The Balkan Youth Initiative

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The Balkan Youth Initiative
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The Balkan Youth Summit
Helsinki, February 2000

• Convened and chaired by President Ahtisaari of
  Finland, co-chaired by George Papandreou and Rita
  Süssmuth
• Business, Government and Civil Society Leaders
  from 20 countries

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The Balkan Youth Summit Consensus

• Best Practices
• Anchored in an International Network focused on
  Children and Youth
• Regional Approach
• Tri-sectoral Cooperation among business,
  government and civil society

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Working Group
To reach conclusions and implement decisions so
that the Balkan Youth Initiative could become
operational by September 2000

• Approve a plan of action for a Balkan Youth
  Initiative
• Agree on principles, programmatic framework,
  mandate, operational structure and policies for
  the Initiative
• Open doors to key players political leaders and
  business leaders
• Provide access to potential sources of revenue to
  enhance the viability of what is proposed by the
  Working Group

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Working Group

• President Martti Ahtisaari
• Rita Süssmuth, immediate past President of the
  German Parliament
• Bo Elding, Director, SIDA
• Antonio Vigilante, UNDP Special Representative
  for post conflict development in South East
  Europe
• Terrice Bassler, OSI Representative on the
  Stability Pact Task Force on Education and Youth
• Don Mohanlal, Executive Vice-President,
  International Youth Foundation
• Radmila Rangelov Jusovic, Director, Step by Step
  Programme Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Petrit Selimi, Post-Pessimist Organizations
  Kosovo
• Vladimir Milcin, Director, Open Society Institute
  Macedonia
• Frances Tsakonas, Special Advisor to HE George
  Papandreou, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Greece
•  
• Minister Pär Stenbäck, Vice-President,
  International Youth Foundation
• Jean-Pierre Isbendjian, Regional Manager for
  Europe, International Youth Foundation

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Expected Outcomes

• First tangible steps in the next three to five
  years
• Create a new model of regional cooperation around
  its most precious asset children and youth.
• Increase the effectiveness, scale and
  sustainability of youth-serving programmes
• Strengthen the capacity of children and youth
  NGOs through training and consulting assistance

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Expected Outcomes

• First tangible steps in the next three to five
  years
• Generate social investments from the business
  sector, governments, international funding
  agencies and NGOs
• Make targeted grants to children and
  youth-serving NGOs to enhance their
  effectiveness, scale and sustainability
• Enhance tri-sectoral cooperation among business,
  government and civil society

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Strategy

• Social Responsibility and Corporate Sector
• Employment
• Technology
• Non-formal education
• Health Promotion and Prevention
• Civic Education and Democracy Building

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Programmatic Principles

• Positive Long-Term Youth Development
• Begin with a few Successful Cases
• Youth Participation
• Intercultural Learning
• Monitoring and Dissemination

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Geographic Coverage
12 Countries covered under this initiative

• Albania
• Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Greece
• Hungary
• Macedonia

• Moldova
• Romania
• Slovenia
• Turkey
• Yugoslavia (comprising Kosovo, Montenegro, and
  Serbia)

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Balkan Children and Youth Foundation

• A foundation within IYF-Europe for the next 3 to
  5 years
• Legal seat (non-staffed) in Brussels
• Staffed Operations office in Skopje
• After initial period, the foundation will become
  a legal independent entity

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Board of Directors

• Will include
• A statesperson
• A foundation leader
• Donor/s
• A young person
• An expert on children and youth issues in the
  Balkans
• Business leaders (from the region and outside)
• A civil society leader
• A senior media executive or anchor/visible media
  personality

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Primary Functions of Operations Office

• Explore and document effective youth activities
  in the region and develop a strategy to
  strengthen and expand them.
• Diagnose organizational, managerial and
  communication needs of youth NGOs.
• Identify and support opportunities for greater
  cross-border and cross-community youth
  cooperation and understanding.
• Seek ways to encourage governments to integrate
  the programmatic approach into their National
  Youth Policies.

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Primary Functions of Operations Office

• Contribute to providing youth leadership training
  based on assessment of youth needs.
• Mobilize and leverage funds from the business
  sector, governments, international funding
  agencies and NGOs to support the sustainability
  of effective programmes and practices.
• Endeavour to disseminate information in local
  languages.

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Operating Structure

• Executive Director, Programme Officer and
  Administrative Assistant.
• Mobilize revenues, promote social responsibility
  among the business sector, and enhance
  tri-sectoral cooperation.
• Identify and assess best practices in youth
  development, enable delivery and capacity
  building services and make recommendations on
  grants.

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Resource Mobilization

• Private Foundations
• Governments and bi-lateral Aid Agencies
• Multilateral Agencies and Institutions
• Private Sector
• International NGOs
• Private Individuals

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Resource Mobilization Needs

• Capacity Building
• Documenting Best Practices
• Tri-sectoral Cooperation
• Grants
• Exchanges
• Operations

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Next Steps

• Begin approach potential donors
• Hire local consultants to identify best practices
  in youth development in targeted countries in the
  region
• Set up Board of Directors and establish
  Operations Office

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The Balkan Youth Initiative