5.10 Current debates and reforms
Address:
Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Department of Education, Mobility and Youth Unit
Trg BiH 3, 71 000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Tel: +387 33 492 623, +387 33 492 606, +387 33 492 519
E-mail: kemal.salic@mcp.gov.ba
Website: www.mcp.gov.ba
Forthcoming policy developments
Drafting a youth policy in FBiH is expected to be finished in the coming period. According to the FBiH Youth Council analysis in 2019, the Youth Policy has been adopted in three cantons in FBiH, while there is still no youth policy in four cantons, only the Bosnian Podrinje Canton of Gorazde plans to develop it.
Ongoing debates
The Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in BiH should become operational and resume its work as a working body of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The work of the Commission is based on:
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Coordination and cooperation between different government institutions,
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A multilateral approach to solving youth issues,
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Involvement of young people and joint management of the work of the Commission.
The Commission should be an example of institutional care of the state level of government towards youth and should contribute to the coordination of youth policies at lower levels of government in BiH. Such an approach to working with young people would significantly contribute to the effectiveness of youth policies and better position of young people in BiH in the long run.
The three youth umbrella bodies in BiH, the RS Youth Council, the BD Youth Council and the FBiH Youth Council, and the competent entity ministries work on a new text of the Decision on the Commission for Coordination of Youth in BiH, which has still not been agreed.
According to the current text of the Decision, the Commission should have nine members, including four representatives of BiH government institutions and five representatives of BiH youth structures. In this way, it is ensured that the work and decisions of the Commission are the result of a joint process of youth and government, and that the voice of young people in such bodies comes to the fore.
For the Commission to be formed, it is necessary that the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH submits a new text of the Decision, agreed among all stakeholders, to the Council of Ministers of BiH for adoption, and thus re-enable its functioning.