Re-inventing and strengthening opportunities for young people in citizenship and human rights education will be one of the key priorities of the Council of Europe in Serbia in 2023. Through various projects, young people, and young professionals in Serbia will be informed about human rights and diversity in outreach activities. Youth leaders, multipliers and youth workers will be trained to introduce human rights education perspective in youth projects and activities based on the Compass, manual for human rights education with young people, which will be translated into Serbian.
This was the main message of the launch of the youth project “Citizenship and human rights education with young people in Serbia“ that took place in Sremski Karlovci today.
Tobias Flessenkemper, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade said on this occasion: “The 20th anniversary of Serbia’s membership in the Council of Europe in 2023 will be an excellent occasion to strengthen today’s young people’s access to democracy and human rights education. This important work in human rights education with youth sector was started by the Council of Europe Youth Department long before Serbia joined the Organisation in 2003, and we will seek to make a full use of the host of materials elaborated and good practices accumulated.”
H.E. Cathy Buggenhout, Ambassador of Belgium to Serbia added: “Young people are our future and education is the key for the well-being of our future generations. More than ever, human rights must be a fundamental value. They can never be just a favour granted by governments. Belgium’s entire commitment is based on defending the human rights of everyone. We all have to make sure that our youngsters know about the importance of human rights. So, let us together pull up our sleeves, and make full respect for human rights reality.”
Husein Memić, Minister of Tourism and Youth of Serbia stated: "I am glad that today we are in the Eco centre Radulovački, the first and for now the only one in Serbia that carries the Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centres. As the minister in charge of youth, I will strive to having for more such centers and for young people in Serbia to have suitable, safe spaces for spending quality free time in which activities will be carried out by youth workers, as foreseen in the proposal of the new Youth Strategy. In accordance with the principle of decentralisation, it is important to have such structures at the provincial and local level through which the voice of young people can be heard and respected, and this will be a priority in my work."
Antje Rothemund, the Head of the Council of Europe Youth Department said ahead of the presentation: “The Council of Europe project on citizenship and human rights education with young people will be an excellent opportunity to rally all stakeholders in the youth sector in making the provisions of the Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education a reality in Serbia. Centred around the manual Compass of the Council of Europe, the project will provide opportunities for youth workers and trainers to be trained at the highest standard, so that they can support a multiplying effect among young people through various initiatives in the country.”
Nedeljka Ivošević from the National Association of Youth Workers, who is a member of the Bureau of the Advisory Council on Youth, said: “There is a need for systematic education on human rights for youth workers in Serbia. This project is an opportunity to initiate a process that would enable the youth sector in Serbia to offer all young people access to quality human rights education”.
The event was also an opportunity for youth activists, representatives of civil society and stakeholders in the formal educational system to discuss human rights education at all levels and through various formats, and its importance for raising new generations of active citizens and critical thinkers. Participants underlined that educating young people and young professionals on human rights and democratic citizenship still heavily resides on individual enthusiasm of educators, while systematic approach to it within the formal educational system is still quite scarce.
“Citizenship and human rights education with young people in Serbia“ project has been funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Council of Europe and will be implemented by the Council of Europe. Today’s discussion on the human rights education and democratic citizenship was supported under the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019 - 2022”.
For further information, please contact:
Mona Alghaith [email protected], +381 11 7155501
