2. YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN THE
DECISION AND POLICY MAKING
PROCESSES
Coalition SEGA, 2010

3. Author:
Zoran Ilieski
Editor:
Coalition of youth organizations SEGA
Design:
Borch Bojcheski
Technical preparation:
Maja Ivanoska Krstevska
Tomislav Gajtanoski
Year: 2010
Edition: 500 samples
This publication is part of the project “Promoting youth activism in
underdeveloped regions” financed by the National Endowment for Democracy -
NED, United States of America.
This publication reflects the views only of the author and not necessary reflects
the views of the National Endowment for Democracy - NED.
CIP - Catalogization in publication
National and university library “St. Kliment Ohridski” Skopje
352.077:342.571-053.6(497.7)
ILIESKI, Zoran
Youth participation in decision and policy making
processes / [author Zoran Ilieski]. - Prilep : Coalition of youth
organizations SEGA, 2010. - 38 pages ; 27 cm
The publication is part of the project “Promoting youth
activism in underdeveloped regions”
ISBN 978-9989-2893-8-5
a) Local Self-Government - Creating policies - Youth participation -
Macedonia - Manuals
COBISS.MK-ID 84339210

4. About Coalition Youth Council Prilep and two partner organizations led
the initiative to establish a coalition of youth
SEGA organizations to apply and implement the project
“National Youth Action Plan”. Continuing the process,
the Coalition of Youth Organizations SEGA was
unofficially established on January 20th, 2004 in
order to contribute to the development and
implementation of the National Youth Strategy of
Macedonia and to improve the satisfaction of the
needs of the youth. On the 27th of September 2004, a
decision was made to formally register the Coalition as
a citizen association. Coalition SEGA is a national
organization with collective membership.
The membership of the Coalition (at the moment)
consists of 15 full and 14 associate member
organizations. The management structure is
composed of the following bodies:
4Assembly – composed of all members;
4Governing Board – composed of five
representatives from the full members;
4Supervisory Board – composed of three
representatives from the Assembly members.
The executive structure is organized in the Central
office, which is located in Prilep, and five Regional
offices in: Shtip, Ohrid, Tetovo and 2 offices in Skopje.
Mission The Coalition of Youth Organizations SEGA works on
developing and implementing youth policies in
Macedonia as well as connecting and strengthening
young people to improve their overall state.
Areas of work The Coalition SEGA with the new Strategic Plan 2010 –
2012 defined 3 strategic goals developed according to
(strategic the vision as well as the mission of SEGA. The strategic
directions) goals were developed on the basis of the functioning to
date of the Coalition using realistic approaches based
on the external factors that affect the work of SEGA as
well as the experience gained while working with the
target groups.
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5. Strategic goal 1 INITIATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF YOUTH
LEGISLATION (ON NATIONAL AND LOCAL LEVEL)
CONTRIBUTING TOWARDS IMPROVING THE LIFE OF
YOUTH IN MACEDONIA
Strategic directions:
4Monitoring and implementation of the National
Youth Strategy of Macedonia
4Initiation of a process for creating and adopting
regulations in Macedonia that define the status of the
youth
4Creating and implementing local youth policies
within the ULSG
4Establishing Councils of Youth within the Municipal
Strategic goal 2 SUPPORT FOR YOUTH ACTIVISM
Strategic directions:
4Support in the formation of new youth organizations
at the local level
4Strengthening the capacities of existing youth
organizations in their work
4Creating funds to support youth organizations for
dealing youth related problems
Strategic goal 3 INCREASE YOUTH PARTICIPATION AND INFORMATION
IN PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES
Strategic directions:
4Active involvement of the youth in the preparation
and implementation of youth activities at the local
level
4Establishment of youth friendly services (youth
information centers)
4Strengthening and promoting the intercultural
dialogue between youth in Macedonia
4

6. Meetings with representatives of youth
organizations
Training of trainers for youth participation
Training for representatives of youth
organizations
Trainings for local MPs
Seminar on youth participation
Meetings with Mayors

7. Youth participation in decision and
policy making processes
Analyses of the successful actions with practical
recommendations for work on advocacy campaigns
Promoting youth activism in
underdeveloped regions

8. PROMOTING YOUTH ACTIVISM IN
UNDERDEVELOPED REGIONS
Promoting youth From 01 October 2009 SEGA commenced the project
activism in “Promoting Youth Activism in an Underdeveloped
underdeveloped Region” financed by the National Endowment for
regions Democracy (NED). The project was being implemented
in a period of 10 months in eight cities in Macedonia:
Prilep, Kavadarci, Bitola, Resen, Negotino, Gevgelija,
Ohrid and Struga.
The aim of the project is to increase the citizen
participation in the decision and policy making
processes at local level, particularly promoting youth
participation. The proposed approach of the project
and the defined strategies refer to improving the youth
participation in the decision & policy making
processes.
The project activities included: organizing meeting
with representatives of youth organizations,
organizing ToT for youth participation, preparing and
publishing manuals on “Youth participation” and
“Lobbying & Advocacy”, organizing trainings for youth
organizations, granting and implementation of local
campaigns for youth participation, organizing
trainings for young members of Municipal Councils,
organizing Seminar for representatives of NGOs and
Municipal Councils and organizing meetings with
Mayors.
The entire support process ends with preparation and
distribution of the publication “Youth Participation in
Decision and Policy Making Processes” containing
successful examples and stories from the
implementation of the advocacy campaigns
(supported with this project) as well as comparative
analyses of successful and unsuccessful actions with
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9. practical recommendations for implementation of
advocacy campaigns.
Direct project beneficiaries are the young people
included in the work of the 8 youth NGOs in the cities of
Prilep, Kavadarci, Negotino, Gevgelija, Bitola, Resen,
Ohrid and Struga. Indirectly, the project activities
affected the high school students, university students,
political youth wings and young people included in the
NGO sector in the selected cities.
In addition of this publication will follow the actions
undertook within the project aiming to strengthen the
capacities of the youth organizations for youth
participation as well as review of the successful
examples and stories of the advocacy campaigns
implementation.
ACTION 1 In order to present the project activities, in the first
month of the project implementation, meeting with
representatives of 8 NGOs from Prilep, Bitola, Struga,
Organizing a Ohrid, Resen, Kavadarci, Negotino and Gevgelija was
meeting with organized in the central office of Coalition SEGA in
Prilep. At this meeting we established coordination
representatives with the NGO representatives, in order to ensure
of youth successful implementation of the project activities.
Moreover, at the meeting we signed Memorandum of
organizations Understanding between SEGA and the NGOs included.
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10. ACTION 2 During December 2009 we organized three day ToT for
10 Youth Participation trainers. Therefore, we
prepared public call and application form and we
placed them on our website www.sega.org.mk and to
Organizing our profile on the social network profile. Furthermore,
Training of we disseminated the call several contact networks of
youth organizations in Macedonia. For the participants
Trainers on Youth in the training we prepared manual for organizing
youth participation trainings, which will be their basic
participation tool for their future work as youth participation
trainers. The participants in this training gained
knowledge and skills for organizing trainings and
workshops for youth participation. With the organizing
of this training we formed the first core of trainers for
youth participation in Macedonia, which in the
following period will be in function to the needs of
SEGA and other youth organizations in Macedonia.
ACTION 3 From the to date experience in working with youth,
youth organizations and Local Self-Governments in
Republic of Macedonia we have identified the need of
strengthening of their capacities on themes related to
Preparation “Youth Policy and Youth Participation” and “Advocacy
and printing of and Lobbying”. Therefore, in March 2010 we prepared
and printed two manuals in 400 samples. These
manuals publications will be useful tool for development of new
forms of youth participation in Republic of Macedonia.
Furthermore, we want to point out that thematically
these manuals are one of the rarely published in SEE
region and the only ones in Macedonia. We
disseminated the manuals to the participants of all
project activities and to more Local Self-Governments
and youth organizations in Macedonia. In order to be
more functional, the electronic versions of the
manuals are available to download from the website of
the Coalition SEGA (www.sega.org.mk).

11. ACTION 4 The involved youth NGOs had the opportunity to
participate in capacity building process containing the
Organizing trainings: “Youth participation & Youth policy” and
“Lobbing and Advocacy”. Trainers of the trainings were
training courses part of the trained participants in the ToT for youth
for NGOs participation. Part of the reviewed documents was
related to national and international documents such
as: European Charter on the Participation of the Young
People in Local and Regional Life, White Paper on
youth policy of EU, National Youth Strategy of
Macedonia, the National Action Plan for
implementation of the National Youth Strategy of
Macedonia etc. In these trainings the representatives
from the eight NGOs had the opportunity to increase
their knowledge on youth participation and lobbying &
advocacy being able to use it during the
implementation of the strong campaigns which
directly would influence the decision makers.
In order to support the youth NGOs included in this
ACTION 5 project and to use the acquired knowledge and skills
from the previous activities, as well as to affect the
Supporting the local authorities at the local and regional level, with
local advocacy this project we ensured support of four regional
campaigns advocacy campaigns. Therefore, the project team
prepared documentation for supporting small
campaigns in direction to supporting the interests of
youth and addressing the youth related issues at the
local level. The documentation contained: Application
form, Guide for filling the application and budget form.
In the call the NGOs were encouraged to apply in
partnership. The call for the NGOs was announced in
the SEGA's website www.sega.org.mk.
With this activity we supported 4 regional campaigns
with maximum financial support of $1,500.00 for
each campaign or $6,000.00 in total. With these
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12. projects activities in eight cities were supported
ensuring education of the high school students for
youth participation in the decision and policy making
processes. During March all sub-grantees signed
contract.
ACTION 6 In order to strengthen the capacities of the young
members of Local Parliaments in the selected cities, 2
Organizing two-day training courses on the subjects: “Youth
participation & Youth policy” and “Lobbing and
training courses Advocacy” were organized. In the trainings
for youth - participation took 16 young members of Local
Municipal Councils from the 8 selected municipalities
members of Local up to 30 years of age. Trainers for these events were
Parliaments part of the established core of trainers for youth
participation. Through organizing these trainings the
members of Local Parliaments gained knowledge in
youth participation, forms of youth participation, and
acquired skills for advocacy of youth interest in their
community and to lobby the institutions for improving
the state of youth. This approach ensured closer
cooperation with the decision makers which are key
players for policy changes in the Local Self-
Governments.
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13. The campaigns were being implemented in the period
ACTION 7 of March – June 2010. In this period we were regularly
conducting monitoring of all campaigns, project that
Implementation of we supported within action 5. Through the
the local implementation of the regional campaigns, our sub-
grantees strengthened their capacities in conducting
campaigns local campaigns for advocacy using the knowledge
acquired in the capacity building process of the
organization, action 4. With this process we
specifically ensured influence on the strengthening of
the capacities for implementation of projects in
partnership. The lessons learned, that the included
organizations gained in this process, will provide long-
term sustainability and experience which can be used
through implementing similar campaigns or activities
in the future period.
Aiming to survey the existing models of participation
ACTION 8 and to create new mechanisms of youth participation
in the decision making processes we organized one-
Organizing day seminar on the topic “Youth participation in the
municipalities”. The seminar was attended by
seminar for NGOs representatives from youth organizations and local
and young MP's from the selected cities. In the event the
participants discussed on the current situation with
members of inclusion of youth in their municipalities, the reasons
Local Municipal that disable youth participation and the possible new
forms for participation on each of the municipalities as
Councils well.
The model Councils of Youth in the Local Self-
Government (which is established in Shtip, Radovish
and Resen) by the Coalition SEGA was presented by
the representatives of the Council of Youth in Shtip. All
participants of the seminar identified the need of
establishing specific body which will increase the
youth participation in their municipalities and they
stated the willingness to apply the model Council of
Youth.
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14. ACTION 9 In a period of three months we organized meetings
with the Mayors from the Local Self-Governments
included in the project. The aim of this activity was to
Organizing lobby the Local Self-Governments to make changes in
meetings with establishing new mechanisms for youth participation.
In the meetings we presented the model Council of
mayors Youth aiming to ensure long-term participation of
young people in the Local Self-Governments.
Memorandums of Understanding for establishing new
forms of participation were signed with the Mayors
from the Local Self-Governments of Negotino and
Kavadarci. Statements for implementing project of
such kind we received from the Mayors from Gevgelija,
Ohrid and Prilep.
13

15. Youth participation in decision and policy making
processes
Analysis of successful actions with practical
recommendations for working on advocacy campaigns
Comparative analysis of successful and
unsuccessful actions with practical recommendations
for working on advocacy campaigns

16. STORY 1
“We can, we know, we are skilled”

17. OUR We, from the citizen association “Civic Center for
prevention and re-socialization” – Negotino and our
STORY colleagues from the “Youth Council FORSA” –
Gevgelija, implemented the project “We can, we know,
we are skilled”. With the project we succeed to
increase the information of the youth population for
their rights and ways of inclusion in the organs and
bodies of the Local Self-Government. Within 4 months
we conducted the following project activities:
preparation activities, organizing educational
workshops, conducting poll and elaboration of the poll
questionnaires, organizing info-days, organizing
meeting with the local authorities in Gevgelija,
organizing debates and broadcasting TV shows.
Preparation During March 2010 we held several individual
meetings in order to coordinate all activities and to
activities define the obligations of all involved in the project. In
these meetings we reviewed several possibilities for
design of the leaflets and posters. The leaflets and
posters are consisted of basic information on the
youth participation, the logos of our organizations as
well the logos of Coalition SEGA and the National
Endowment for Democracy. We printed 1315 leaflets
(1000 for the needs of Gevgelija and 315 for the needs
of Negotino) and 55 posters (35 for the needs of
Gevgelija and 20 for the needs of Negotino).
Furthermore, in this period we prepared and printed
260 poll questionnaires. The questionnaire is
consisting two types of questions: questions in general
and questions related to youth participation.
In order to strengthen the capacities of youth in the
Organizing field of youth participation we organized educational
educational workshops. Therefore, we prepared announcement
workshops and set informative posters in the schools in both
cities, Negotino and Gevgelija.
16

18. The announcement was put on the social network
Facebook – to the groups of both organizations and we
electronically send it to NGOs in Negotino and
Gevgelija.
During April – May 2010 we organized 4 workshops in
Negotino and 5 workshops in Gevgelija. In the
workshops we discussed on the following subjects:
defining of the concept youth participation,
documents at the national level, youth participation
(strategies, mechanisms and forms) positive
examples and practices. 158 high school and
university students (Negotino 100 and Gevgelija 58)
participated in 7 workshops. 31 representatives from
NGOs participated in both educational workshops
intended for NGOs (20 NGO representatives from
Negotino and 11 NGO representatives from Gevgelija).
As indirect product of these workshops we gained a lot
of ideas for following steps regarding the activating
youth in the social processes, as well as for increasing
motivation to continue together towards achieving the
key goal, establishing youth advisory body within the
local Self-Government through which the youth can
equally fight for their rights and needs.
In order to gain specific data on the current situation
Conducting polls with the information and inclusion of youth in the
and elaboration bodies of the Local Self-Government and other
of questionnaires institutions at local level, in the cities of Negotino and
Gevgelija we conducted poll. In the poll we included
214 high school and university students, NGO
representatives, political youth wings from both cities
(140 youth from Negotino and 74 youth from
Gevgelija). We elaborated the questionnaires for both
cities. With these analyses we acquired clear picture
for the current situation in both cities on the
information and inclusion of youth in the municipal
institutions.
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19. Specifically, in both cities we noticed the same results
regarding the lack of youth information, but the lack of
motivation for youth to actively engage in the social
processes as well. The conclusions from the survey
show that young people have basic knowledge about
youth participation and the documents at national
level, but the main point is that they are not included
while defining the priorities at local level within the
local policies, or they are very little involved. Regarding
the ways they suggest to improve the situation, the
recommendations refer to the possibility of their active
inclusion within the Local Self-Government as well as
ensuring technical conditions for normal functioning
and addressing their needs and ideas. With this
survey, our organizations gained specific directions for
the planning process of their future activities.
In order to increase the level of informing youth for the
Organizing possibilities and forms of youth participation, we
Info days organized two Info days in Negotino and Gevgelija. In
the most frequent places in the cities we distributed
informative materials; we distributed 315 leaflets in
Negotino and 1000 leaflets in Gevgelija. The leaflets
were disseminated in the high schools and the local
institutions during the other project activities as well.
On 20 April 2010 we organized a meeting of 20 high
Organizing school and university students, and NGO
meeting with the representatives meeting was held in the venues of the
authorities. The
with representatives of the local
local authorities in Local Self-Government of Gevgelija. Youth from our city
had the opportunity to visit the Citizen Information
the Local Self- Office where they gained specific information how the
Government of work is organized and what are their responsibilities as
employed in the office.
Gevgelija
18

20. Afterwards we held meeting with the Mayor of the
Local Self-Government, Mr. Ivan Frangov. At the
meeting we discussed about the work of the Mayor
and the Municipal Council, in what level the youth are
included in the decision making as well as how to
improve this situation. The young people informed the
Mayor about their actual problems and needs. From
this activity we concluded that it would be good to
organize such meetings aiming to exchange the
opinions of youth and the decision makers in our Local
Self-Government.
In order to motivate and inform youth for the
Organizing possibilities of youth participation in both
debates municipalities we organized debates on the subject:
“Involving youth in the decision making at municipal
level”. On 25 May 2010 we organized a debate in
Negotino. In the debate participation took 15
youngsters from the city of Negotino where we
discussed on the subject youth participation and
inclusion of youth in Negotino. In the beginning we
introduced the participants with our project activities
and presented the analyses of the implemented
survey. At the event guest was the Executive director of
Coalition SEGA, introducing the participants with the
practices and positive examples from Macedonia
integrated in several Local Self-Governments. During
the second part of the debate the youngsters present
openly discussed for the need of establishing Council
of Youth within the Local Self-Government and the
possibility to include Negotino in those processes.
On 04 June 2010 in the “Pioneer Home” in Gevgelija
we organized a debate. In the debate 36 young people
were present. In the debate we discussed on the
subject youth participation in decision making at local
level. Special emphasis was put on the participation in
creating of the Local Youth Strategy in Gevgelija and
the experiences of the established Councils of Youth in
Shtip, Resen and Radovish.
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21. With the organizing of the debates we concluded that
the need of establishing Council of Youth in both
Municipalities is obvious and through this body youth
will have the opportunity to advocate their problems
and satisfy their needs.
Broadcasting In the period of March – June 2010 we recorded and
broadcasted 10 shows on the subject youth
TV shows participation. The shows were broadcasted on a local
TV in Gevgelija. Each show was recorded and
broadcasted on different theme and different guests
presenting part of the forms and ways of youth
participation in their area. In the part of the shows the
executive director of SEGA, MP's of Gevgelija,
university students, high school students and political
youth wings participated. With this activity we
succeeded to raise the awareness at youth and
decision makers in Gevgelija about the necessity of
participation of young people.
Conclusions The project activities were successfully conducted by
the both teams, in both cities. We increased the
and lessons information of the young population for their rights and
ways of inclusion in the bodies of the Local Self-
learned Government. With the gained knowledge their
motivation was increased for further concrete steps
within the social institutions, for which the analyses of
the poll speaks as well.
As a result of the project activities we encouraged the
interest for the subject at many young individuals, but
at the most of institutions, NGOs, wider public as well,
succeeding to introduce the rights and their exercise to
large number of the youth. Most of them express their
wishes to further cooperate with us. With
implementing these activities we succeeded to
improve our cooperation with the local institutions
particularly with the Local Self-Governments and
Municipal Councils of Negotino and Gevgelija.
Furthermore, as a result of this project, the interest of
the young people for our organizations was enhanced
confirming the increased number of volunteers, but
we improved our visibility to the wider public as well.
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22. If we would implement the project again, we would
have included bigger number of participants, not just
high school students and NGO members, but
representatives of educational institutions, Local Self-
Government and the Municipal Council as well. In both
organizations, thanks to this project, we successfully
developed the techniques to animate new human
resources and we improved the capacities for
administrative and financial working.
Thanks to the implementation of the project activities
the interest of the Local Self-Government for further
working on the youth participation issues was
increased, confirming the signed MoU for cooperation
between Coalition SEGA and the Mayor of Negotino for
establishing Council of Youth in the Local Self-
Government.
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24. STORY 2
„Informed motivated, included“

25. OUR „Informed motivated, included“ is a project that we,
the members of ZONA Kavadarci in partnership with
STORY the members of Youth Council Prilep. The aim of our
project was to increase the youth information for the
possibilities for their inclusion in the decision and
policy making processes. In order to achieve this aim
we implemented a campaign consisting of the
following activities: educational workshops “Youth
participation in the decision making processes and
political processes”, preparation and distribution of
informative pamphlets, TV show on the subject “Youth
participation in the decision making processes and
political processes at the local level”, Organizing round
tables “Youth participation at local level”, public
debates and organizing music event “Include us!”.
Organizing In order to inform youth for the participation in the
decision making and political processes on local level
educational we organized 20 educational workshops in Kavadarci
and 18 workshops in Prilep. With organizing these
workshops workshops we included 380 students in Kavadarci
“Youth and 544 students in Prilep. In the workshops we
informed the participants for the mechanisms and
participation in ways for their active involvement in the decision
making processes. Also on the workshops we informed
the decision and educated youth how to exercise their civil rights,
making processes how and where to submit initiatives, and how to involve
actively in the policy making processes at the local
and political level. All 38 workshops were organized in excellent
processes” working atmosphere, with full cooperation by the
professors and directors.
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26. Preparation and In order to make the project more visible and to inform
and motivate as many youngsters as possible from
distribution of Kavadarci and Prilep, we prepared and disseminated
2000 samples of informative pamphlets. The
informative pamphlets consist of information for the work of the
pamphlets local authorities and description of the possibilities
through which youth would be included in the decision
and policy making processes. The pamphlets were
distributed to all educational institutions, local
institutions, NGOs and all places with big frequency of
young people and during all project activities.
TV Show on the In order to inform the public of the project activities
during March 2010 we visited the local TV Tikveshija in
subject “Youth the show “Open for …”. During the show we presented
participation in the project activities and informed and youth aiming to
involve actively in the policy & decision making
the decision processes at the local level.
making
processes and
political
processes at the
local level”
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27. Organizing round High school students, university students, educational
institutions representatives, Local Self-Government
tables “Youth and political parties participated at the round table
organized during May 2010 in Kavadarci. Round table
participation at was organized in Prilep as well with participation of
local level” high school and university students. In the round
tables we succeeded to identify the reasons for the
current situation and the insufficient participation of
young people in the decision making and creating
policies. In these events we openly discussed for the
position of youth at the moment and the level of
inclusion and consultation during creating policies at
local level, and on the other hand suggesting
mechanisms and form how to increase and improve
youth participation in the abovementioned processes
in future.
Organizing During May-June 2010 we organized two public
debates in Prilep and Kavadarci. In the debates
public debates participation took approximately 100 high school
students, university students and representatives of
the NGO sector. Speakers at the events were the MP's
and NGO representatives.
At the beginning we presented the current situation of
the youth participation in the Local Self-Governments,
the positive examples and experiences of youth
participation, and we discussed on the increasing the
level and the quality of involving young people as well.
To all participants we shared informative pamphlets
containing the ways and opportunities through which
the young people can be included in the policy and
decision and policy making processes. Main
conclusion of the organized debates is that youth
should be more active and frequently in these
processes through various forms of participation and
collaboration. Special conclusion was made for
involving youth in the creating policy activities
providing youth perspective and fit for young people,
leading to direct contribution in the raising the quality
of life of this category of citizens.
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28. Music event In the last month of implementation of our project we
organized music event in Prilep. Through this event we
“Include us!” presented the project and the messages for youth
involvement to the wider public. In the event we set 2
informative stands with 8 volunteers of Youth Council
Prilep disseminating informative pamphlets to the
present. The event was attended by 20 young music
groups and vocal singers, contributing towards
promotion and inclusion in public events of the young
musical talents in Prilep.
Conclusion As a result of our project activities we noticed that at
young people there is low level of information and
and lessons motivation to be included in the everyday life as active
learned decision makers, particularly in the high school
communities, but wider in the policy making processes
at local level. With the project implementation this
group of citizens we informed how and where to
involve, to develop their capacities and to expand their
knowledge for their right to be asked and included
during policy making. Youth openly expressed the
need of their inclusion in the policy making, especially
when we speak of issues that directly concern them.
Youth expressed readiness to participate in further
activities which would help to build their own
capacities, to upgrade their knowledge and to include
in the creating policies in the community where
together to decide with the other power holders.
27

29. If we would implement this project again we would
have increased the time period of implementation (9
months), during entire school year. The school year for
us is a challenge and a great success if an entire
generation is motivated through the set of activities
that would be implemented, and which continuously in
this period in different way and various approaches
would develop their leadership capabilities promoting
themselves as active actors in the policy making in the
community.
As a result of this project the organizations that
implemented this project will continue to cooperate
and promote youth participation together. Aiming to
integrate youth easier in the everyday life and
democratic processes we will conduct set of activities
suggested by youth. We will conduct school debates,
round tables, public events through which
continuously present the opportunities to influence
the policy making fit for youth that the youth
participation offers at the local level.
Thanks to this project we succeeded to work in
partnership and to implement the project through
which we increased the visibility of our organizations.
Indeed, our involvement in the entire project of
Coalition SEGA provided us possibility to gain new
experiences and to apply them in practice.
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30. STORY 3
“Youth Can”

31. OUR “Youth Can” Is a project implemented by us, the
members of Youth Council Ohrid In partnership with
STORY the members of Youth Forum EYE from Struga. The aim
of our project was to establish core of young people –
representatives of NGOs and Municipal Councils from
Ohrid and Struga that will articulate the interests the
interests of youth in the local community and will
enable youth to find common interests, which through
special channels will be submitted to the local
authorities. In order to achieve this aim we conducted
a campaign that was consisted of the following
activities: Organizing meetings with representatives of
institutions in the area of education, social work,
health, culture and sport; organizing meetings with
MP's and the Local Self-Government of Ohrid and
Struga; and organizing educational seminars for
members of NGOs and high school students.
Organizing Aiming to inform the local institutions we held
meetings with representatives of various institutions
meetings with that concerns young people. In Ohrid, we held
meetings with the management staff of the high
representatives catering school, the director of the “Cultural Center
of institutions in Grigor Prlicev”, the director of the “Public Enterprise
for managing sports objects”, the director of the
the area of “Agency for employment”, with the pedagogue of the
education, Center for Social Work and the management of the
“City Hospital Ohrid”. In Struga we organized meetings
social work, with the director of the high school “Niko Nestor”, the
secretary of the high school “Ibrahim Temo”, the
health, culture manager of the “Cultural Home”. In the meetings we
and sport presented the European Charter on the participation
of young people in local and regional life and the Local
Action Youth Plans for both cities as well.
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32. In Ohrid we made analyses of what is envisioned and
what is implemented with the adoption of the youth
action plan, while in Struga we surveyed the elected
MP's aiming to identify what are their activities
towards young people and the local youth policy.
From the analyses we concluded that in Ohrid, in the
area of education, the lightening within the school
venue is improved, the teachers received Lap Top
computers, it is not noticed case of corruption, and the
school has support programme for gifted and talented
children. The students participate in more activities
organized by the citizen associations that have
programmes for non-formal education. In the area of
culture, in the Cultural Home an amateur theater
group is functioning, 5-8 concerts are organized per
year, theater and cinema shows, and galleries. In the
area of sport the athletics trail is renewed,
tournaments have been organized, and the sports
objects are available for the needs of the city. In the
area of employment several seminars and trainings for
youth have been organized with the aim to prepare a
CV and motivation letter and preparation for an
interview.
In Struga in both visited schools we conducted
activities which are part of the programmes with which
the schools apply in the domestic and international
institutions, students visit various trainings and
seminars, the schools put special attention to the
interethnic tolerance, and workshops are envisaged
helping youth to learn how to prepare CV, motivation
letter, starting their own business and managing
virtual companies.
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33. Organizing In both cities we held meetings with the MP's up to 35
years of age. In Ohrid we conducted meetings with 5
meetings with young MP's, and in Struga we held meetings with 4
MP's and the MP's. In the meetings we presented the European
Charter on the participation of young people in local
Local Self- and regional life and the Local Action Youth Plans. We
Government used these meetings to invite young elected MP's to
participate in our next activity presenting their work in
of Ohrid and front of the group of high school students –
Struga participants in the seminar.
Organizing In the second phase of the project we organized two
one-day seminars in hotel Kocarev in Ohrid on 03 and
educational 10 April 2010. In the first seminar participation took
seminars for 13 young people, one facilitator and two members of
the project team, and in the second seminar 14
members of youngsters, 4 MP's, one facilitator and two members of
NGOs and high the project team attended.
In the first one-day seminar through presentations,
school students exercises, small groups work and discussions were
elaborated the themes “Youth Policy and Youth
Par ticipation ”, “ Advocacy & Lobbying and
Leadership”. In the second seminar the subject was
“Youth participation and youth activism” including
short presentations, group work, presentations of the
group work and group discussions. In this seminar also
participated 4 MP's, 2 MP's each from the Municipal
Council from Ohrid and Struga. The elected young MP's
made short presentation of their work as councilors,
their role in the decision making, their engagement in
the Commissions etc. In the end a session for
questions and answers was organized where the
participants asked questions, and the MP's answered
within their responsibilities and knowledge of work
related to youth.
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34. Conclusions and With the implementation of the activities within the
project we consider that we achieved the envisaged
lessons learned goals. Thereby, we promoted the “European Charter on
the participation of young people in the local and
regional life” as well as the Local Youth Action Plans for
Ohrid and Struga in 4 institutions in Struga and 6
institutions in Ohrid in 10 meetings, disseminating 35
copies of the Charter and 35 Plans in both cities. Also
we established cooperation with 9 young MP's from
the Municipal Councils in Ohrid and Struga.
As a result of the held meetings within the project, part
of the MP's expressed their desire to cooperate within
the Commission in which they participate, and during
the seminar they attended, they expressed their wish
for further joint work on issues related and for youth.
If we would implement the project again, we would
have organized more educational seminars, in which
each of the subjects would be elaborated in details,
and besides the MP's we would involve representative
of other institutions.
We, as youth organizations, continuously work in
activities related to youth and for youth, including the
ones implemented within this initiative. This initiative
is part of what our organizations work constantly, and
in the period that follows will be conducted set of
activities as a part of the programme for participation
in the decision making.
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36. STORY 4
“Active Youth Participation and Influence”

37. OUR We, the members of the NGO “Youth Forum Biitola”
together with the members of the NGO “Golem Grad
STORY Resen” implemented the project “Active Youth
Participation and Influence”. Aim of the project was to
increase the capacity of young people in Bitola and
Resen for their active, quality and organized
participation in creation of local youth policy. In the
three-month project we implemented the following
activities: Creating WEB portal weekly update,
organizing educations for youth participation and
organizing trainings for strengthening the capacities of
the youth organizations for youth participation.
Creating During the first month of the project implementation
we designed a website www.youthforumbitola.org. In
WEB portal and the website during the project we regularly updated
the information for the current project activities and
weekly update we put information on various exchanges, trainings,
camps, scholarships, seminars. Also on the website
we set a forum for questions, ideas and action
suggestions. Through this tool we increased our
visibility and significantly improved the information of
the wider public for the work of the organization.
Organizing In order to educate young people from both cities,
Bitola and Resen, in the period of March-April 2010 we
educations for organized 20 educational workshops on the subject of
youth participation in all high school in Bitola and
youth Resen. With organizing 20 educations (15 in Bitola
participation and 5 in Resen) we included 364 high school students
from third and fourth year of studying from both cities
(Bitola 264 students and Resen 100 students).
In these educations the high school students were
introduced with the possibilities offered at local level
for their more active, quality and organized
participation in the youth policy making, as well as the
opportunities for active involvement in all spheres of
the social life in Bitola and Resen.
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38. In Resen we additionally organized meetings with
representatives of the youth wings of 4 political
parties. In the meetings subject of discussion were the
problems and needs of youth in the city and promoting
the forms of youth organizing in the community.
Organizing In order to enhance the capacities of the members of
the youth organizations we organized 3 trainings for
trainings for youth participation (2 in Bitola and 1 in Resen). In the
trainings the following themes were discussed:
strengthening definition of the concept of youth participation and
the capacities of youth policy, implementation of youth participation,
forms and mechanisms of youth participation. The
the youth trainings were organized in the venues of our
organizations for organization offices and delivered by us, the members
of the project team from both organizations. In the
youth trainings 23 members of youth NGOs from the city of
Bitola and 10 representatives of NGOs from Resen
participation participated.
Conclusions As a result of the project implementation we actualized
the idea of establishing Council of Youth which would
and lessons act within the Municipal Council of Bitola. After the end
learned of the project we plan to activate the included
youngsters to initiate Council of Youth in Bitola.
Also this project encouraged joint acting of the
organizations included in the project and we started
cooperation for applying in other projects. Through the
trainings for the youth organizations we created local
networks of the youth organizations strengthening the
joint acting of the local youth organizations.
If we would implement this project again the
workshops would be organized in the beginning of the
school year and not in the period of Marc-April because
in that period the high school students are fully
engaged with the finalizing the school year.
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39. Thanks to this project that large number of young
people were directly involved in the project activities
and gained knowledge for the terms youth
participation and youth policy. Youth expressed the
need of their inclusion in the policy making,
particularly when dealing issues that concerns them.
Also they showed their eagerness to participate in
further activities and to be included in policy making at
the local level. Also thanks to this project we prepared
website through which we increased the visibility of the
organization and extensively improved the information
of the wider public for the current activities of the NGO
Youth Forum.
As a result of the involvement of the target group part
of the high school students signed up as volunteers in
our organizations to contribute in the work.
Furthermore, with these activities we upgraded our
experience and the lessons learned will serve in the
further work.
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40. CONTENT
1. About Coalition SEGA 3
2. Promoting Youth Activism in an Underdeveloped Region 6
3. Action 1: Organizing a meeting with representatives of youth
organizations 8
4. Action 2: Organizing Training of Trainers in Youth participation 9
5. Action 3: Preparation and printing of manuals 9
6. Action 4: Organizing training courses for NGOs 10
7. Action 5: Supporting the local advocacy campaigns 10
8. Action 6: Organizing training courses for youth-members of Local
Parliaments 11
9. Action 7: Implementation of the local campaigns 12
10. Action 8: Organizing seminar for NGOs and young members of
Local Municipal Councils 12
11. Action 9: Organizing meetings with mayors 13
12. Comparative analyses of successful and unsuccessful actions
with practical recommendations for work on advocacy campaigns 14
13. Story 1 15
14. Story 2 23
15. Story 3 29
16. Story 4 36