Newsroom
OSCE Mission organizes summer retreat for Kosovo's Youth Assemblies
PRISTINA 19 August 2004
PRISTINA, 19 August 2004 - The OSCE Mission in Kosovo is today beginning the first of two four-day retreats with participants of Kosovo's Youth Assemblies. More than 240 members of 10 Youth Assemblies will travel to Montenegro in order to widen the network of young people engaged in the institutions and processes of local and central government.
"There are a great many young people in Kosovo and it is imperative that they come to understand both their own role and importance in political developments and the day-to-day implications of governance," said Matthew Minns, Project Manager at the OSCE Mission.
"This is a continuation of the work that they have all been doing in their respective municipalities and their own assemblies and the retreat will allow them to exchange experiences and insights."
At the retreat, the young people will discuss the elections process, the promotion of tolerance and the central government institutions. The culmination of the retreat will be a simulation of a Central Assembly session, in which draft laws will be presented and voted upon.
The Youth Assemblies taking part are from Vushtrri/Vucitrn, Leposavic/Leposaviq, Mitrovice/Mitrovica, Kamenice/Kamenica, Gjilan/Gnjiljane, Dragash/Dragas, Podujeve/Podujevo, Rahovec/Orahovac and Lipjan/Lipljan.
The "Youth Assemblies for Community Development" project, an initiative of the OSCE Mission's Democratisation Department, has been operating successfully since 2003 with gender-balanced co-operation between Kosovo Albanians, Serbs, Roma, Ashkali and Turkish young people. The Youth Assemblies create projects and initiatives to interact with their respective municipal structures, involving simulation of the Municipal Assembly by secondary school students in order to encourage involvement with and increase the understanding of local government.
A similar retreat is planned for the winter months.
"There are a great many young people in Kosovo and it is imperative that they come to understand both their own role and importance in political developments and the day-to-day implications of governance," said Matthew Minns, Project Manager at the OSCE Mission.
"This is a continuation of the work that they have all been doing in their respective municipalities and their own assemblies and the retreat will allow them to exchange experiences and insights."
At the retreat, the young people will discuss the elections process, the promotion of tolerance and the central government institutions. The culmination of the retreat will be a simulation of a Central Assembly session, in which draft laws will be presented and voted upon.
The Youth Assemblies taking part are from Vushtrri/Vucitrn, Leposavic/Leposaviq, Mitrovice/Mitrovica, Kamenice/Kamenica, Gjilan/Gnjiljane, Dragash/Dragas, Podujeve/Podujevo, Rahovec/Orahovac and Lipjan/Lipljan.
The "Youth Assemblies for Community Development" project, an initiative of the OSCE Mission's Democratisation Department, has been operating successfully since 2003 with gender-balanced co-operation between Kosovo Albanians, Serbs, Roma, Ashkali and Turkish young people. The Youth Assemblies create projects and initiatives to interact with their respective municipal structures, involving simulation of the Municipal Assembly by secondary school students in order to encourage involvement with and increase the understanding of local government.
A similar retreat is planned for the winter months.