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  2. Western Balkans - Success Story on Local Youth Councils

Youth Councils promote diverse voices in Local Governance

Photo: 'Leveraging art’ initiative that took place on International Peace Day 2023. Photo credit: UNDP Kosovo1

April 2024

In the Western Balkans, a regional peacebuilding initiative is empowering young people to engage meaningfully with municipal councils, ensuring their perspectives and needs are heard and considered in local decision-making processes. A total of 57 municipal councils across Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Kosovo1?have seen an improvement in youth participation with the project’s support.?The creation and strengthening of local youth councils (LYC), which operate independently at the municipal level to represent the diverse interests of young people to their respective local mayors and councils, marks a significant step toward more inclusive and responsive governance in the region.

This?regional project titled ‘Youth 4 Inclusion, Equality & Trust,’ implemented by UNDP, UNFPA, UN Women, and UNESCO, and funded by the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) is helping to increase trust among youth towards their governance and administrative structures in the Western Balkans.

In Albania, the Ministry of Youth monitors the activities of the LYCs and reports that 70 percent?of LYCs are meeting on monthly basis with municipality officials, including mayors or deputy mayors to discuss youth related issues at the local level and convey youth concerns. Ministry of Youth monitoring also shows that most LYCs are able to ensure funds or in-kind contributions from municipalities and local CSOs to organize activities for and with youth in their respective municipalities. In North Macedonia, youth are now preparing up to 10 official requests to municipal councils for youth projects, including on combatting hate speech.

“Participation in the local youth council is an outstanding experience which provides not only the opportunity for personal development, but also contributes to decision making and the well-functioning of local level institutions. Me and my peers have noticed that the municipality is our partner, and encourages us to be active actors in decision-making processes,” said Romina Shahini, representative of the Local Youth Council in Gramsh in?Albania.

Albania has taken the lead in the region with this initiative, with virtually all municipalities boasting active and effective local youth councils. This achievement builds on previous UN efforts that supported the Ministry of Youth in crafting the national youth strategy and legislation. In Albania, UNDP and UNFPA are now developing the capacities of LYCs and helping local authorities with the implementation of the youth strategy.

Erion Ibrahimi, representative of the LYC in Lezh?, Albania, said “As a member of the local youth council in Lezh?, I have contributed to transforming the council into a mechanism that brings together youth, civil society and institutions. I am happy to say that we have represented youth voices and conveyed youth concerns in the municipality.”

Photo: Members of local youth councils in the municipalities of Bitola, Ohrid and Gostivar, went on?a study visit to Albania, in November 2023. Photo credit: UNDP/UNFPA Albania.

As part of supporting LYCs, the project emphasizes connecting young individuals across diverse backgrounds to bridge divides within communities.? In North Macedonia, where less than a quarter of the 81 municipalities have established LYCs, UNDP and UNFPA are supporting five municipalities to improve youth engagement practices. The agencies strengthened the capacities of two existing LYCs and helped to create two new ones through coaching. The LYCs have between five and ten members per municipality, aiming for equitable gender representation within these bodies.

Leutrim Bilali from Gostivar municipality remarked, “The local youth council in Gostivar was in its first phase of organizing and the project activities helped to mobilize young people and to achieve the goals of building constructive narratives, expanding youth participation, and informing youth about the opportunities that the youth centers and youth NGOs provide, which they did not know about before.”?

To ensure sustainability of this process, the goal is to secure greater focus and resources for youth issues at both central and local levels, institutionalizing consultations between LYCs and respective institutions, integrating youth matters in development plans, and backing youth initiatives with funds or other means.?In Kosovo1, inter-ethnic LYCs in Parte?/Partesh, South Mitrovica, and Gra?anica/Gra?anic? have pledged to implement youth-led initiatives like planting ‘trees of friendship’ and leveraging art to tackle hate speech, alongside commitments to no-hate-speech pledges.

The project’s strong regional dimension is inspiring youth to emulate best practices learned through networking across the region. In November 2023, 10 youth officers and members of LYCs of Bitola, Ohrid and Gostivar in North Macedonia met with their counterparts in Albania.

One participant, Leutrim Bilali ?from Gostivar, said, “Gostivar is known for its diversity; three languages - Macedonian, Albanian and Turkish. There is a mood among the young people to cooperate. In Albania, we visited six local youth councils to understand how they work. There was a lot to learn from them - best practices, knowledge, contacts, and networks with other youth councils in the region.”?

In addition to supporting the establishment and functioning of LYCs and youth exchanges, the project has ensured that the voices of youth contribute substantively to the development of local and national youth strategies. The project also supported exchanges on youth policies. For example, UNFPA and UNDP teams in Skopje and Pristina organized exchanges between the respective authorities in 2023 to share the participatory process of developing youth strategies. After the discussions and sharing of best practices, the authorities in Pristina requested project support for developing a new youth strategy. With contributions from more than 400 participants and consultations involving around 100 young individuals, the Kosovo1?youth strategy now reflects the various aspirations and concerns of youth. These include mental health, employment opportunities, quality education, security concerns, freedom of expression, sexual harassment, gender-based violence as well as issues of inclusion for diverse and vulnerable groups, particularly young people with disabilities.

Photo: Regional local youth council exchange in Skopje in October 2023. Photo credit:?UNDP North Macedonia

A gathering in Skopje in October 2023 organized by UNDP, UNFPA and UN Women brought together over 150 youth leaders including mayors, members of municipal councils and representatives of civil society and local youth councils, to deliberate on youth policies and promotion of constructive narratives at the local level. The best practice sharing covered issues ranging from youth engagement, youth-friendly spaces and countering hate speech to the promotion of respect for diversity, fostering social cohesion, and advancing gender equality.?

Dashurije Ahmeti, head of the youth section in Ferizaj/Uro?evac, said “My participation in 2023 in the conference in North Macedonia organized within the PBF project was a fantastic opportunity to meet and inform people and institutions that issue policies and implement long-term policies in the field of youth through programmes and activities. During 2024 we have the possibility to establish cooperation between local communities in North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.”?

These collaborative efforts are laying the groundwork for a future where youth-led initiatives are central at the heart of community development. The most significant impacts to date include a surge in youth engagement in local governance and the broad inclusion of young individuals from diverse economic, ethnic, and geographical backgrounds, working together towards a common purpose. Thanks to the project, 1170 young people (with 57 percent women) have participated in the development of national youth strategies; a process that has closed the communication gap between youth and institutions. The collaborative process of reaching consensus on formulating questions for authorities has fostered trust among youth, empowering the young people as catalysts for change. This includes championing positive inter-ethnic relations, tackling hate speech, and amplifying the voices of young women.

1All references to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).