9 September 2021

For over a decade, Young Bled Strategic Forum (Young BSF) has brought together young leaders from all over the world to engage in lively discussions and develop innovative solutions to some of the most pressing global issues, such as mobility and migration, civil society engagement in decision making, climate change and green transformation.
This year’s edition was kicked off by CY and CDI as partners of YBSF. Mrs. Krisela Hackaj and Gresa Smolica facilitated the panel discussion and exercises on Economy and Employability.

Through this panel discussion, CY and CDI presented youngsters with the approach of involving youth in sectoral-policy making processes, and employment opportunities for youth in specific sectors in the region based on current demands and offers in the labour market in our region. Sectors like the most relevant ones in the blue economy, or green agenda, digital, etc were explored through youth lenses.

With the aim of further fostering youth participation in higher levels of policy-making the Economic and Investment Plan (EIP) for the Western Balkans was shortly presented, by highlighting youth participation not only as beneficiary of the many policy projects, but as actors of change that give concrete inputs and recommendations on such policies.

During this working session of YBSF, youngsters were invited to discuss youth perspectives on connectivity flagships, maritime economy/blue career, digital connectivity, green agenda and the Youth Guarantee as the only flagship project of the EIP directly focused on youth. The open discussion and group work with participants focused on designing concrete actions that lead to the successful completion of such projects, including governments’ capacities to implement them and youth representation throughout such processes.

Main highlights and concrete recommendations from the working group are as follows:
- Youth Umbrella organizations play a crucial role by bridging youth and institutions;
- Youth Dialogue is needed and must be further encouraged in our region;
- There is a need to inform and educate youth on employment opportunities in specific and not so mainstream sectors;

The session concluded that a shift of mindset on youth is needed as youth must be able to take leading roles and be bold about their needs.

CY partners will continue the advocacy and impact-oriented work in bringing youth in the planning of Economic and Investment Plan policies.

#CY #CDI #EIP #Youthparticipation #YoungBledStrategicForum #NationalYouthCongressofAlbania #KosovarYouthCouncil #NationalYouthCouncilofMacedonia #HighSchoolStudentsUnionofMontenegro #YouthCouncilofFederationofBosniaandHercegovina #NationalYouthCouncilofSerbia