The traditional workshop My City Youth City was once again organized in Prilep, on the 20.05.2021 with the support of the Youth Council Prilep. The workshop consisted of short introduction of the project Youth compact for Europe and 2 working sessions.
The purpose of the first session “Youth participation in policy making” was young people to share their views on youth participation in policy making and how much they have the opportunity to get involved in it. This session was aimed at encouraging young people to engage in informal activities that will enable them to participate in structured dialogues, which in turn will result in the creation of functional policies.
Through a discussion, the young people expressed their views and thoughts, and at the same time they were encouraged not to give up and that their voice will be heard.
The purpose of the second session “Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies”; was to introduce young people to the new law on youth participation and youth policies, adopted on January 14, 2020.
Through the Presentation of this law, the young people got familiar with everything that would affect them, and also got familiar with their rights which they have the right to demand from the authorities. Through this session, the young participants were clarified some of the mentioned terms listed in the law, and at the same time, their initiative for greater activity was encouraged, as well as a meeting with the authorities in the Municipality of Prilep.
The youngsters agreed that further work on the topics is needed in order to help and guide young people towards their empowerment which will lead to their activism and involvement in decision making processes. A systematic approach, continuous individual support and monitoring, in the future would enable the achievement of a greater effects and impact for the aforementioned goal.
This activity is organized in the framework of the proejct "Regional Youth Compact for Europe" supported financially by the European Union with co-financing from the Balkan Trust for Democracy.