Western Balkan Youth Call for Greater Inclusion in Decision-Making Processes

Amer Kapetanovic (BETAPHOTO/MINISTARSTVO SPOLJNIH POSLOVA SRBIJE)

The general secretary of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Amer Kapetanovic, emphasized on April 23, during the 5th informal talks of young people with high officials within the Adria Future Summit in Tivat, the importance of including young people in the creation of strategies and broader developmental policies.

Kapetanovic said that the RCC was working on making young people not being viewed as an isolated group, but as a horizontal priority in the fields of economic growth, social cohesion and democratic resilience. The project titled Western Balkan Youth Laboratory 2 (WBYL2), financed by the European Union, provides a platform for direct dialogue between young leaders and policy creators.

He also said that initiatives such as the Western Balkan Youth Laboratory had been conceived with the very purpose of turning the voice of young people into concrete results that contributed to a more connected region.

The young participants discussed the stability of the region, advancement in the process of European integration and strengthening regional cooperation, while asking concrete questions about education, mobility, employment and participation in decision-making. They sought clearer deadlines and underscored that remaining in the Western Balkans should be a sustainable and attractive choice. Furthermore, they called for greater inclusion in decision-making processes and emphasized that their views were exceptionally important for shaping policies that directly affect their future and the region’s path to the European Union, the RCC stated.