society organisations (CSOs) in the five countries (Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey) and support them in their own policy advocacy initiatives.
Activities
• 5 baseline studies to determine the exact state of affairs regarding economic, social and political inclusion of youth in the 5 countries
• Articles of incorporation and the Statute of the “Youth Banks Hub of Western Balkans and Turkey” network will be agreed upon and drafted
• Regular dialogue established with individual countries’ ministries and state institutions, educational institutions, think-tanks and CSOs and other relevant stakeholders – at least 250 meetings will be held each year (50 in each country, total of 1,000)
• 15 youth CSOs will be selected (3 per country) to become members of YBH for WBT network, to undergo capacity building trainings, and to receive mentoring and financial support to develop own policy advocacy initiatives
• Plenary meetings with two representatives of the each of the national hubs (applicants) to present the country reports from previous year, to present and discuss current issues and possibly fine-tune the 4-year programme
• Mid-term and final conferences, reviews and preparation of the mid-term and final reports
• Trainings for YBH for WBT national hubs
• Trainings for 15 youth CSOs – as each applicant will be the national hub of the YBH for WBT – previously selected upon public call and Selection Committee decision
• Study trips for 15 CSOs in order to gain first-hand knowledge of the functioning of the youth bank model
• Monitoring and analysis of the state of affairs of social, economic and political inclusion of youth
• Dissemination of results of monitoring and analysis
• Development of 3 sets of policy recommendations of the YBH for WBT network by each country, aimed at the (I) social, (II) economic and (III) political inclusion of youth; they will be disseminated to at least 1,500 addresses in the five countries and in the EU, grouped in the YBH for WBT Contacts Database.
• Advocacy of the 3 sets of policy recommendations of the YBH for WBT network
• Financial and mentoring support to 15 CSOs for development and advocacy of own policy initiatives
• Advocacy of the 15 CSOs’ policy initiatives – after the 15 youth CSOs have developed their policy initiatives, with mentoring support of the national hubs, the representatives of the youth CSOs will hold at least 300 meetings (at least 20 meetings per CSO)
• Traditional and social media campaigns
• Setup and maintenance of YBH for WBT network website and social media presence
• Bi-monthly newsletter
• 60 roundtables/panel discussions (3 per year, 5 countries)
• Final regional conference
Expected Results
- Building youth CSOs’ capacities for activism, for monitoring and for advocacy of policy alternatives; including their capacities for analysis of the state of affairs in the sphere of social, economic and political inclusion of youth
- Recognition by authorities of youth CSOs’ capacity for dialogue and their validation as politically relevant interlocutors
- Raising awareness among young women and men about the possibilities and the lasting benefits of activism, in parallel with raising consciousness of the general public in the five countries about the importance of youth inclusion and the youth’s entitlement to influence the policies that determine their own social and economic prospects
