General Purposes

About this grant

The program goal is to engage young people in decisionmaking processes and civic initiatives in order to promote and strengthen the rule of law, accountability, and transitional justice in Serbia and the Western Balkan region. Through a variety activities, Youth Initiative for Human Rights will build the capacity of young people to address these issues. The grantee will also create opportunities for cooperation and dialogue among young people from across the former Yugoslavia. Over the past two years, the grantee worked with partners in the region to design and implement exchanges and study visits for more than 600 young people and to advocate for the establishment of a government-funded, large-scale, long-term youth exchange program modeled on the Franco-German Youth Office. The grantee also organized training programs on human rights and democratic values for young people and convened a summit for more than 150 young leaders from the Western Balkans, Europe, and conflict and post-conflict societies around the world, as well as governmental officials from the European Union, member states, and the United States, to discuss youth participation. At the community level in Serbia, the grantee supports the participation and leadership of young people in awareness-raising and problem-solving initiatives and provided formal and nonformal educational opportunities for more than 1,000 young people. The grantee is based in Belgrade.