“THINK OF THE YOUNG” CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED

In early December, the Youth Umbrella Organization of Serbia (YUOS) launched a campaign "Think of the young!, which aims to draw the attention of the general public, governmental  institutions and bodies to the need of young people to be recognized as a separate category, thereby meeting the needs of young people in a comprehensive and systematic manner.

"Think of the young!'' is the advocacy campaign that the YUOS has undertaken in order to draw the attention to the need to improve cross-sectorial cooperation in the field of  implementation of the National Youth Strategy in the period from 2015 to 2025.

Young people are a category that shares the problems of other citizens, but also faces special challenges.

Young people want the following: inter-sectorial cooperation, which means greater coordination between ministries and other institutions of the system, the agenda for young people, which means that all the ministries included in the Strategy for young people should formulate their own program of activities dedicated to young people and should abide by it, young people in the government, which means that the issues that concern young people should be approached  systemically and comprehensively – which is the only way of implementing the Strategy properly.

Why sectorial cooperation?

It is evident at first glance that the problems that young people face are complex and related to different areas – such as health, education, safety, the environment, finance and many others.  Therefore it is necessary to approach them in a comprehensive manner, involving all relevant institutions. We want better cooperation between the ministries, as well as other authorities and institutions, because the challenges before young people can’t be solved by the departments. Only through a coordinated, focused action can all stakeholders can come to a solution that properly helps solve problems.

Why agenda for young people?

We want all the ministries covered by the 2015-2025 National Youth Strategy to understand their role in improving the status of young people and to respond to their needs and challenges. In addition to the need for cross-sectorial cooperation with other ministries and institutions, it is preferable that they deal with young people separately, within their departments. Our goal is for them to commit to this through the adoption of the “Agenda for Young People'', a clear program of activities aimed at young people in the coming period. Such a framework will lead to frequent taking into consideration of the special problems of young people when the institution forms its policies, as well as to raising the awareness of young people as a separate category.

Why #Young People in the Government?
We want the youth to be a priority of the whole government, not just of the relevant Ministry. Only through such a vision of youth as important players in our society, whose problems should be dealt with systematically and over a long period of time, can we expect good results and adequate measures in the future. Follow the tag # Young People in the Government on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and Facebook page "Think of the young" to be up to date with the results of the campaign.

The advocacy campaign "Think of the Young" is part of the project "Rejuvenation! - New ideas of young people for a better position of youth," which the YUOS implements with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Serbia.

Source: National Youth Council of Serbia and Coordination Body