First meeting of youth from capitals of Central and Southeast Europe (18-22 July 2007)

Sarajevo - A Conference “First Meeting of Youth from Capitals of Central and Southeast Europe” was held in Hotel “Terme” at Ilidza from 18 to 22 July 2007, whose host was the City of Sarajevo. Young people who participated in this Conference were from: Athens, Vienna, Belgrade, Nicosia, Ljubljana, Podgorica, Sarajevo, Skopje, Tiranë and Zagreb. Among guests, there were representatives of non-governmental organizations from Sarajevo City, whose work is related to young people.  

"For two consecutive years, Sarajevo has gathered the best that this region has. In this way, the city not only geographically, but also organization-wise and substantially, is becoming a meeting point of progressive initiatives in the region”, said Semiha Borovac, the mayor of Sarajevo, at the opening of this conference. She emphasized that Sarajevo is an ideal place for gathering of young people from the region, “so that they can meet each other, exchange information, share ideas, and then realize them from Sarajevo and via Sarajevo”. She also proposed for Sarajevo to be the place of headquarters of some type of youth secretariat for Central and SE Europe Capitals Union.

The conference had 5 main panels - about education, participation of young people, their position, social anomia of young people in the context of postwar regional reconciliation and globalization, and mobility of youth. The last of the above mentioned panels was led by Jan Zlatan Kulenovic, OIA’s executive director.

One of the conclusions of the conference was that the Central and CE Europe Capitals Union should pay special attention to the problems of young people and use this network for exchange of experiences related to work with young people, and for building of some concrete bi-multilateral projects.

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