"Youth is a major asset but also a challenge for Kosovo", said Kjartan Björnsson, Head of Operations in the European Commission Liaison Office in Pristina who opened the three day conference on Youth and Sport Activities, held in Kosovo's capital on 1-3 June 2010 as a part of the People 2 People programme.
The conference brought together the European Commission representatives, relevant national authorities as well as civil society organisations dealing with youth in Kosovo. The event focused on issues such as
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education and training,
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unemployment and volunteering.
In this context,
non-formal learning opportunities offered by the EU programme
Youth in Action were particularly highlighted: apart from promoting
active citizenship of young people, the programme aims at improving their
employability on the labour market. The situation of young people in Kosovo with approximately 75% unemployment rate is very difficult; the country, which has the youngest population in the region, has to create a flexible and skilled labour force to be able to compete in a global economy. The
Youth in Action programme supports as well the capacity-building of the civil society sector active in the youth field. Non-governmental youth organisations from South East Europe can participate in activities such as
youth exchanges and
training & networking grant-aided under the action 3.1 of the programme: "Cooperation with neighbouring partner countries of the European Union". Youth organisations can directly apply for a grant if they host the activities; they can be as well partners in projects that are carried out in cooperation with one or more organisations established in the programme countries (all EU countries, Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein and Turkey). Since its launch in 2008, the
People 2 People programme, one of the three strands of the Civil Society Facility, provides an opportunity for civil society organisations in the candidate and potential candidate countries and territories to EU accession to learn about the European Union institutions, decision-making process, legislation, key policies and programmes but also to build networks with their counterparts in the region and in the EU. More information:
