We are convinced that young people, as future decision-makers, voters and citizens, hold the keys to building an accountable society in the region. The Youth Program aims to connect people across the region, to educate and to strengthen the capacities of young people engaged in the process of dealing with the past. Also to decrease prejudices and stereotypes, and to actively involve young people in social and political life. Education and work with young people will be based on creative and new methods, thus encouraging learning through doing.
Regional Volunteers Network
We want to show young people who share our values that they are not alone. So far, we have noticed that a large number of young people do want their voice to be heard. If there are enough of us and if we stand firmly united behind the same set of values, we will have the strength and power to impact the societal change and to regulate our own social status. All relevant social and state issues are our personal issues too. We have every right to demand answers, changes and equal participation in public life. Our life and our future depend on the society we live in. It is up to us to assume responsibility and exert pressure on society and its institutions to listen to us and to respond to our needs. Each one of us, personally and privately, can do much for his/her life. But only united can we achieve more for the good of us all.
Peer-to-peer education on recent history
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Youth Initiative for Human Rights formed the Justice Advocates Network, a network of young activists who fight for truth, to bring justice for the victims of war crimes on the territory of the former Yugoslavia and to deal with human rights protection and promotion. These young people use methods of peer-to-peer education to teach others about the recent past in Serbia. They have completed a capacity-building and basic-skills training which lasted six months. This enabled them to educate others. The Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte personally gave diplomas to the Justice Advocates last year in order to show her support for the important work on which they were embarking.These young people aim to actively involve Serbian youth in the process of bringing justice to the victims of grave human rights violations during the armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. They seek to achieve this by advocating justice and the rule of law in local communities, in educating young people, by informing about the significance of the ICTY, and by lobbying the government to pass and implement transitional justice laws and to raise the awareness among young people of the events of the past decade and the responsibility of the Milosevic regime for crimes committed during the disintegration of ex-Yugoslavia.
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Street actions
We organized many events (street actions, performances, lectures, public gatherings, exhibitions, internet pools, surveys…) together with organizations and individuals in many local communities in the region. We marked anniversaries of the genocide in Srebrenica, organized trips to Srebrenica, Tuzla, Prijeplolje, Prishtina and introduced a large number of young people to the legacy handed down from past generations. We organized large campaigns to remind and inform citizens about war crimes committed during the 1990s, produced documentary films about the suffering of war crimes victims. Using the Internet, we reached many, especially young people, making the truth visible and available for learning.
Regional Youth exchange programs and internships
From the foundation of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights the aim remained the same; it was to provide an opportunity for young people to meet their peers from “the other side” as well as to meet members of organizations and institutions, in which they expressed an interest. These interests varied from student organizations and festivals to political parties and religious or cultural institutions. The Youth Initiative plans to continue with bringing people together and to expand its activities to the whole region, because we have seen that direct contact between people is the only way to question stereotypes and prejudices in order to eventually overcome them.
Educating young people about basic human rights issues, collective identities and youth activism.
With the aim of decentralizing and broadening its work, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights opened three local offices in southern and central Serbia and in Vojvodina. These regional offices form the basis of mobilization centers for activists.
These centers organize panel discussions and lectures at Universities; they educate students, activists from non-governmental organizations and political parties. They also monitor human rights violations and promote dealing with the past in the regions of southern and central Serbia and Vojvodina. So far, over 500 young people have attended their programs. The offices of the Initiative have had many joint events with local organizations and political parties.
