Project: Monitoring Serbia’s OSCE Chairmanship

23Oct2014

OSCE Chairmanship 2015 and the role of youth

Beside currently most important international relations issues such as conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East, relations in the Western Balkans, and the budget issues, one of the indentified priorities of the consecutive Swiss and Serbian OSCE Chairmanship (2014-2015) is the position and the role of youth.

During Swiss Chairmanship the 'Model OSCE' was organized, and Youth Ambassadors from all 57 participating states took part in formulating and negotiating the Action Plan for Youth. This Action Plan will be presented at the Ministerial Council in Basel and will be used as a foundation for the Action Plan for Youth which is planned for adoption during Serbian Chairmanship in 2015.

In accordance with the prioritisation of young people involvement, the National Youth Council of Serbia implements the project 'Serbian OSCE Chairmanship 2015 and the role of youth'. The Public Policy Research Centre, among other activities concerning Serbian OSCE Chairmanship, established cooperation within this project, as well. Our researcher Marina Tadic participated in the seminar for youth trainers, organized by the National Youth Council of Serbia in Sremski Karlovci, on 14^th-16^th September 2014. Due to the fact that the process of formulating new National Strategy for Youth is underway, the seminar participants complied recommendations for improving security of young people in Serbia, which were presented to the Ministry of Youth and Sport. Likewise, seminar participants were involved in creating another stage of project – workshops on the OSCE and youth – which are to be held during October and November throughout Serbia (in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Sombor, Zrenjanin, Loznica, Uzice, Vranje, Bujanovac etc.).

The CENTRE has organized workshops in Belgrade and Novi Sad, in cooperation with the National Youth Council of Serbia and the Social Responsibility Initiative. The Workshops titled ‘OSCE, Serbia, and Security’ were organized on October 18^th 2014 (Belgrade) and October 28^th (Novi Sad), and they gathered over 30 participants. The aim of the workshops was to present the main terms and concepts important for understanding the significance of the OSCE and Serbian Chairmanship, as well as for discussing and analysing security situation of young people in Serbia.

After the workshops had been conducted, six chosen project participants travelled on a study visit to Vienna, from 12^th to 14^th of November. During the study visit they attended the session of the Permanent Council of the OSCE, and visited the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the OSCE and other international organizations in Vienna. Additionally, they met representatives of several Austrian youth organizations and had opportunity to exchange experiences in youth participation with them.