On the 14th of November, the National Youth Council of Serbia (KOMS), Connecting Youth partner organized an online event under the title “Youth Guarantee: From EU to Western Balkans” to draw on and discuss the key conclusions of the Policy Paper “Youth Guarantee Deployment in the WB6” published this year by the CY platform. The event was a great opportunity to learn and share experiences and lessons learned from the implementation process of the Youth Guarantee scheme both at the EU and regional level.

Ms Anja Jokić, the Programme Coordinator opened the discussions and greeted the audience on behalf of KOMS. A presentation of the Connecting Youth Platform’s work and the planned strategy was done by Ms Krisela Hackaj, Executive Director of the Cooperation and Development Institute. During her intervention, Ms Hackaj emphasized not only the need to involve young people in decision-making but also for building their capacities in order for them to take part in decision-making through different mechanisms.

Mr Panagiotis Chatzimichail, as a Board Member of the European Youth Forum, could share some valuable experiences from the implementation of the Youth Guarantee on the EU level. Among others, he mentioned how institutions can establish strong and effective partnerships with youth organizations by funding their efforts and involving them in policy-making and monitoring.

The challenges during the implementation of the YG in North Macedonia were shared by Mr Filip Kulakov, Programme Manager at the National Youth Council of Macedonia. After showing that institutions must change their perspective, partner and support youth organizations, he also highlighted the need for harmonization of the laws and policies to ensure no legal or administrative obstacles for young people that are willing to utilize opportunities available through the YG.

Ms Milica Borjanić, Programme Manager at the National Youth Council of Serbia gave an overview of the YG implementation phase in Serbia mentioning that the process has only just kicked off and so far young people have been perceived as equal partners.

The conclusions of this event will also be presented by KOMS to the Expert groups of the Coordinating Body for Drafting and Monitoring for the Implementation of the Youth Guarantee Plan in Serbia.