Volunteers in Action

Kosovo's Youth volunteering
By Angela Griep

The Kosovo Youth Network (KYN) has implemented a new Kosovo-wide youth volunteers program, funded by UNDP and UN Volunteers. UN Volunteer Dagmar Blickwede, Project Coordinator describes the main goals of the project: “We want to raise the social awareness of youth here and give young people the opportunity to contribute to the development and social life of Kosovo.”

‘Kosovo Youth Volunteers’ (KYV) is the name of the new project KYN started implementing during the last three months. ‘Up to now we organized one-day activities in cooperation with the Youth Centers and NGOs, which are members of KYN in seven different regions of Kosovo”, explains National UN Volunteer Blerim Azizi, Media Officer for KYV. “These activities were a good way of promoting the program and within three months 300 young people already volunteered and subscribed for future volunteer activities”, adds Fatos Karaçica, Outreach Officer for KYV, describing the first success of the program.

The idea of the project is to encourage young people to contribute to social development and reconciliation in Kosovo. “We will create a web page and database where youth can apply to become a volunteer, and where at the same time national and international NGOs, municipalities or UN agencies can request for volunteer support for their projects”, explains Dagmar. The possibilities are extensive. “It can be in the field of environment, health or reconciliation. Up to now we had clean up days, renovation works and a picnic and game day for orphans. But it can be everything else. Maybe a school director asks for help with urgent reparation works in the school or with a big event.”

Through KYV youth will get more support when contributing to the social and political life in Kosovo. “We want to give them the opportunity to volunteer in a way that their work gets acknowledged within the society”, emphasizes Dagmar. During the volunteer activities young people will be provided with the necessary skills and tools through participatory workshops and trainings in confidence building, reconciliation and peaceful coexistence, capacity building and more. The engagement of youth volunteers in various activities will provide Kosovo’s youth with a sort of non-formal education and relevant work experience. “Being a Kosovo Youth Volunteer will be useful for the personal development and the future professional career of young people”, explains National Volunteer Aferdita Dragaj, Training Advisor for KYV.

Supporting the youth becomes even more important since youth centers and youth NGOs in Kosovo are facing various problems. “Many youth centers are in danger of being closed down, due to lack of funding”, elaborates Dagmar. “Furthermore those who are running the youth centers are getting older and start getting more involved in other political sectors. And the second generation coming up now is not yet prepared to take over.”

After the March events KYN faces an additional problem in regards to their Serbian member organizations. National UN Volunteer Slavko Spasic, Minority Officer of the Kosovo Youth Network, is currently preoccupied with improving the communication with the Serbian Youth. “I think it’s the youth that has the chance and the abilities to make a change in Kosovo. In Orahovac/ Rahovec we already have Serbians and Albanians using the same youth center”, he says. “That’s my goal for all Youth Centers in Kosovo”.

The Kosovo Youth Network is also the implementing partner of the UN Volunteers Bosnian Herzegovina Balkan wide Volunteers Exchange Program. “In the future Kosovo Youth Volunteers might be able to go to Montenegro, FYROM, Albania, Serbia or Croatia”, says Dagmar viewing the project in a bigger frame and broader perspective.

The next step in regards to further develop the Kosovo Youth Volunteers program will be the launch of their web page. Delegations of the first 300 volunteers will be invited together with the local media and representatives of different NGOs. “Besides launching the web page we will use this opportunity to strengthening the network between the different parties involved”, highlights Dagmar. Another project coming up soon will be supported by Kosovo Youth Volunteers. The Youth Center Prishtina is organizing a Youth Week, starting on 2nd November.

For more information please contact:

Kosovo Youth Network (KYN)
Tel: +381- (0)38-246104
Mobile: +377-(0)44-503346
Email: kosyouthnet@hotmail.com