Bujanovac – A multiethnic group of 48 young people from Presevo, Bujanovac and Vranje began a six-month YouthBuild program that will help them develop skills in leadership and employment, prepare them for the labor market and motivate them to be more active in their local communities.

At the ceremony marking the beginning of work with the third generation of trainees, which was held at the cultural center in Bujanovac, Vranje Mayor Zoran Antic, Head of Caritas Luxembourg Predrag Ranić, Executive Director of the Civic Initiatives Dubravka Velat, Secretary of the Presevo Municipal Assembly Avni Aliti and Coordinator of the Bujanovac Youth Office Vjolca Aliu spoke.  

"In the country where youth unemployment is high, it is important that they have the opportunity to gain more experience and skills, so that they could find a job as soon as possible or maybe start their own business, "said Ms. Velat.  

The program, conducted by the Civic Initiatives for the third year in a row, helped over 100 young people from the South and Southwest Serbia to acquire the skills needed for employment and leadership. This year, like in the previous ones, the young will learn how to be active in their communities, actively look for a job, start a business or write a project.

The training will include the English language and presentation skills, information technology and marketing techniques.

The program is designed to motivate young people to organize volunteer activities by which they help their communities.

In recent years, young Roma, Albanians and Serbs jointly rebuilt the cities’ parks, the stadium and the kindergarten yard and distributed humanitarian aid to the residents of collective centers for refugees.

Thanks to the help of local entrepreneurs and institutions, the "YouthBuild" program activists also built 11 ramps for people with disabilities at the entrances of schools and other institutions in Presevo and Bujanovac.

They also painted the fences of two elementary schools and community centers in Presevo and Bujanovac and motivated the citizens to join them, sending a message that, by working together, positive changes in the community are possible.

YouthBuild helped a lot of people to break down the ethnic barriers: “I admit that at first I had  prejudices against ethnic Albanians, but thanks to the joint training and having fun, I started to change my opinion.”

We still hang out and have a good time while jointly visiting both Serbian and Albanian cafes, which was not the case before", said Milica Markovic, one of last year's participants in the training.

The "YouthBuild program – Educated and Active Young People" is implemented by the Civic Initiatives, while it is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Caritas Luxemburg Foundation, the YouthBuild International, the city of Vranje and by the municipalities of Bujanovac and Presevo.

Source: Jugpress and Coordination Body