11. September. 2018. | 01:21

Young people in Kosovo - a look into the future

The NGO "Aktiv" organized a panel discussion on the topic "Youth in Kosovo - A Look into the Future". The Executive Director of the Youth Education Club "Synergy" Stefan Veljkovic and Aleksandar Mirkovic from the Civil Activism Network settled in Gracanica, participated in the discussion.

"Young people live very badly; they are threatened in many ways, discriminated both in economic and social terms, and by both Serbian and Kosovo systems" said Stefan Veljkovic. "Somehow, the young are not recognizable. Since the end of the war, various topics such as high politics or ethnic tensions have always been in the spotlight. However, young people have never managed to come to the agenda," says Veljkovic, adding that young people in Kosovo "are in an extremely unfavorable position".

Aleksandar Mirković believes that there is no big difference between young people from the North and South of Kosovo, apart from the freedom of movement, which is better in the North. He says everyone has forgotten about the youth and their problems. As the biggest problems, he identifies unemployment and the reclusion of young people themselves.

"They stagnate because they are afraid of disappointment. There are no concrete proposals and solutions for young people. Even when a young man creates a good plan and starts moving forward, he hits the wall, because he needs help of institution to move on.  In other words, he is forced to return to the beginning“, says Mirkovic.

"According to a survey conducted by Sinergija in 2016, unemployment, family violence, poor education system, poverty and youth crime are the five major problems identified by the young" says Stefan Veljkovic, adding that young people themselves “are partly responsible for the situation in which they are in".

He believes that Sinergija primarily offers young people everything they would be interested in. "We are trying to provide them with special content and I think we are succeeding in this," says Veljkovic, pointing out that more than 2,500 thousands of young people have gone through the training of this organization.

He thinks that young people do not migrate from the city more than they do from Belgrade, Niš, Kragujevac or other major centers, but that the migration is more noticeable in small cities. "A large number of young people are leaving, and, according to the research, 80 percent of young people want to leave Kosovo, temporarily or permanently," added Veljkovic.

Aleksandar Mirković thinks that most of the responsibilities are borne by the system, because the mechanisms for survival "come from the top"; however, a part of the responsibility is borne only by the society.

"In order to keep a young man in Gracanica, one should offer him a job. There are no medium or small companies, all of them are micro. We all want to work in public institutions, which is not possible. On the other hand, even if a local government is willing to help, it all remains unfinished, there are no concrete steps", Mirkovic says. He suggests young people to struggle and fight as he always did himself, because "life is a struggle".

Veljkovic also suggests young people to fight, not looking for a culprit in others. "Fight, as if you were alone, but as if you knew that you have someone you can rely on" he concluded.

The panel discussion was held with the support of the Kosovo Civil Society Foundation (KCSF).