Back to search

Empowering Youth for Peaceful Futures

2024-1-RS01-KA152-YOU-0002381752024Mobility of young peoplefinalized
Countries: RS|ME|BA|HR · Grant: €29,157
Prevention of conflicts, post-conflict rehabilitationInternational relations and development cooperationDemocracy and inclusive democratic participation

Objectives

Through the project, we aimed to gather young people from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Montenegro and provide them with a safe space for dialogue, the exchange of experiences, and joint reflection on historical conflicts and current socio-political challenges. The participants had the opportunity to acquire new knowledge and skills that helped them develop critical thinking, empathy, as well as the ability for constructive dialogue, which represent skills for the coming period of global and regional changes - from the abolition of USAID, the Trump administration to the student protests that are happening in Serbia and the region. In this way, the organizations managed to create an additional atmosphere of peace promotion by promoting values that are necessary at this moment in view of the tightening of relations with e.g. Croatia (expulsion of citizens and ban on entering Serbia), and the political crisis in Republika Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Through the aforementioned program's workshops and interactive activities, based on the principles and values of youth work and non-formal education, we encouraged the process of reconciliation, understanding, and mutual respect, which was reflected in the strengthening of mutual ties and the establishment of long-term friendships and cooperation among young people from the region. In closing the exchange process, the participants expressed their desire to continue participating in similar initiatives and to apply the acquired knowledge in their local communities. The motivation for implementing workshops and promoting visuals was at a high level. One of the significant successes of the project is the empowerment of young people to take an active role in the creation and realization of activities. Leaders from all partner organizations supported them, but the participants themselves had a key role in shaping the content of the exchange, which contributed to their empowerment and motivation for further engagement in social processes. This was especially evident in the situation of the fall of the canopy at the Railway Station in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, which visibly upset the participants, and the LINK team, together with the leaders, provided additional support to use that situation for the process of learning and mutual support. All of the above represents the essential goal of the project - creating space for dialogue, empowering young people, encouraging reconciliation and mutual understanding, strengthening the capacity of organizations and motivating participants to actively participate in social changes.

Project partners (5)