Supported by: European Union (IPA Regional Program)
Period: December 2013 – June 2015
Partners: Youth Educational Forum (MOF)
The project aims to:
– Strengthen the capacity of local youth structures in Macedonia and increase youth participation in decision-making at local and national level;
– Establish formal principles of communication between youth and municipal structures and helping their direct involvement in decision-making at local level;
– Increase youth participation and activism by developing practices for the community associated with local youth policies;
The project is divided into several stages and involves creating local youth hubs in 12 municipalities, cooperation with local governments, creation initiative Youth representative boards in 12 municipalities, local actions and public process of establishing local youth councils, with the support of local government.
After establishment, local youth councils will begin work and the realization of their own local youth actions. Local Youth Councils will work to create local youth strategies in 12 municipalities.
Among those municipalities is the municipality of Lipkovo; Center for Intercultural Dialog CID is coordinating the process.
More than 40 youngsters are included in local youth hubs, in the past 3 months they had several training in the topics: Youth policies and youth participation; New Media and Internet activism; Debate; Organizing events;
In these period they are in the phase of preparing the event were they will introduce to youth the idea of creating local youth councils and youth participation in local level. This phase will also include study visit, the aim of study visit is to introduce to the youngsters the concept of youth participation and activism, which are the structures of the youth organization and local youth council in Skopje, Kumanovo and Belgrade.
It is implemented in the period between December 2013 and June 2015, in 12 municipalities in Macedonia with partner organizations from each municipality: Centar (Skopje- YEF), Chair (Skopje – YEF), Lipkovo (Kumanovo – CID), Tetovo (YEF Tetovo), Kichevo (affiliate – Community Development Centre), Debar (affiliate – Association Centre for sustainable community development), Struga (affiliate- Association for development and activism “Aqua”-Struga), Veles (affiliate – Foundation for Local Development and Democracy FOCUS, Veles), Negotino (affiliate – Centre for Regional Sustainable Development), Kratovo (affiliate – Regional Centre for Sustainable Development), Delchevo (affiliate – Regional Advocacy Center), Bitola (affiliate – Youth Initiatives for Dialogue and Cooperation).