Unemployment, limited opportunities, and youth migration are among the most significant challenges facing Serbian youth in Gora\u017edevac. This was one of the key conclusions of the workshop \u201cYouth and Building Intercommunity Trust,\u201d organized by the Musine Kokalari Institute for Social Policy with the participation of young people and representatives of the Serbian community in Gora\u017edevac. The workshop was organized and moderated by Senad \u0160abovi\u0107 and Fisnik Rexhepi.<\/p>\n\n
During the workshop, participants discussed intercommunity relations, the challenges facing young people, and opportunities to improve cooperation between communities. Through interactive discussions, they reflected on their personal and shared identities, emphasizing that ethnic affiliation is not the sole factor that defines their lives, interests, and aspirations.<\/p>\n\n
Particular attention was devoted to stereotypes and prejudices that continue to exist between communities. Participants noted that political narratives, the media, and social networks in both Kosovo and Serbia often contribute to strengthening mistrust and negative perceptions. At the same time, it was emphasized that direct contact, joint activities, and practical cooperation remain the most effective ways to overcome prejudice and build trust.<\/p>\n\n
One of the central topics of the workshop was youth migration. Participants stressed that migration affects both the Serbian and Albanian communities, and that an increasing number of young people are leaving due to the lack of economic opportunities and limited prospects for the future. Common challenges identified included unemployment, limited opportunities for professional development, difficulties in the agricultural sector, environmental issues, water management challenges, illegal waste dumps, and the lack of spaces dedicated to youth activities.<\/p>\n\n
Participants highlighted the need for greater investment in youth, sports, cultural, and social programs that would enable increased interaction among young people from different communities. Concerns were also raised regarding the lack of adequate spaces where young people can organize joint activities, develop ideas, and build cooperative relationships.<\/p>\n\n
As part of the \u201cKosovo We Want\u201d exercise, participants identified the creation of more opportunities for young people, local economic development, environmental protection, enhanced communication between communities, and greater security and stability as key priorities. Meanwhile, within the framework of the \u201cCooperation Laboratory,\u201d participants proposed concrete initiatives including sports activities, cultural events, youth clubs, environmental projects, and new spaces for dialogue and cooperation.<\/p>\n\n
Participants agreed that many of the challenges faced by young people are shared regardless of ethnic background. It was emphasized that building trust requires continuous communication, sincerity, mutual respect, and greater opportunities for practical cooperation at the local level.<\/p>\n\n
This activity was implemented within the framework of the project \u201cFostering Political Dialogue on Interethnic and Social Cohesion,\u201d with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Unemployment, limited opportunities, and youth migration are among the most significant challenges facing Serbian youth in Gora\u017edevac. This was one of the key conclusions of the workshop \u201cYouth and Building Intercommunity Trust,\u201d organized by the Musine Kokalari Institute for Social Policy with the participation of young people and representatives of the Serbian community in Gora\u017edevac. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-balline-en","category-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11401,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11400\/revisions\/11401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}