WHEN YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE IDEAS AND MUNICIPALITIES PROVIDE FUNDS

21. August 2012.

According to this year's awards “MLADGRAD 2012”, Presevo, Ivanjica, Blace, Kikinda, Krupanj and Loznica are the municipalities that are most concerned about the youth in Serbia. The main prizes went to one of the oldest and to one of the youngest municipalities in Serbia – to Ivanjica, for its overall contribution to the improved position of young people in the local community, and to Presevo, for the provided public space.

Although faced with many daily challenges in the multinational environment, Presevo still manages to meet the needs of the young in its territory. The well-equipped premises of the Youth Centre are open to all the young who have ideas about how to use them and about how to organize themselves in them.

“"Presevo is the youngest city in Serbia, when you look at the make-up of the population. We have a youth club, which is equipped with computers, and many courses are organized. Also, we went a step further, and as there is a 30 percent quota for women in the Parliament, so we have 30 percent of young people among the councilors, "said Ragmi Mustafa, President of the municipality.

Every census in Ivanjica shows that its population is decreasing, whereas the municipality lost nearly 50 percent of the young over the last three decades. In the opinion of Ivan Stamenic, Coordinator of the Regional Youth Office, unemployment and the fact that Ivanjica isn’t a university town, so that few young people return to it after completing their studies, are the basic reasons for these data. That is why the young, with the assistance of the local self-government, took a series of activities, while a youth club was recently opened.

“The municipality listens to the wishes of the young. We also have several youth groups and we set up the Youth Parliament, the only one of its kind in Serbia, through which we immediately get information about all the needs of young people, whether it's a school tournament in football or a school seminar. Apart from their schools, the young didn’t have any room for spending their leisure time in a quality manner, so that, this year, we fitted out the premises that are over 200 square meters large”, Mr. Stamenic said.