On 16th of March 2021, the Constitutive Session of the Youth Council of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, was held in the Palace of Serbia. New members of the Youth Council, who will have an important advisory role in the future work of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for all youth related topics, were elected.

Belgrade Open School participated during this session, considering that it has representatives in this Council - Jovana Bozickovic and Marina Lukic.

The session was chaired by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Vanja Udovicic, and was visited by numerous representatives of relevant ministries and institutions, as well as youth organizations. At the session, all members of the Youth Council were informed about the implemented activities in 2020 as well as the planned activities for 2021. Moreover, the Survey concerning Position and Needs of Youth in the Republic of Serbia, that was conducted last year and is being published annually by the Ministry, was presented.

During the session, representatives of the Youth Council have launched three initiatives concerning the establishment of working groups for EU Youth dialogue, changing and adding amendments of the Law of Youth and Law the Volunteering, or their new framework creation. In order to devote more attention and time to the discussion and decision-making processes, the initiatives will be covered on the next session’s agenda, expected to be at the beginning of April. Furthermore, youth representatives suggested a few additional topics that should be included in the planned activities for 2021, such as local youth councils and spaces for young people, housing policies, rural youth and many others, which will all be submitted to the Council.

Members of the Youth Council were highly interested and motivated to work within the Council and improve youth position by taking action in their fields. More information about the 15 Youth Council’s members can be found here. Young representatives within the Youth Council come from 11 different cities and municipalities in Serbia, representing 12 youth associations that are working on various topics of great importance for youth issues.

Belgrade Open School has two representatives in this Council - Jovana Bozickovic, Advocacy and Communications Coordinator, who is also a member of the Steering Board of the National Youth Council of Serbia, as well as Marina Lukić, Project Coordinator of the Belgrade Open School.

The last session of the Youth Council was held in May of 2019, while in 2020 no sessions were held.

*Information and photos were taken from the website of the National Youth Council of Serbia.