YourJob Youth Incubator Caritas Aleksinac is recognized as one of the most important actors in working with young people at the local level. Thanks to the acquired reputation, YourJob guidance counselor Ms. Jovana Stojanović was given the opportunity to actively advocate for the improvement of the position of young people and minorities.
After several months of successful cooperation, Ms. Stojanovic responded to the invitation of the Commissariat for Refugees and Returnees of the Municipality of Aleksinac to be part of the working group for employment. This working group met regularly during September, October and November and worked on the development of the Local Action Plan for Inclusion of Roma. Together with representatives of state institutions, the private and civil sectors, Ms Stojanovic had the opportunity to present her ideas and proposals for projects to improve the position of this marginalized group in the labor market. Ms. Stojanović organized several online meetings and info sessions with representatives of informal groups of Roma.
In December 2020, based on the Decision of the President of the Municipality of Aleksinac, Ms. Stojanović was appointed a member of the working group for the development of the Local Action Plan for Youth for the territory of the Municipality of Aleksinac.
On December 15, Ms. Stojanović had the opportunity to present her opinions and proposals for improving the position of young people at the Youth Dialogue with the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Vanja Udovicic. The Dialog was organized by The National youth council of Serbia within the project Youth has the priority with the support of the Ministry for Youth and Sports and within the project Young Media – Media for and with young people, in cooperation with DW Academy and with support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation. Ms. Stojanovic was one of the fifteen young participants who presented the challenges and problems that young people in Serbia face within two areas and a total of six topics. The dialogue was organized in an online format via the Zoom platform and was broadcast live via Facebook.
Within the first area, young people presented the circumstances and asked the Minister questions related to youth infrastructure, with an emphasis on recommendations for improving the Law on Volunteering and the position of volunteers, as well as the process of amending the Law on Youth and recommendations for its improvement.
Within the same area, young people stressed the importance of initiating the process of creating an Action Plan for the period 2021-2023 and made recommendations to improve the processes surrounding the National strategy for youth’s Action Plan. Also, the young people paid special attention to the National Strategy for Youth through initiating the launch of the audit process and gave recommendations for improving the implementation of the mentioned strategy’s goals.
Another area that young people discussed with the Minister was the active participation of young people in decision-making processes. Young people firstly identified the challenges related to youth budgets, and then made recommendations when it comes to funds from the budget of the Republic of Serbia that are allocated for young people. In addition to the recommendations regarding youth budgets, young people highlighted the recommendations of young people to create sustainable spaces for their participation. Young people concluded this area with the recommendations of young people to create a long-term mechanism for their active participation in decision-making processes.
Caritas in Serbia continues to advocate for the improvement of the position of young people, but also of all other vulnerable and marginalized groups.
