{"id":3163035,"date":"2021-06-29T12:52:58","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T12:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/western-balkans-youth-forum-2021-kicks-off-today\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T15:16:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T15:16:37","slug":"western-balkans-youth-forum-2021-kicks-off-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/western-balkans-youth-forum-2021-kicks-off-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Balkans Youth Forum 2021 kicks off today!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Western Balkans Youth Forum 2021, a side event organised in the lead-up to the Western Balkans Berlin Process Summit, got underway today. The event brings together 80 young leaders and decision-makers from across the region and the European Union to discuss the challenges facing youth in the region and how to improve their position and lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a welcome video message, German Chancellor\u00a0Ms Angela Merkel\u00a0pointed out that the youth exchanges is something that brings us closer together, that sows the seeds of understanding and trust between societies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Acting Director-General of the European Commission\u2019s Directorate General Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), Mr Maciej Popowski,\u00a0said that a better region starts with young people and that they should influence policies that shape their lives. He underlined that the Youth Forum is a perfect opportunity for young people to voice their needs and expectations and added that the European Union remains committed to the Western Balkans also through supporting youth, education and mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A number of selected <a href=\"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/yea\/young-european-ambassadors\/\">Young European Ambassadors<\/a> \u2013 a creative network of future young game changers established in 2020 under the EU Regional Communication Programme for the Western Balkans \u2013 are taking part and co-chairing different working groups. Challenges and topics under discussion include Reconciliation &amp; Peacebuilding, Volunteering, New Skills for Future, Sustainable Development, shifting \u201cBrain Drain\u201d to \u201cBrain Gain\u201d, and how to increase Youth Participation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Youth Forum is co-organised by Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) and German-French Youth Office (OFAJ) with the support of German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and co-funded by the European Union. The event continues on 4-5 July. At the end of the Forum, young leaders will develop a Regional Youth Agenda (RYA) to present to the Western Balkans Summit of Leaders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Western Balkans Youth Forum 2021, a side event organised in the lead-up to the Western Balkans Berlin Process Summit, got underway today. The event brings together 80 young leaders and decision-makers from across the region and the European Union to discuss the challenges facing youth in the region and how to improve their position [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3163036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"area-of-cooperation":[],"country":[245,246,247,248,249,250],"opportunity-type":[],"class_list":["post-3163035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","country-albania","country-bosnia-and-herzegovina","country-kosovo","country-montenegro","country-north-macedonia","country-serbia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Western Balkans Youth Forum 2021 kicks off today! - WeBalkans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/western-balkans-youth-forum-2021-kicks-off-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Western Balkans Youth Forum 2021 kicks off today! - WeBalkans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Western Balkans Youth Forum 2021, a side event organised in the lead-up to the Western Balkans Berlin Process Summit, got underway today. 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