International Youth Day was commemorated in Western Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo (UNSCR1244)[₁] , North Macedonia and Serbia celebrating young people and active youth participation. UNFPA jointly with its partners took part in a number of activities, events and campaigns.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, UNFPA took part in UNCT in BiH’s Youth Month, celebrating young people and active youth participation for a whole month, in the period between 12 of August and 12 of September. Following up on last year’s Youth Month, it featured a full month of concerted activities and sessions, in an effort to celebrate youth outside of just one day in a year. Youth Month festivities launched on International Youth Day, 12 of August 2022, with this year’s topic - “Intergenerational solidarity” and put young people front and centre.
During Youth Month, young people had the opportunity to voice their concerns and needs with the UN system, the general public, and academia. It provided young people an open space to voice some of the most pressing issues affecting them - such as prevention of extremism; transformation of narratives of hate and division, sustainable development, etc., as seen through the lens of intergenerational solidarity.
In addition, the campaign strengthened social cohesion and directly contributed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) (2021-2025), Strategic Priority IV-Citizen, and Community Engagement for Social Protection.
Youth Month included a social media campaign featuring the newly appointed members of the Youth Advisory Body, their stories, and how they are contributing to enhancing youth’s socio-political participation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During this period in several cities across the country, UN agencies engaged a large number of young people in discussions with heads of UN agencies, Youth Advisory Body members, and university professors around “Intergenerational solidarity”.
The campaign raised awareness of positive youth stories and achievements in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as promoted the UNCT contributions to youth empowerment in the country.
Together with partners from SIT - Center for Counseling, Social Services and Research as part of the K10 Coalition, UNFPA Kosovo conducted a number of interactive activities in honor of the International Youth Day. Approximately 100 young people from across Kosovo gathered in Pristina to celebrate, interrelate and engage in games, musical acts and simulations promoting conflict resolution and sharing information about reproductive and sexual health, life skills and career orientation.
The program included bingo, treasure hunts, quizzes, communication simulations and presentations, job interview role-plays and other forms of skill-building exercises. Particular attention was given to promoting this year’s Youth Day motto – Intergenerational Solidarity – so as to reinforce the youth’s commitment to engaging all generations, but also understanding their diverse points of view and interests, as a means of addressing youth issues and achieving sustainable development.
In the period between 8 – 12 August 2022, Youth Week was implemented in North Macedonia. Within the week various activities were implemented by the Agency of Youth and Sports in the Republic of North Macedonia.
The youth week started with an event dedicated to Announcement of the Development of the National Youth Strategy 2023-2027. Within the event, the Agency of Youth and Sports in the Republic of North Macedonia announced the development of the National Youth Strategy 2023-2027, process supported by UNFPA CO North Macedonia, UNDP North Macedonia and the OSCE – Mission to Skopje. Additionally, promotional video related to the development process was shared and widely published online via different communication channels.
Within the week, UNFPA CO North Macedonia participated in a Conference titled as “Youth in the Open Balkan – Opportunities and perspectives for development in the region”. The UNFPA CO team participated in the working groups where the participants (youth) had the opportunity to discuss different topics with the High Governmental Representatives. At the end of the conference, as conclusion, the young people shared youth recommendations to the official representatives. At the end of the week, National Youth Awards Ceremony was organized by the Agency of Youth and Sports, supported by the President of the Republic of North Macedonia. UNFPA CO Team participated at the ceremony where different youth were awarded in three categories: individual category (youth aged 15-29), nonformal youth groups and the youth organizations/umbrella youth organizations.
UNFPA CO stays committed to support the development of the National Youth Strategy 2023-2027 and all initiatives related to youth, ensuring no one is left behind.
Intending to reach a significant number of young people, the United Nations Population Fund in Serbia, together with the Youth Team of the Belgrade Center for Human Rights and the Institute for Students Healthcare Belgrade, initiated "Take care of me," an educational podcast dedicated to young people's health and health literacy.
With the support of health professionals, the podcast talks about reproductive, sexual, and mental health, dermatological and endocrinological problems physical activity, proper nutrition, and other topics of interest to young people.
The very name of the podcast comes from the desire to - not only take care of each other - but, first of all, to teach young people how to take care of their health and body.
The podcast is accessible to everyone on YouTube, Spotify, Deezer, and Mixcloud.
The United Nations Population Fund and its partners continuously work on educating young people on their health and responsible health behaviour, and increasing availability of reliable information about all topics of interest.
[₁] All references to Kosovo should be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).
