Yesterday, the SMART Balkans team was present at the School as Community Center “Koli Sako”, in Divjaka, to closely follow the works of the Institute for Strategic Development, which is supported by the local grant mechanism.
The Institute for Strategic Development is implementing the initiative “Increasing the empowerment and role of young people in the decision-making process at the local level” directly targeting the Local Youth Council (LYC) in the Divjak Municipality as well as administration employees who are responsible for youth issues. After the establishment of LYC Divjak, the Institute for Strategic Development has assisted the Municipality of Divjak in the standardization of LYC and the drafting of regulatory and procedural acts that will serve for the good functioning and transparency of the latter.
The meeting took place in the form of a focus group, where following the plan of developed activities, the young participants were consulted on the regulatory package and the translation of Law 75/2019 On Youth” in the local level. Part of the meeting were not only members of LYC, but also students part of the school senate as well as young people engaged in social and cultural activities. The added value of this meeting was the presence of the public administration officials with a focus on youth, education, employment and socio-cultural life.
In her speech, Mrs. Erisa Proko, Executive Director at the Institute for Strategic Development, said that investing in young generations is a fundamental pillar in creating a favorable climate for sustainable development of the city. She emphasized that the role of LYC should be conceived as a wider role in society, where communication with the community and advocacy at the Divjaka Municipality should be at the core of their work. Mrs. Proko, expressed her willingness to further support LYC Divjakë, where in addition to standardization and technical and legal assistance, she emphasized the further need to increase the capacities of KVR members and properly inform other young people, as potential candidates. for further.
Mrs. Manuela Kolonjari, responsible at the Directorate of European Integration and Foreign AID, said that this initiative was iniciated from the need of the Municipality and the members of LYC, since the latter is a new but very important body in the Local Development Plan.
Mrs. Enxhi Lipa, Grants Officer at SMART Balkans, said that investing in young people should be a continuous work that requires the will and investment of many parties to have tangible results that improve the lives of young people in the Municipality of Divjaka and administrative areas. She emphasized that this initiative is a very good example that materializes the mission and objectives of the local grant mechanism as part of the SMART Balkans initiative.
