On February 19, 2021, in the national Government, the Prime Minister, Ana Brnabic, for the second time met with the youth including the representatives from Belgrade Open School (BOS) – Goran Radlovacki and Jovana Bozickovic.

Youth representatives and the Primer Minister discussed key issues and possible recommendations regarding social rights, education, and employment. Brnabic first turned to the previous Dialogue (2019) and emphasized new initiatives and programs which were created as its direct result. Among them are the youth employment program “My First Salary”, youth policy training, and educating mayors and local officials to include young people in the decision-making processes.

Goran Radlovacki, a Project Assistant in the program area for Improvement of Employability in BOS discussed the importance of building a legal framework for internships on the open market by recognizing them in the Labor Law, and securing quality standards for its implementation, by applying key recommendations from the EU.

Jovana Bozickovic, Communications and Advocacy Coordinator from BOS and a member of the steering committee from the National Youth Council of Serbia (NYCS) talked about the importance of implementing the Youth Guarantee program in Serbia, recommended in the National Employment Strategy from 2021 to 2026 for all young people, ages 15-30. Besides, the importance of creating and implementing mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation of existing programs (My First Salary) as well as upcoming programs to ensure quality employment for all youth.

Another important topic was the Council for Youth – the Prime Minister prioritized forming the Council and announced it will be ratified in the following Government session.

BOS will have representatives in the Council for Youth given that its program area Youth Policy strives to secure the participation of young people in all social and political areas and improves their living standards. Further, BOS through its program area for the Improvement of Employability supports young people who tend to creatively answer to different labor market challenges. Program area Improvement of Employability implements its activities through 2 areas: Career guidance and counseling and connecting the world of work with education.

More info on the Dialogue can be found on the NYCS website, and the Dialogue can be re-watched HERE.