Political activism among young people has been very present lately, but they are on the margins of participation and serve as volunteers, to share propaganda or informational material, it was assessed at the round table of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Prima. The executive director of that NGO, Aida Perović Ivanović, said at the round table "Youth participation in decision-making processes in Montenegro", that the event is part of the regional project "Youth funds for the Western Balkans and Turkey", financed by the European Union. "One of the goals of the project is to motivate young people to inform themselves about the possibilities of participation in public life and decision-making processes. There are young people in politics, but not where youth policies are discussed," said Perović Ivanović in the PR Center. She said that this problem is being solved since the Youth and Sports Administration exists, but it is still necessary to work on it. "Young people have recently been very active when it comes to political activism, but they are on the margins of participation and activism, because they serve as volunteers, to share propaganda or informative material. It is not a space where young people make decisions," Perović Ivanović pointed out.
She believes that the voice of young people should be heard when talking about the needs and problems of that population. "Through this project, we want to motivate decision makers to open space for the participation of young people. That is crucial, and our first address is the Youth and Sports Administration," stated Perović Ivanović. With the project, as she explained, they want to encourage young people to become more actively involved in decision-making in political, economic and social life and thus influence the movement of youth public policies. "Our intention is to create a network of youth organizations from five countries implementing the project, which will actively monitor the position of young people, measure the degree of their participation and lead public advocacy campaigns for changes in youth policies tailored to that population," explained Perović Ivnaović.
The representative of the Administration for Youth and Sports, Krsto Vukadinović, said that it is the duty of local self-governments to adopt local action plans within the next six months from the adoption of the National Strategy for Youth. "Local administrations should recognize what young people lack, and then try to find a moment of intersectoral cooperation at the local and national level," said Vukadinović. According to him, the focus of the Directorate for Youth and Sports is the opening of youth clubs and centers. "At the moment there are eight of them. Our idea is for youth clubs and centers to take root in all local governments and for it to be a mechanism where young people can gather and carry out their activities", explained Vukadinović. He said that the idea of the Directorate for Youth and Sports is to finance most of the projects that will have a direct impact on the youth clubs and the activities that will be carried out in them, which, as he stated, will ensure the sustainability of the clubs. Senior researcher on the "Youth Bank Hub for Western Balkans and Turkey" project, Aleksandra Gligorović, said that research was conducted in Montenegro as part of the project. She said that the research showed that the public administration has established channels for communication with citizens, but, as she stated, their adaptability to specific target groups and the degree of use of the obtained data, suggestions, and comments is questionable. "Also, it is an important issue that concerns the citizens themselves - how informed they are and how much they use these channels. "When considering the target group of young people, special attention must be paid to their education for participation and facilitating that process," Gligorović pointed out.
Speaking about the presence on the Internet and openness towards young people, Gligorović said that the Montenegrin Government and the Assembly have their own Internet presentations and e-mail accounts that citizens, and therefore young people, can use to get information about the work of those bodies or reach necessary information. "All ministries have their own internet presentations and e-mail accounts that citizens, and therefore young people, can use to get information about the work of these bodies or to get the necessary information. Of the social networks, Facebook is the most popular, followed by Twitter," Gligorović said. At the local level, as she stated, all local self-government units, except for Gusinj, have their own internet presentations and their own e-mail accounts. The event is part of the regional project "Youth Bank Hub for Western Balkans and Turkey" ("Youth Bank Hub for Western Balkans and Turkey - YBH4WBT"), supported by the European Union through the IPA CSF program, which is led by the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation and which includes the NGO Receiving partner and implementer in Montenegro. In addition to the "Ana and Vlade Divac" Foundation from Serbia and the NGO Prima from Montenegro, the partners implementing the project are Partners from Albania, the Education Association Mladiinfo International from Macedonia and the Foundation of Community Volunteers from Turkey.
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