OSCE Mission to Serbia supports regional co-operation of youth from Serbia and Albania

An OSCE-supported five-day winter school on “Inter-cultural Youth Dialogue in the Digital Era” which gathered some 30 young men and women from Serbia and Albania, concluded on 14 December 2015 in Belgrade. The event provided participants the opportunity to exchange experiences on topics such as culture and tradition, youth co-operation, active citizenship and new media.

The winter school aimed to bolster the efforts of the governments of Serbia and Albania, youth institutions with a mandate on youth policy, and civil society organizations in supporting regional co-operation among Albanian and Serbian youth, their mutual understanding and exchange of best practices. It also aimed to inform the participants about the process of establishment of Western Balkans’ Regional Youth Co-operation Office.

The OSCE Mission to Serbia and the OSCE Presence in Albania supported Serbia’s Youth and Sports Ministry and Albania’s Social Welfare and Youth Ministry in organizing the winter school in Serbia, following the previous youth exchange held in July in Albania. The project is a result of a Memorandum of Understanding on Youth concluded by the prime ministers of Albania and Serbia in 2014.

The Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Peter Burkhard said: “The atmosphere of tolerance and understanding that the winter school inspired is testimony to the fact that young generations from both countries can move away from the past thanks to dialogue and networking opportunities.” He also added that the OSCE Mission to Serbia stands ready to support further bilateral and regional co-operation among youth.

Participants were welcomed by Snežana Klašnja, Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports of Serbia, Milena Stošic, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office on Youth and Security and Milica Škiljević, Project Co-ordinator from the Belgrade Open School.

During the winter school, participants also learned in practice about the positive use of social media to advocate for a cause with the example of the campaign “OSCE United in Countering Violent Extremism” (#UnitedCVE). They were provided with an opportunity to join themselves the campaign, conveying online their messages of tolerance and co-operation.