4th session of the Council for Civil Society Development

Today, on September 8th a 4th session of the Council for Civil Society Development was held at the premises of the Croatian Government. Office for cooperation with NGOs has reported on counselling process on the proposal of governmental decision on terms and standars of financing of public benefit projects and programs. The Office took the decision of prolonging the counselling process due to need to reconcile non-compliance related to tax benefits and other relevant elements for the financing of NGOs. In addition, the Office started consultations on revision of the Operational Plan of the National strategy for civil society development. TACSO Office has announced its' activities in the field of technical assistance.

The Council adopted the draft strategic plan and established three working groups: Working Group for monitoring the NGOs funding policy, the Working Group on supporting the involvement of CSOs in shaping public policy and the Working Group on cross-sectoral cooperation and solidarity in the creation of environment for public advocacy initiatives. In addition, the Council has nominated 3 representatives of NGOs to participate in the work of the European Year of Volunteering Committee: Bojan Smode, SIH; Duška Milinković,  the Association MI and Lejla Šehić Relić, Volunteer Centre Osijek.

Youth Studies announces new public lecture - Teenage magazines and creation of identity

The lecture on the role of popular culture in education on human rights through analysis of popular magazines for teenagers will be held in Zadar, Youth Hostel on Saturday 11/09. The lecture and discussion will be led by Mima Simić, popular writer and film critic. The lecture will be conducted within 3rd module of Youth Studies named: Education for human rights and democratic citizenship.

CYN on vacation

We wish to inform you that CYN office is temporarily closed becasue we are on vacation. We will resume our activites on 6 September 2010.

Happy International Youth Day!

The Croatian Youth Network continued its activities to mark the International Youth Day and the beginning of the International Youth Year. Therefore, the central celebration took place on 12 August in Zagreb with a public event on one of the central city squares. We distributed promotional materials to citizens and got them involved in several activities such as "If I Were a Minister for a Day", wherein citizens had the opportunity to voice their concerns and wishes over the status of young people in Croatia.

The celebration continued on 13 August in Grožnjan, Istria. We joined the efforts of our member organization Jeunesses Musicales Croatia and enjoyed several concerts of young artists together with hundreds of guests from Croatia and abroad.

We wish you a happy International Youth Day and we invite all to join efforts in marking the International Youth Year. Our Year, Our Voice!

Download the Croatian logo of the International Youth Year

As previously announced, in the process of a Call for Proposals the Croatian Youth Network selected and became the owner of the national logo of the International Youth Year. It is our wish that the logo becomes a recognizable symbol of the Youth Year in Croatia.

Therefore, the logo is available for non-commercial use to all non-profit organizations and institutions free of charge. You can download the logo here.

Excerpt from CYN President's speech on International Youth Day

...Croatia must follow these trends and invest in youth. There is no alternative. The most important recommendations go in line with the need to recognize young people as the most important resource of a country and society. The society must invest in youth and in the development of youth sector. We call for investment in young people: for our education, full inclusion, the development of all aspects of our lives. The recognition of young people as resources and long-term investment in the young population as a rich social capital is often neglected in our society Young people often face treatment which disregards their creativity and innovation and highlights youth as a group prone to inappropriate behavior, violence and delinquency. Is there no greater error than to label all young people in the country with this stereotype?

The lack of investment in youth is primarily the lack of smart, progressive and long-term strategies. Results that are not visible in a short period are not interesting when pursuing daily political goals and those rare investments which take place are often restricted by precarious financial situation. In most cases, however, young people are faced with the reluctance to effect change, efforts to maintain the established patterns of behavior, and a total disregard of the culture of youth participation and the overall political participation of citizens.

We, young people, deserve to be selflessly invested in because we are important pillars of this society and this is the only way we can become the future in the often used phrase "The young are the future!" Dear friends, we are young here and now. Young people are the present. And as long as young people are not recognized as the present, they can not become the future. We are what we are today, in our full strength and capacities. Today, not tomorrow.

International Youth Day Celebration on Zagreb streets

On the occasion of the International Youth Day and the beginning of the International Youth Year, CYN will organize a whole-day public event in Zagreb on 12 August 2010. The event will comprise a number of activiites:

// distribution of promo materials,
// action called "If I were a minister for a day",
// screening of films on youth,
// referendum question.

The program animator and MC will be Mima Simić.

We kindly invite you to join us.
 

CYN organizes celebration to mark the International Youth Day and Year

In December 2009, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 64/134 proclaiming the Year, signifying the importance the international community places on integrating youth-related issues into global,regional, and national development agendas. Under the theme Dialogue and Mutual Understanding, the Year aims to promote the ideals of peace, respect for human rights and solidarity across generations, cultures, religions
and civilizations.

To mark the International Youth Day and the beginning of the International Youth Year, the Croatian Youth Network, in partnership with the Ministry for Family, War veterans' Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity, organizes a ceremony which is to take place on 11 August in Zagreb. This will be the occasion to announce the winner of our International Youth Year Logo competition.

Youth Exchange in Knin

Informal initiative called "Youth for Center" in cooperation with the Croatian Youth network organized a youth exchange in Knin from 24 July to 2 August. The exchange was thematically linked to intercultural dialogue and it gathered 30 young people from Knin and Helsinki. The exchange was financially supported by the Youth in Action programme and the Knin Municipality.

This exchange is a follow-up of CYN last year's project "Knin Youth Center". It was precisely the young people from Knin who had participated in the last year's projects who organized this exchange, with support and mentorship of CYN. One of the reasons of having Finnish partners is because of Finland's long tradition and good practices with organized youth work in youth centers. This exchange goes in line with continued advocacy efforts for the opening of a youth center in Knin.

Year of Youth Logo

The Croatian Youth Network wishes to express its gratitude to all the applicants that have entered a Call for Proposals for the International Year of Youth Logo. 

We are happy to announce that selection committee, which included: Igor Roginek (Croatian Youth Network), Zlatka Salopek (Croatian Designers Society) and Kristina Hecimovic (Ministry of Family, War Veterans' Affairs, and Inter-generational Solidarity) received and evaluated 48 proposals designed by 30 young artists. Selection committee ruled that wining proposal which will be the official International Year of Youth Logo was work of young artists Karaca and Reicher. Moreover, members of the selection committee have expressed their satisfaction with general quality of proposals, as well as with the level of their creativity and originality. All of the participants are called upon to keep up with the good work that have demonstrated for this competition.

Official presentation of all competing proposals, committal of the Award to the winners of the Call, as well as inauguration of  Year of Youth Logo will take place in Zagreb on the International Youth Day, August 12.
 

Second Youth Meeting of the Capitals of Central and South Eastern Europe

From July 27th till 30th 2010, the Second Youth Meeting of the Capitals of Central and South Eastern Europe was held in Tirana, Albania. The meeting has brought  together around 40 participants from 6 countries: Albania, Austria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro and Romania. Themes of the meeting were: How to overcome challenges faced by young people and Today’s young people – Future leaders. Each country was presented by a person from the city municipality and by young person. Croatian delegation was consisted of Helena Miladić, Head of the Youth Unit in the administration of City of Zagreb, Goran Luburić, member of The Presidency of Croatian Academic Association and Marija Hrebac, vice-president of Croatian Youth Network.

CYN visiting Scouts' Parade

9th Parade of the Scout Association of Croatia took place in the northern part of Petrova gora, from July 23 to August 1. This parade assembled scout associations from all over Croatia, as well as guests from Macedonia, Iceland and Czech Republic. The Parade was organized as a number of independent camps, each of them presenting their own activities, such as: workshops, sports events, excursions and etc. Martina Horvat, member of the Managing Board of the CYN was one of the guests of the Parade, actively participating in the activities of joint camp organized by scout associations Picoki, Kalnik, Klasje, Sirius, Lepoglava, Kamengrad i Bilogorci.

School of Hostelling

From July 23 to 25 in Youth hostel Rijeka, Croatian Youth Hostel Association and Croatian Youth Network have organized the School of Hostelling during which 12 young participants learned about hostelling, social enterpreneurship and youth mobility. School was led by Matija Polančec and Emina Bužinkić. The School was supported by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports.

Youth Studies Journal

The Croatian Youth Network has a pleasure to present the first Youth Studies Journal: Youth and Society - Matter of Identity written by Youth Studies participants. We strongly hope we will be able to translate our journals in English.
 

Members of the Council for the Development of Civil Society support citizens in struggle for the Varšavska Street

Regarding last week's events related to the Varšavska Street, during which some 150 citizens were arrested for non-violent resistence to continued construction work on the Varšavska Street, we the members of the Council for the Development of Civil Society express our strong disagreement with police actions which prevented the expression of civil protest at a registered and legal civil gathering.

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We invite all persons responsible for the massive arrests and all persons responsible for actions which prevent the expression of civil protest and which infringe upon public interest to act for the purpose of diminishing the damages caused by their actions and to enable free civil participation for the common good.

Members of the Council for the Development of Civil Society to the Republic of Croatia:

Slađana Novota (president) and Zvjezdana Schulz Vugrin - SMART
Katarina Pavić and Emina Bužinkić - Croatian Youth Network
Suzana Kunac and Lana Vego - B.a.B.e. and Centre for Peace Studies
Željka Leljak Gracin and Irma Popović - Green Action
Snježana Ivčić and Ružica Lah - Croatian Coalition of Associations in Health Care
Dejan Buvač - Croatian Culture Assembly
Jasna Malus Gorišek - Croatian Association of Technological Culture
Jany Hansal and Antonija Roszahegy Nikolić - Croatian Society of Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, Children's Palsy patients and other physically disabled people
Ljiljanja Canjuga and Bruno Čavić -  Croatian War veterans Association
Branka Kaselj - Slagalica Foundation

Presentation of a booklet

It is our pleasure to invite you to attend the presentation of a booklet 'Youth and Past - Why would I be interested?' that will be held in Rijeka in the City Hall, Kružna 16 on July 16th at 7.30pm. The presentation is organized by the City Council of Serb National Minority Rijeka.

Speakers are: Cvijeta Senta (Centre for Peace Studies), Drago Pilsel (novinar) and Emina Bužinkić (Croatian Youth Network).

The 1st European Youth Work Convention

The Convention, which took place in Ghent, Belgium in the period July 7-10 2010 has brought together over 400 participants from 50 countries in Europe, but also coming from other continents (Africa, North America). The Convention is a result of close cooperation between the Belgian Presidency of the European Union, European Commission (EC), Council of Europe (CoE), Partnership in youth between the EC and the CoE, European Youth Forum, Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe, European youth researchers.

Youth sexual and reproductive health and rights

The Croatian Youth Network and Youth Studies would like to invite you to attend the lecture and discussion 'Youth sexual and reproductive health and rights - good timing for policy or not?' The event will be organized in Youth Info-Centre in Rijeka, Kružna 8. The lecturer is mr.sc. Nataša Bijelić, engaged with the association CESI.

3rd session of the Council for Civil Society Development

On July 8th and 9th Council for Civil Society Development organized strategic planning. Within the planning process, the 3rd session of the Council was held. The session started with the presentation of the Annual report of the National Foundation for Civil Society Development conducted by Cvjetana Plavša Matić, director.

During the session several representatives of CSO-s were nominated to: National Committee for education for human rights and democratic citizenship (Emina Bužinkić and Cvijeta Senta from CYN), Working group on National Employment Action Plan 2011-2012 (Ana Žužić from MMH), and Inter-sector Working group for development strategy and external aid.
 

CYN opens call for delivery of logo for the Year of Youth

In order to promote activities of the International Youth Day and the Year of Youth, Croatian Youth Network opens call for the logo delivery. The competition is designed for young people between 15 and 30 years, and the winner will receive a cash prize worth 2,000 kuna. The call is open until July 25th 2010.
 

CSO-s advocating integration of subject on human rights and active citizenship in school curricula

On July 7th Croatian Youth Network, Centre for Peace Studies, Center for Peace, Non-violence and Human Rights and GONG with the support of the Centre for Human Rights have presented advocacy initiative in creating educational curricula on human rights and active citizenship on all levels of educational system.

 

Political literacy and participation of young people

In Zagreb on July 6th civil society organization GONG has organized discussion on political literacy of young people with CSO-s, experts, governmental representatives etc. GONG has informed participants on preliminary results of the research conducted among high school students in Croatia. All participants have agreed upon need of educating youth on political processes, democracy, human rights, active citizenship, communication, and integrating the fields in school curricula. Specifically, it was emphasized the importance of educating teachers and cooperating with CSO-a that have gained capacities in non-formal education in the field mentioned. The discussion was attended by Martina Horvat from the CYN.
 

Study visit of young Kosovo leaders to Croatian youth NGOs

World Learning Kosova and the Croatian Youth Network organized a study visit of young Kosovo leaders to Croatian youth NGOs.

The study visit took place from 27 July to 2 August and young guests visited several youth organizations accross country: Volunteer Centre Osijek, Creators not Consumers, K.V.A.R.K., ACT, Croatian Youth Network, UMKI and ZUM. The goal of the study visit was to transfer good practices in project management. Young leaders from Kosovo also had an opportunity to learn more about community volunteering, social entrepreneurship, creating local youth policies, etc.

8th session of the Council for Youth

8th session of the Council for Youth was held today on June 5th at the premises of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. Members have adopted the Activity Report of the Council for Youth for 2008 and 2009, and the Report on implementation of the National Youth Strategy 2009-2013 for the year 2009. Members have agreed on participating in two thematic sessions, one to be organized at the International Youth Day on August 12 and another one at the Scouts Assembly at the end of July. The session was attended by Emina Bužinkić, Secretary Generak of the CYN who has been nominated to the working group on framing conclusion of the previous thematic session on youth violence. 

The 5th Summer University for Democracy closes

The 5th Summer University for Democracy was held in Strasbourg from June 28 to July 2 in the Council of Europe. The event gathered 650 representatives of national annual programmes for political education from 16 countries, including Croatia. On behalf of the Croatian Youth Network, Secretary General Emina Bužinkić participated in the Summer University as a member of the Academy for Political Development from Croatia. 

The programme was composed of plennary discussions and workshops on politial development, crisis and leadership, sustainable development etc. Some of the distinguished guests from Croatia represented their views and those are: Proffesor Žarko Puhovski from the Faculty of Philosophy, Zoran Morvai from UNDP and MP Marija Lugarić.  Within the programme, Croatian participants visited European Court for Human Rights and Embassy of the Republic of Croatia. Summer University was closed with declaration adoption. 

Speech of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Act on Youth Advisory Boards changes

On June 30, the Working group on the legislation changes in the area of youth advising (Act on Youth Advisory Boards) has met and agreed on dynamics of work and consultative process during legislation changes. Members are representatives of the official state offices and departments, youth advisory boards, local governenments and the Croatian Youth Network (Emina Bužinkić and Nikola Pandurić who primary represents Youth Advisory Board of the Koprivnicko-krizevacka County). 

Youth and Peace Education in Brussels

On Tuesday June 29, the Center for Peace Studies has promoted a book on 'Recommendations for EU Security Policy based on peace building experience from countries formed by the disintegration of Yugoslavia'. 

Introductory speeches were held by: publication editors Lana Vego and Gordan Bosanac, Vedran Horvat, office manager of Heinrich Boll Stiftung in Croatia and author of the text Solidarity or Security, Dejan Jović, professor at Stirling University (UK) and Chief Analyst, and Advisor to the President of the Roc, and Emina Bužinkić, Secretary General of the Croatian Youth Network and co-author of the text Center for Peace Studies Practice: Connection of Peace Activism and Peace Education. The topic Ms Buzinkic presented was Importance of Peace Education. 

Promotion was attended by representatives of european institutions, networks, advocacy coalitions, NGOs and decision-makers. Discussion was held upon recommendations for EU security policy development.

Another training for school students' representatives

Second training of the educational cycle for representatives of school students’ councils was held this weekend within the facilities of Zagreb Centre for Independent Culture and Youth.
Topic of this training was public advocacy and consequently, participants were acquainted with basic terminology related to public advocacy and youth policy. Moreover, they were given numerous examples of public-advocacy initiatives from Croatian socio-economic life, as well as examples of public-advocacy tools that stake-holders use in order to achieve their goals. Finally, participants supported by training’s leaders, Mirela Travar from GONG and Nikola Buković form CYN planned their own public-advocacy initiatives which will be implemented with the assistance of CYN experts.

Next training for school students' representatives will be conducted in late September.

 

Together to structural EU funds

On Friday June 18th the Consultation on the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) 2012-2013 'Together to structural EU funds' were held in Zagreb, in hotel Westin. NSRF is an instrument of strategic planning in the context of managing Cohesion and EU structural funds in the budgetary period from 2007 to 2013. NSRF exposes the strategy and determines the OperationalProgrammes (OP) co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund and Cohesion Fund. During consultation NSRF was presented and afterwards discussions on the development of transport infrastructure, environment and energy, strengthening the competitiveness of Croatian economy and regional development, employment and development of human capital, and strengthening administrative capacity were held. The consultation was attended by representative of MMH E. Bužinkić.

CYN meets youth politicals

Croatian Youth Network has organized an informal meeting with youth political branches of parliamentary political parties on Friday 9 June. The meeting was attended by SDP Youth Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia by representative Arijana Fridrih Lekić, Croatian Liberal Youth by Nino Stojanović and Youth of Croatian People's Party by Vedrana Gujić. The CYN was represented by the president Nikola Pandurić, Managing Board members Katarina Pavić, Marija Hrebac and Matija Polančec and Secretary General Emina Bužinkić.

This informal meeting was a step towards better communication and cooperation between the Croatian Youth Network and the youth branches of political parties, and revitalization of the Coordination of the Croatian Youth Network and youth branches of political parties. All parties agreed on many subjects and areas on which cooperation is possible, from the National Youth Program to youth advisory boards. The cooperation on a national level is of the utmost importance for creating a sustainable institutional framework on all levels. With the excused youth branches of political parties, individual meetings will be held.

2010 Organisation's week of City of Zagreb

On Saturday 12 of June Croatian Youth Network participated in „Organisation's week 2010“ organised by the City office for social protection and people with disabilities of City of Zagreb. The CYN presented its work, publications and programmes to the interested public. The volunteers for the CYN on this event were Matija Polančec and Nikola Pandurić.

4th meeting of the Youth Regional Network

From Monday June 7 to Wednesday June 9 the 4th meeting of the Youth Regional Network established and supported by the Assembly of European Regions took place in Croatia. The organizer and host region was Krapina-zagorje county with co-organizers Koprivnica-krizevci,  Varazdin and Sisak-moslavina counties. Main topic of the conference was empowering youth participation through subsidiarity. The opening of the conference was attended by Stjepan Mesić, Vesna Pusić, prefects and their deputies and other high representatives and scientists. The conference was presided by the Croatian Youth Network president Nikola Pandurić, youth representative from Koprivnica-krizevci region and the former member of the YRN Youth Presidium. 

First training of the programme for school students's representatives

First module of the educational programme aiming to empower school students’ representatives was held from June 4 until June 6 in Zagreb.

School students’ representatives, already gathered under the umbrella of newly founded Zagreb Council of School Student’s representatives had an opportunity to hear lectures on various topics, such as: youth policy at the national and local level, youth activism, school student’s networks in Croatia, neighbouring countries and Europe, school students as agents of positive social change, etc. Moreover, trainers (Aleksandra Maldžiski, former Board Member of the OBESSU and Anamarija Sočo, project manager with the CYN), helped participants to develop some of the more important „soft“ skills which are often requirements for successful work in school students’ council (team work, responsibility diffusion, communication skills).

The following training from this programme will be held from June 19 until June 20.
 

Second session of the Council for Civil Society Development

Second session of the Council for Civil Society Development was held of Friday, May 28 in Zagreb. Croatian Youth Network was represented by Emina Bužinkić Secretary - General and Katarina Pavić, Vicepresident, as representatives in front of youth sector.

Discussions on the Draft Law on organizations that operate for Common Good and on Guideliness for application of Codex for consultations with the interested public in the processes of adoption of laws, regulations and legal acts were some of it's highlights, as well as discussion on appointment of candidates to the National Committee for Education on Human Rights and Democratic Citizenship.

Regarding Draft Law on organizations that operate for Common Good, Croatian Youth Network organized sectorial consultations on the draft law in collaboration with Government's Office for Cooperation with CSOs of Republic of Croatia and Tasco project Croatia in late April. The final result of sectorial consultations will be submitted to the Office for Cooperation in written form by June 11.

Networking Days in Macedonia

The European Youth Forum and the Coalition of Youth Organisations SEGA organises Networking Days in Ohrid from 27-30 May. The aim of the event was to provide support to the consolidation of the National Youth Council of Macedonia. It is attended by 35 participants from youth organisations from Macedonia and representatives of the several National Youth Councils from other parts of Europe.

Macedonia youth organisations work on the steps towards improving networking at national level to have a a sustainable national platform of youth organisations in Macedonia. Apart from the European Youth Forum, Agency of Youth and Sports expressed their support to the efforts of youth organisations in consolidation of national-wide networking.

The event is an inherent part of the YFJ's country-by-country strategy with the aim of providing support to the establishment/consolidation of National Youth Councils. After similar events in Serbia, Bulgaria and Montenegro this is a fourth event of this kind.
 

CYN meets Croatian President

Delegation of the Croatian Youth Network has visited on Monday, May 24th the Presidents' Office and held a meeting with the President of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Ivo Josipović. The meeting was very constructive and dynamic and the President and CYN have agreed on permanent cooperation in advancing youth position in Croatia as well as participation in international political processes related to the United Nations.

Governmental report for UPR

On May 24th the presentation of the governemntal report to the UPR (UN Universal Periodical Report) was held at the Center for Human Rights. The report was compiled
by the Office for Human Rights of the Croatian Government. The main areas covered by the report are: combating discrimination, gender equality, domestic violence and violence against women, child rights, persons with disabilities, human trafficking, migrants and asylum seekers, the right to education, the right to welfare and health care, prohibition of forced labor and right to work, the media freedom, civil society, the return of refugees and displaced persons, protection of minority rights and war crimes.
The presentation was attended by Emina Bužinkić on behalf of the Croatian Youth Network, whose comments in the field of children were exposed, with the support for the integration of young people rights in the report.

UPR_REPORT_YOUTH
UPR_REPORT_CSO ANALYSIS

New leadership of the SDP Youth Forum

On Saturday May 22nd in Zagreb VIII SDP Youth Forum Convention was held. Saša Đujić was elected as the new Youth Forum president, and Arijana Lekić Fridrih and Ivan Bašić as vice-presidents. Among numerous guests was also Nikola Panduric, Croatian Youth Network president, who expressed gratitude for the work done together with the former leader Davor Bernardić and others. He also shared an invitation to the new leadership of the SDP Youth Forum to continue the ongoing co-operation.

Networking Days Monenegro

Networking Days Montenegro were held in Bečići on 14 – 17 May.  Networking Days Montenegro were a part of the effort of the European Youth Form to give assistance to youth organisations in the Balkan region when trying to establish a national youth council. Networking Days were attended by some 30 participants from the same number of organisations. Guest from Serbia, Estonia, Lithuania and Nikola Pandurić from the Croatian Youth Network shared their experiences with networking in their own countries. 

The I European Union–Latin America and Caribbean (EU-LAC) Youth Summit

The I European Union–Latin America and Caribbean (EU-LAC) Youth Summit held on 7 till 9 of May 2010  preceded the Heads of State and Government Summit held in Madrid, on 18 May 2010, on the theme “Towards a new stage in the bi-regional partnership: Innovation and Technology for sustainable development and social inclusion”, and  provided an important opportunity for youth organisations from Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean to address core challenges and strengthen the dialogue and cooperation between the two regions on regional and global issues, contributing to the further development of the EU-LAC strategic partnership. During the Summit, youth representatives from both regions developed a joint document that was presented at the EU-LAC Heads of State and Government Summit. It consists of recommendations and priorities which youth from both regions face. 

The Youth Summit was attended by the CYN president, Nikola Pandurić. 

The third Meeting of the National Committee for the Development of Volunteering

The third Meeting of the National Committee for the Development of Volunteering was held on 17 May in Zagreb.
New Ethics Committee were elected among members. They are Bojan Smode (Croatian Scouts' Association), Ingrid Jurela Jarak (Ministry of Science, Education and Sports) and Mladen Ivanović (League of Cities and Municipalities of Croatia).
The National Committee will issue recommendations to all government bodies and public institutions for the popularisation and development of volunteering and removing obstacles to the inclusion of volunteers in government bodies and public institutions.
The Committe also established a working group (Anamarija Sočo, representative of the Croatian Youth Network is a member) which will draft a proposal of activities to mark the European Year of Volunteering 2011.
 

Days of the NGOs 2010

Days of the NGOs 2010 took place in Zadar from May 13 until May 15. They were organized by the Office for the Cooperation with NGOs, National Foundation for the Development of Civil Society, Project TACSO and Council for the Development of Civil Society. Central topics of this year’s Days of the NGOs were funds of the European Union and their significance for the development of the civil sector in Croatia. All available funds and programs were presented during the course of three-day seminar. Also, information on upcoming calls for proposals in number of European programs (especially IPA Program- Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance) was disseminated towards participants. Number of presentations also aimed at clearing a number of practical misunderstandings regarding different European Programs, as well as at presenting a system in which entities of Croatian administration share responsibility with the European Commission for their implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
 

Youth Studies kick off

This year the Croatian Youth Network has initiated implementation of an interdisciplinary non-formal program for youth - Youth Studies. The programme is based on learning about youth for youth. It gathers 18 participants from different social fields (journalism, medicine, education, culture, youth activism in community, volontueering, employment, public sector, political parties etc.).

The first module 'Youth and Society - identity issue' was held in Zagreb, in Zagreb centre for independent culture and youth, from 6th to 9th May. Lectures and presenters were: dr.sc. Vlasta Ilisin, mr.sc. Ivona Mendeš, dr.sc. Benjamin Perasović, Katarina Pavić (coordinator of Clubture), mr.sc. Bojana Ćulum, Anamarija Sočo (CYN activist), and Martina Globočnik (media activist). Soon we expect Youth Studies Journal publishing.
 

Academy for Political Development

From May 6 to 9, the second seminar of the Academy for Political Development, Council of Europe's programme, was held on Brač. Seminar topic was Communication skills and public acting. Numerous lectures were held on political discourse and speech, public relations, lobbying. Apart from that, there was a debate on sustainability of public television through discussion on the draft Law on HRT (Croatian Radio and Television). In addition there was a discussion on media work from the perspective of different fields and occupations. This year's participant is Emina Bužinkić, CYN's Secretary General.

CYN appeals to the Ministry in charge of youth regarding the upcoming conference on youth

Dear Mr/Mrs

The 9th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth is due to take place in the Russian Federation in 2012. A Ministerial Conference does not only offer the CoE Member States an opportunity of reaffirming their commitment to youth policy; it also offers the youth sector the opportunity of drawing attention to topics that are of a particular importance for European youth. As a national youth council, representing XX youth organisations, we want to express our strong support for the upcoming conference.

However, we are concerned about the topic of this high-level meeting and to what extent it will respond to the challenges of the youth policy of today. We recently learnt that there are discussions on devoting the upcoming Ministerial Conference to the topic of “Youth in the Digital Era”.

Addressing the role and the challenges of the Internet in today’s society is relevant but far from urgent. In times of financial crisis, we have once again been reminded of the particular challenges that many young people face, especially in accessing certain basic human rights. Youth unemployment rates remain shockingly high, access to housing and health care services proves difficult for many and still, in 2010, an average of 20% of young Europeans are experiencing poverty. Young people are united not only by the lifestyles and circumstances they share, but also by the problems and challenges they face. Sadly, they often fall through the ‘nets’ of protection that existing legislation and support mechanisms offer.

These are issues of an urgent nature and they are high on the agenda of the youth movement, i.e. the CoE Advisory Council on Youth and the European Youth Forum. Also the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is working with the rights of young people. 

The Council of Europe is not only devoted to defending human rights but has also always stood at the forefront of the development of youth policy in Europe. We have seen a shift towards a rights-based approach to youth policy - a shift that was reaffirmed by the Agenda 2020 adopted at the 8th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth – but there is a need for further development as well as further commitments in this regard. Therefore we would like to propose that the topic of the Ministerial Conference 2012 is “Agenda 2020 – A Rights-based Future of Youth Policy in Europe” and that this event focuses on young people’s access to their basic human rights.       

Thank you in advance for taking these comments into consideration in future discussions.

Yours sincerely,

Emina Bužinkić
Croatian Youth Network, member of the European Youth Forum
 

Invitation to the lecture on higher education and labour market

The Croatian Youth Network, programme Youth Studies, would like to invite you to attend the lecture of the prof. Teo Matković named Spreading higher education and labour market - instrument of social mobility; race to the bottom or a ticket to the knowledge society?

The lecture is being organized within the first educational module: Youth and society - matter of identity!

The lecture will be held on Friday, May 7th from 5 to 7pm in the premises of the Zagreb Center for Independent culture and youth.

Please confirm your attendance to info@mmh.hr by May6th, 5pm.

* Youth Studies are financially supported by the National Foundation for Civil Society Development

Meeting of the Croatian Network for Cooperation in Mediterannean

On April 30 within the facilities of Mediateka in Zagreb, meeting of the Croatian Network for  Cooperation in Mediterranean was held. Pavle Schramadei of the National Foundation for Civil Society Development, which coordinates activities of the Network, briefed the participants on current situation within Anna Lindh Foundation. Special emphasis was given to Anna Lindh Forum, which took place in Barcelona in March. Also, for the first time documentary movie from the Forum was presented to the participants, as well as promotional video on cultural cooperation within ALF Network.

The most important activity of the Croatian Network in the following period: the exhibition “Faces of Mediterranean” will be posted in most of major Croatian cities by the end of this year.  
 

Workshop 'Local youth policy and the role of youth advisory boards'

On April 30th, youth organization IKS has organized a workshop on local youth policy and the role of youth advisory boards for youth organizations and advisory boards from towns of Petrinja and Sisak. The workshop was held in the premises of the Youth Info Center in Sisak and was led by E.Bužinkić.

Presentaition of projects and consulations with the Office for Cooperation with NGOs

On April 29 in Zagreb, the Office for the Cooperation with NGOs, TACSO project (Technical Assistance for Civil Society Organizations) and the Croatian Youth Network organized two events: presentation of projects of organizations which were funded within Phare 2006 scheme, in the area: Active contribution of the civil society to the accession process in the field of Youth; as well as consultations on  Guidelines for the implementation of the Code of Practice on consultation with the interested public in procedures of adopting laws, other regulations and acts and the draft of the Law on NGOs that work for Public Benefit.
 

Constituent session of the Council for Civil Society Development

The first session of  the Council for the development of civil society in it’s third mandate took place on Friday, April 23rd. The session was attended by K. Pavic, vice president of MMH. Sla?ana Novota was elected as the President of the Council.

The Council has adopted two important documents: Report on the implementation plan of the national strategy of creating an enabling environment for civil society development (2007th-2011th) in 2009 and Report on the allotted financial support for projects and programs of civil society organizations in 2009.

Other topics of the session were also: days of NGO’s which will take place in Zadar, 13 - 15 May this year, a preliminary program was presented.

Also, a part of the session was dedicated to plans for future activities of the Council in the coming period, as well as the future establishment of working groups of the Council. Other important topics on the meeting of the Council concerned the possibility of organizing sectoral consultations with regard to the topics relevant to civil society. We are inviting all organizations to inform us about the relevant issues for them, so that we might better prepare for future consultations.

At the same time, we remind that the sectoral consultations organized in collaboration Croatian Youth Network, the Office for Cooperation with NGOs and the Project TASCO will take place this Thursday, 29 April. Consultations will be held at the Centre for independent culture and youth, Kneza Mislava 11, beginning at 13 hours.
 

CYN attending COMEM

Spring COMEM of the European Youth Forum was held in Brussels, Belgium, from April 22 to 26. COMEM gathered some 120 delegates from pan european region. Croatian Youth Network delegate was Emina Bužinkic. COMEM kicked off the european youth dialogue 'A new energy for Europe: Youth Recipes Out of Crisis' that was discussed with Maroš Ševcovic, Vice-President of the European Commission and youth politicians from international youth organizations.

During COMEM, new organizations became members of the forum (Czech National Youth Council for Children and Youth, Youth of European Nationalities and International Exchange Erasmus Student Network). Members have adopted two Policy Papers on 'Democracy and Youth Organisations' and 'Vocational Education and Training', together with resolutions addressing the issue of the situation of the Youth Sector in the Council of Europe and the opportunities of the International Youth Year. Furthermore, the assembly adopted a resolution ahead of the European Union - Latin American and Caribbean (EU-LAC) Youth Summit, to be held in Madrid on 7-9 May 2010.

Within the COMEM, the Croatian Youth Network and Slovenian Youth Council have organized a thematic square on the role of the international youth organizations in creating national youth councils in the Balkans. Current Forum's agenda sets priorities on establishing youth councils in Serbia and Bulgaria, and afterwards in Montenegro and Macedonia.

Finally, the city of Braga in Portugal was awarded the title of European Youth Capital 2012 during the closing party.
 

Youth Committee of City of Zagreb

On Thursday April 22nd, in the Old City Hall a thematic session of the Youth Committee of City of Zagreb was held, discussing the topic „City of Zagreb's scholarships for students – are they enough“. 

During an interesting debate the speakers addressed the number and rate of scholarships for excellence, disabled and socially endangered, the criteria for awarding the scholarships and the way they are used. The speakers agreed it is necessary to lower the rates of the biggest scholarships and to increase the number given each year. At the same time it is necessary to revise the number and amount of other groups of scholarships. 

Other systems for crediting and awarding the scholarships were presented and debated on. This systems work in other parts of Croatia and will be the topic of further debates. Representatives of civil organizations and youth took active part in the session. On behalf of MMH N.Pandurić participated.

Let's build a common civil society

Forum of civil society actors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Balkan region and Europe «Let's build a common civil society» was held from 14th to 16th of April 2010 in Sarajevo  

This Forum brought together civil society actors from BiH, organizations and initiatives from all over Europe and marked a first step of a long term process of strengthening and empowering civil society. The civil society in BiH is a key player in the countries democratization, and contributes to the construction of overall European civil society. During the Forum the participants of the civil society, sharing equal values with European civil society shared experience, wishes and their dreams and debate on what they expect from the national and international institutions involved in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Many of the key issues addressed by the participants were youth related. Young people in BiH grow up in divided communities (entities and divisions within them) and therefore rarely share their everyday life, although they share the same problems. There are organizations working to change such a situation, but they rarely work together and cooperate. Therefore, Forums such as this one should be used to make the so needed change and mark a path towards working together.

The Forum was attended by more than a hundred participants from the same number of organizations of civil society. The Forum was organized by the Centre André Malraux of Sarajevo, CCFD – Terre solidaire, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in BiH. The Forum was attended by Nikola Pandurić, Croatian Youth Network president. 

Invitation to presentation and counseling

We are happy to announce a presentation of the results of the youth projects implemented through Phare 2006 Program: Enabling active contribution of civil society organizations in preaccession process in the field of Youth Participation. Further more, we would like to invite you to participate in the counseling on the draft of the Act on public benefit organizations and Directives for implementation of the Code on consultations with interested public in the process of adoption of laws and regulations. The event will be organized on Thursday April 29 at the EU Info Centre and Zagreb Center for Independet Culture and Youth. Should you need more information, please contact our office.

CYN at Volunteering Days at Faculty of Economics

Croatian Youth Network participated at Volunteering Days held at Faculty of Economics in Zagreb on 13 and 14 April.

Volunteering Days gathered 15 NGOs which offer volunteering opportunities for young people. Participants were able to get acquainted with activities of NGOs and their volunteering opportunities and they could also attend several interesting presentations and lectures on the topic of volunteering.

Training on Public Advocacy for activists in Istria County

Youth organization ZUM from Pula, which is a member of the CYN, organized training on public advocacy in Crikvenica. Training which began on April 8 and lasted until April 11 was attended by 14 participants from the entire Istria County.

During the course of the training participants were presented with concepts such as public policy, youth policy, local and regional youth policy, top - down vs. bottom – up approach and public advocacy. Moreover, trainers (Anamarija Sočo and Nikola Buković of the CYN) presented a number of successful public advocacy initiatives coming from youth sector (and NGO sector in general), as well as some examples where authorities have shown openness for youth participation.

Finally, participants assisted by trainers planned their own public advocacy activities that will aim to amend some problems in their communities. These actions will be implemented by the end of this year, with the support of  the ZUM and the CYN.

Presentation of the publication on School Students' Councils

On March 26, the Centre for Independent Culture and Youth in Zagreb hosted presentation of publication entitled “School Students’ Councils: Role of School Students in Decision Making Processes”. 
Emina Bužinkić and Martina Horvat, co – authors opened the discussion. They were followed by Helena Miladić,  Head of the Youth Unit in the administration of City of Zagreb,  Benjamin Tkalčec, Vice – President of the National School Students’ Council of Croatia and Duje Bonacci, Spokesman of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports. The discussion was facilitated by Ivan Novosel of the YNGO Legalis.

Afterwards, more than 30 participants, mostly representatives of school students’ councils from Zagreb area participated in lively discussion on various topics: need to make educational structures and processes more democratic and fitting to the needs of school students, usual problems that school students’ representatives encounter in their everyday work, capacities of school students to participate within decision making processes in their schools and their communities alike. One of the recommendations that was formulated through this discussion was importance of introducing education for democracy as a part of formal educational curricula at all levels. By many participants, it was considered as “must” in order to achieve any kind of influence on democratic processes in schools and society alike.

Lecture on youth policy on Bulgarian School of Politics

Today, on March 25th, Emina Buzinkic from the Croatian Youth Network has conducted a lecture 'Youth Policy as a Public Policy' at the Bulgarian School of Politics in Sarajevo. Composed of some 30 participants from countries from broader Balkan region, Bulgarian School of Politics adressed an interesting topic for the second seminar in a row. Title of the seminar is CHALLENGES TO YOUTH ENGAGEMENT AND YOUTH POLICY DEVELOPMENT IN THE BALKANS: GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS TO LEARN. The lecture on youth policy was followed by 3 workshops on: political decision-making process, institutional frame, and comparative analyses on youth policies in the Balkans, with the emphasis on policy solutions to youth unemployment and other youth issues.

CYN guest on the elections for the representative in the National School Students' Council

On March 24, elections for the representative of Varaždin County in the National School Students’ Council were held in the Varaždin County Regional Assembly. Over 60 young representatives of school students’ councils of Varaždin County elected Tomislav Kostanjevac to be their representative in the school students’ advisory council at the national level.
During the elections, Nikola Buković of the Croatian Youth Network briefly presented CYN’s publication: "School Students’ Councils: Role of School Students in the Decision Making Processes".

6th Regional Forum for Transitional Justice

6th Regional Forum for Transitional Justice was held in Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia through March 20th and 21st 2010. Forum was opened by vice president of Executive Board of Autonomic Region of Vojvodina Ana Tomanova Makanova and chief of Delegation of European commission to the Republic of Serbia Vincent Degert. In the context of Forum, public hearing of victims and witnesses of war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina was held. Discussion on the model of the Coalition for RECOM was opened by Felix Reategui, chief of unit for report of Commission for truth and reconciliation in Peru and Cristian Correa, secretary of the Commission for political imprisonments and torture - The Valech Commission in Chile.

Forum was preceded by the Assembly of the Coalition for RECOM held on Friday, March 19th 2010. Assembly was deciding on the changes of the Statute of the Coalition for RECOM, voting for new members of the Coordinating committee and discussing on the report on activities and financial report for the period between two assemblies. Croatian Youth Network was represented on both Assembly and Forum by Cvijeta Senta from the Centre for Peace Studies and working group for youth of the Coalition for RECOM Croatia.

More information is available at the web page of the Coalition, www.korekom.org and at the web page of Documenta – Centre for Dealing with the past.

Training for the Samobor City Youth Advisory Board

On March 20 trainers of the Croatian Youth Network, Nikola Buković and Nikola Pandurić, held a training for the members of the Samobor City Youth Advisory Board.
The programme included detail presentation of the Act on Youth Advisory Boards, also giving a chance to participants to offer their views on how it could be improved. Training also included counselling on methods on how to overcome difficulties in Board's everyday work and practical exercises, aiming to strengthen participants in dealing with issues that often brought to the attention of Youth Advisory Boards.

YFJ Networking Days in Bulgaria

From March 11th -14th 2010, Networking Days took place in Hisar, Bulgaria. The aim of this event was to gather representatives of youth organizations (youth NGOs and political parties) in order to empower them for establishing National Youth Council in Bulgaria. Apart from 40 participants from Bulgaria, this event welcomed guests from Croatia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Serbia. They presented process of establishing youth councils in their countries, as well as structure and membership criteria in their national youth councils.  Croatian case was presented by Marija Hrebac, Vice-President of the Croatian Youth Network.

News in the area of independent culture and youth

On March 17th an Assembly of the Alliance for the Center independent culture and youth was held. Members of the Assembly have voted a decision on change of the name. New name of the organization is: Alliance of associations Operation City, in short Operation City. New Steering Board was elected and is composed of: Miljenka Buljević, Kulturtreger and Nemeza (president), Emina Bužinkić, the Croatian Youth Network (vice president), members: Katarina Pavić, Clubture, Tomislav Medak, Multimedia Institute, Petra Zanki, Eks scena and Banana Gerila, Sanja Burlović, Attack and Emina Višnić, Zagreb center for independent culture and youth - The POGON. The Assembly has voted new member organizations: Croatian Jeunesse Musical, Banana Gerila, Bad Co., DeLVe, Kurziv, Contemporary Art Studio, UBU, Jazz Art.

Appearance in a TV show

On Wednesday, March 17th Ines Perković from CYN and Mario Mažić from Youth Initiative for Human Rights appeared in a TV show „Daily Show" on Open Television. The show was hosted by journalist Patricija Kompesak. The incentive for the CYN's appearance was the UNITED's campaign „European Action Week against Racism“. On Saturday, March 13th, the Croatian Youth Network has organized a workshop 'Knowledge against racism' within the European Action Week Against Racism. The workshop has gathered 12 young persons who learned and warned on serious consequences of racism and it's social influence.

Thematic session of the Council for Youth on youth violence prevention

On March 16 the Council for Youth held a thematic session on combating and preventing violence among young people. This topic has already been emphasized on earlier sessions as a crucial one within the annual working programme of the Council.

Fruitful and interesting debate led to a number of valuable recommendations, one of them being that vital role in combating and preventing youth violence must be given to education for democracy that should be integrated as an individual subject in the school curricula. Representatives of the CYN, Women’s group B.a.b.e , Centre for Peace Studies and Centre for Human Rights have stressed out that this subject usually integrates elements of education for peace and non violence, which are instrumental in combating and preventing violence.
 

Youth Studies launched!

The Croatian Youth Network has launched the first year of “FOCUS YOUTH: YOUTH STUDIES”, educational programme intended for young people motivated to learn about position of young people in Croatia and Europe, problems they encounter and are willing to think about possible approaches on how to mitigate them. In a number of states which are set on achieving European standards of youth policy, youth studies are implemented as non formal education or academic programmes. In the first year of their Croatian version, YS will be carried out as a non formal programme which will include seminars, practical work and open lectures on topics relevant for Croatian youth.

The first generation of YS will include 20 distinguished young individuals coming from different fields of society: NGO, politics, business and media. We hope that upon completion of YS participants will be empowered and motivated to work on promoting youth participation, improving youth standard and establishing an affirmative role that young people should have within their societies.
Organization of YS has been made possible by the support of the National Foundation for Civil Society Development.

Training on sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people

Training on sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people (SRHR), organized by the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the European Youth Forum, was held from 9 to 13 March in Brussels.

The training brought together 15 young activists from across Europe who work on the promotion of SRHR. Through a series of interesting activities, participants explored the attitudes, values and knowledge on SRHR and connections between different aspects of sexual health, such as the differences, relationship and sexual behavior. They also explored the most important policy document on compehensive sexual education and how to work with volunteers.

Croatian Youth Network also participated in training and continues with its advocacy activities in this field.

Open Door Day of the Youth Advisory Board of Samobor

On Saturday, March 13, the Youth Advisory Board of Samobor organized Open Door Day. Its aim was to present function that  Youth Adisory Boards have in local development. Also, Open Door Day was an excellent opportunity for the Advisory Board to promote initiatives and projects initiated on their belhaf.
As a guest lecturer Nikola Bukovic of the CYN  held a lecture on national, and local youth policy development, as well as on potential improvements of the Act on Youth Advisory Boards.

Workshop 'Knowledge against racism' held

On Saturday, March 13th, the Croatian Youth Network has organized a workshop 'Knowledge against racism' within the European Action Week Against Racism. The workshop has gathered 12 young persons who learned and warned on serious consequences of racism and it's social influence. Workshop leader was Mario Mažić from the Youth Initiative for Human Rights. The workshop was held in Zagreb Center for Independent Culture and Youth.

CYN presentation to students from Bosnia and Herzegovina

On March 12th, a presentation of Croatian NGO's was held in premises of Green Action for visitors from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Study visit of Bosnian students was organised by Youth Information Agency in order to give young students more information on work of several NGO's in Croatia. Organisations that were presented on that evening were Croatian Youth Network, Volunteer's Center Zagreb, Croatian Youth Hostel Assocciation, student initiative for access to education, and Green Action. During presentation of above mentioned NGO's emphasis was placed on youth activism and what can NGO sector offer to young people from Bosnia. Interest of the Bosnian group was on work of Croatian Youth Network and its' member organizations in Croatia and posibility to establish cooperation with similar organisations from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

Selected members of the Council for Civil Society Development

The Governmental Office for cooperation with NGOs has initiated process of nominating civil society representatives to the new mandate of the Council for Civil Society Development to the Goverment of the RoC. As for the area of Youth Participation the representatives of the Croatian Youth Network were selected. Our candidates were Katarina Pavić, Vice-president with a mandate of a full member and Emina Bužinkić, Secretary General, as a deputy (current member of the Council).

List of other candidates

CYN participated in the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health

From Wednesday 10 of March to Friday 12 of March in Parma, Italy the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health is being held. The topic of the conference is protecting children's health in a changing environment. From Monday 8 of March a preparatory meeting for youth delegates was held in order to prepare the them for the conference. Youth delegates will have presented ideas, demands and declaration that was drafted in the preparatory meeting. The conference is organized by the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, and the host country is Italy. The Croatian Youth Network is also present at the conference through its president Nikola Pandurić whose participation was made possible by DG SANCO.

The progress of the conference will be presented at the blog:

env-health-youth.blogspot.com

Workshop: "Independent and Included Youth"

On Saturday, 06 of March a workshop «Independent and Included Youth – Meeting of Youth and representatives of institutions» was held. The workshop was organized by organizations IGRA and FORUM. Its goals were to produce recommendations for improving the status of youth leaving their foster families and other institutions of care and to present the educational brochure for youth Katapult.  The workshop took place in the Human Rights House Zagreb, and was attended by Nikola Pandurić from the Croatian Youth Network.
 

ALF Forum in Barcelona

From March 4th to 7th, Anna Lindh Forum in Barcelona was held. It was organized by Anna Lindh Foundation coordinated from Alexandria. Forum on inter-cultural dialogue was held within the framework of the Union for Mediterranean. Focus was on euro-mediterranean partnership and has gatheres more than 700 representatives of civil society organizations and relevant institutions from 43 member countries. In all 43 countries, national network of ALF were established with a task of coordination of international cooperation. National coordinator in Croatia is the National Foundation for Civil Society Development whose member is Croatian Youth Network. CYN was represented on the Forum by Emina Bužinkić who presented a project idea on youth studies.

Youth Work Development Working Group meets in Serbia

The third meeting of the Youth Work Development Working Group of the European Youth Forum was held in Serbia from 4 to 7 March. One of the members of the Group is Croatian Youth Network representative Anamarija Sočo, who also attended the meeting.

The meeting was held in Belgrade and Leskovac and it was very constructive. The Working Group first met with representatives of Youth Council of the Republic of Srpska where they discussed possible forms of cooperation with the European Youth Forum. In Belgrade they met with representatives of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Initiative for the establishment of the youth umbrella organization of Serbia (KOMS). The Initiative members talked about the challenges they face in the preparation period and they also announced the founding assembly of KOMS was to take place in May.

Group meeting resumed in Leskovac where members had the opportunity to meet local youth organizations and learn more about local youth policy. At the meeting of the Group also discussed the next steps to support the establishment of youth umbrella organizations in the region of Southeast Europe and the novelties in the field of global youth work.

Workshop: "Ignorance is the Highway to Racism"

On March 13, Croatian Youth Network is organizing a workshop entitled: “Ignorance is the Highway to Racism”. Workshop will take place within the facilities of the Zagreb Centre for Independent Culture and Youth.

 General Assembly of the United Nations declared 21 March the International Day of Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Each year around 21 March NGOs, universities, schools, municipalities and a wide variety of different organisations carry out hundreds of activities all around Europe in order to stress out that racism is still a considerable problem that is still present within our societies.
The workshop will bring together 20 young persons from Croatia that will spend the day together learning from each other, exchanging experiences, sharing problems related to issues of racism and discrimination, making efforts in defining them, understanding their causes and finally, reflecting on the most effective ways on mitigating them on regular basis.
Campaign coordinator is Ines Perkovic from Croatian Youth Network and the Workshop trainer will be Mario Mazic from Youth Initiative for Human Rights.
 

Appearance in a TV show "Who cares?"

On Wednesday, 03 March Nikola Pandurić, president of the Croatian Youth Network and Katarina Pavić, vice-president, appeared in a TV show „Who cares?“ on Croatian Radiotelevision, second channel. The show was hosted by Ivan Planinić. Katarina and Nikola presented the Croatian Youth Network, its work and development, and the possibilities and problems of youth in Croatia. The incentive for the CYN's appearance was the campaign „Infect yourselves with activism“ which promotes active, responsible and action oriented life of youth.  

Session of the Committee on the Family, Youth and Sports

On Tuesday, 02 March Committee on the Family, Youth and Sports in the Croatian Parliament held a session with the main subject: „Youth and unemployment“. Data provided by the Croatian Employment Service states that the number of unemployed people reached 309 000 people of which 32.3 percent were youth till the age of 29. 

CYN presentation to highschool students

On February 26, Croatian Youth Network held a presentation on its' work for grammar school students from Sisak. Presentation was held within the class of Ethics lead by
professor Marina Kasa. For the same students CYN will organize education on human rights in May.

Workshop on public advocacy

On Saturday 27 February, a one day workshop was held on the premises of the organization Muscular Dystrophy Society of Istria with the topic “Public advocacy”. The workshop was attended by the members of the coalition for the founding of Istria Youth Council.  Workshop for the future members of the Council was held by Nikola Pandurić, the Croatian Youth Network President, and the main organizer and financial support was done by the organization ZUM from Pula, the initiator of the project for the foundation of the Istria Youth Council. Beside the workshop on public advocacy, action planning for the coalition was held to support the work until the founding assembly of Istria Youth Council. 

Possibilities of heat solar systems

On Thursday February 25 2010 in Zagreb a one day seminar was held with the topic „Possibilities of heat solar systems“. The goal of the seminar was to promote the use of renewable energy resources, especially solar energy which could be greatly used in the countries such as Croatia. Unfortunately, Croatia uses only a very small portion of this opportunity even in the parts such as southern Dalmatia where no question on the adequacy of solar energy should be raised for the production of heat or electrical energy.  Goal of the seminar was to present the current achievements and encourage further use of solar energy.

With the support of the organizers ENERGETIKA MARKETING the seminar was attended by Nikola Pandurić.

Evening IDEATOR 2010

On Friday 19 February,  the Society of Innovators "SIGMA"  with the support of the City Assembly of the City of Zagreb and the Croatian Association of Innovators, held the Evening IDEATORA 2010 on the occasion of presenting the Project IDEATOR and open Public competition for awarding annual prizes IDEATOR and IDEATOR RESOLUTION. Details of the competition are available on the web site of the organizers and in the “YOUTH INFO” section. 

Following the organizers invitation, Croatian Youth Network was present in the event through it’s President Nikola Pandurić.

CYN participated in a public consultation of the National Foundation for Civil Society Development

National Foundation for Civil Society Development organized a public consultation on information and promotion systems and forms of grant schemes.

Consultations were organized as a part of Info days on funding opportunities for NGOs in Croatia, organized by State Office for Cooperation with NGOs.

Croatian Youth Network participated at the consultation and submitted their suggestions which you can learn more about here.

Info Days 2010.

On February 25/26 Ministry of Public Administration hosted Info Days on funding opportunities for NGOs in Croatia. Info Days were focused on grants funded from national budget and lottery incomes. Representatives of all public entities could present timetables of their calls for proposals, explain some of their more relevant features and were able to provide answers to questions of potential beneficiaries.
These Info Days were organized by the Office for Cooperation with NGOs.

Second meeting of the National Committee for the Development of Volunteering

The National Committee for the Development of Volunteering held it second session on 22 February in Zagreb.

The work report of the National Committee in the previous two-year term was adopted.

Members also discussed the draft action plan of the National Committee for the seconf term - from January 2010 till January 2012. Activities are planned in accordance with the defined tasks of the National Committee, and defined measures for the development of volunteering within the Operational Plan of Implementation of the National Strategy for the Creation of a Stimulating Environment for the Development of Civil Society from 2006 to 2011.

Cooperation of national youth councils

From February 19 to 21 in Toledo, Spain, a meeting of southern national youth councils was held with a thematics of cooperation of national youth councils and influence to youth policies nationally and at European level. Within the framework of Spanish Presidency over EU, a National Consultations on youth employment in EU were organized. Dialogue on youth employment will be continued within the framework of Belgic presidency. Croatian Youth Network was represented by Emina Bužinkić, the Secretary General.

A very interesting campaing made by Spanish Youth Council (Consejo de la Juventud de la Espana) that hosted the event was presented. More information could be read at EUROPAJOVEN2010.ORG.

JIM/JAP conference

On Thursday, 11th of February, a conference Impact of Economic Crisis on the Republic of Croatia on continuation of activities and executions of measures under the Joint Assessment of the Employment Policy Priorities of the Republic of Croatia (JAP) and Joint Memorandum on Social Inclusion of the Republic of Croatia (JIM) was held. The conference was organized by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Ministry of the Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship and DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Conference was attended by representatives of the government institutions and agencies as well as civil society organizations. The concluding remarks included the need of addressing promptly youth unemployment and mismatch of the current educational system and the labour market needs. On behalf of the Croatian Youth Network, the conference was attended by Nikola Pandurić.

Meeting with German MP Sarazzin

On Sunday, February 14, CYN Secretary General Emina Bužinkić had a meeting with Manuel Sarazzin, German Member of Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag) and Member of the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union, and with research assistant Maja Ifland. Meeting topics were focused on youth, youth values in Croatia and EU, support to Croatia accession to EU among youth population, issues of youth violence, relations between Serbia and Croatia, and processes of dealing with the past. Visit of MP Sarazzin was hosted by Vedran Horvat from Heinrich Bell Stiftung located in Zagreb.

Lecture on local youth policy

From 5th to 7th of February, a meeting of executive members of scout organizations  was held in hostel Karlovac in Selce by the Scout Association of Croatia, a member organization of the Croatian Youth Network. During the meeting, a lecture “Youth advisory boards and youth councils” was held to educate the executive members of what youth policies and politics are and show the possibilities of future engagement. The lecture was held by Nikola Pandurić, president of the CYN.

Workshop on UPR

On Thursday, 4th of February 2010, a public debate was held in the Center for Human Rights in Zagreb. The topics were recommendations of UN committees for Croatia in 2009 and a workshop on UN’s UPR mechanism.  Main speaker was Florian Irminger, Head of the Geneva office, Human Rights House Foundation. After the workshop, a decision to form a national coalition of civil society organisation  dealing with human rights in Croatia which will make a report on the state of human rights in Croatia was made. Croatian Youth Network joined the coalition and other organizations are welcome to join as well by sending an email to Sanja Sarnavka: sanjasarnavka@gmail.com.

New session of the Council for Youth

The new session of the Governmental Council for Youth was held on Friday, January 27th where the Workplan for 2010 was adopted. Members have agreed on the next session which is to be held soon with the thematics of youth violence prevention. Members have discussed about implementation of the National Youth Strategy too. The Ministry of Family, War Veterans' Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity has presented evaluation questionnaire that was to be filled in by all governmental institutions competent of implementation of the strategy by the end of January. 

Meeting on Euro-Med Youth Policies and Intercultural Dialogue

From the 25th to the 28th of January 2010, the meeting ‘Euro-Med Youth Policies on Intercultural Dialogue’ took place in Strasbourg as part of the preparation for the Anna Lindh Forum 2010.

The meeting was co-organised by the Foundation’s headquarters in partnership with the Council of Europe and the European Commission.

It tackled four major themes related to intercultural dialogue policies: mobility; integration and coexistence, non-formal education and new media.

The meeting brought together twenty-five youth leaders and youth workers from the Anna Lindh National Networks and partners.

It gave an insight into youth policies in the region and the status of cooperation, as well as contributions to the development of recommendations for action in the framework of the Anna Lindh Forum 2010.

Croatian Youth Network also participated at the meeting as a member of the Croatian Network for Euro-Med Cooperation.

Conference: "Youth Participation within the Community"

Vogosca near Sarajevo hosted the first conference: "Youth Participation within the Community" from January 22 to 24. This conference is an integral part of the project "Youth Forces" conducted by NGO CIVITAS. The most important objectives of this project are: strengthening of youth sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina, increasing  youth influence within the society and  local communities as well. All of the 150 young participants are entitled to begin networking processes in their communities, thus establishing themselves as a relevant political factor.
Croatian experiences in youth policy and youth sector development were presented by Nikola Bukovic, Programme Assistant with the CYN.

Training for Youth Advisory Boards

Human Rights in Primary Schools

Center for Human Rights presented the research on 'Human Rights in Primary Schools' on Wednesday, January 20th in Kino Mosor in Zagreb. Presentation was moderated by Center's director Tin Gazivoda. The research was presented by Jagoda Novak, research coordinator; Vedrana Spajić Vrkaš, researcher and Maja Sever, representative of Parents' Council. CYN's representative E.Bužinkić participated in discussion. 

Reserach can be found on web site of Human Rights Center. 

Youth policy - new steps

On Tuesday, January 19th 2010, the presentation of publication 'Youth Policy - Croatian and European practice' of authors Emina Bužinkić, Nikola Buković and other co-authors was held in Zagreb, in newly opened House of Human Rights. 

After the introductory presentation of the contents of the publication, main speakers at the event were: Đurđa Adlešić, Vice president of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, Igor Vidačak, Head of the Governmental Office for cooperation with NGOs, director of the National Foundation for Civil Society Development Cvjetana Plavša Matić and consultant Anka Kekez Koštro from MAP Consulting. 

Participants of the debate were: Martina Štabi, Ministry of Family, Veterans' Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity; Nikola Pandurić, President of CYN; Katarina Pavic, vice president of CYN and coordinator of  Clubture; Bojana Klepač Pogrmilović, journalist, Ana Preveden, ZUM, Ivan Vuk, KRIK; Srecko Puhek, Youth Forum of the SDP; Teo Božanić, HAZ; Iva Sušić, MHDZ; Tomislav Tomašević, Green Action; Cvijeta Senta, Center for Peace Studies; Emina Višnić, Zagreb Center for Independent Culture and Youth; Sanja Sarnavka and Suzana Kunac, B.a.B.e,, Bojan Smode, The GovernmentalYouth Council; Sanja Cesar and Nataša Bijelić, CESI; Milan Medić,Center for Civic Initiatives; Jill Benderly, SIT, Amir Hodžić; Lidija Burić, consultant and other colleagues. We would like to thank to all debate participants for support. The presentation was attended by some 60 representatives of universities, government institutions,local governments, civil society organizations and youth associations.

'Youth policy - Croatian and European practice' - publication presentation

Presentation will take place at Human Rights House, Selska 112a. Publication will be presented by authors Emina Bužinkić and Nikola Buković. Guest speakers will be: Đurđa Adlešić, vice-president of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and president of the Council for Youth to the Government of RoC; Anka Kekez Koštro, consultant from MAP Consulting d.o.o.; dr.sc. Zdravko Petak, professor at Public Policy Department of the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb; dr.sc. Igor Vidačak, Head of the Governmental Office for cooperation with NGOs; Martina Štabi, Head of the Department for Youth at the Ministry of Family, Veterans' Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity, and Cvjetana Plavša - Matić, Head of the National Foundation for Civil Society Development. Discussion will be moderated by activist Vesna Kesić.

National Committee for the Development of Volunteering meets for the first time

The first meeting of the newly elected National Committee for the Development of Volunteering was held on 11 December in the premises of the Ministry of Family, Veterans and Intergenerational Solidarity.

Members adopted the Rules of Procedure of the National Committee and elected a new presidency. Ms Gordana Forčić was elected president of the National Committee. The new Vice President is Mr Igor Vidačak.

Next Meeting of the National Committee is scheduled in late February when the new work plan for a two-year term will be adopted.

Call for training for members of youth advisory boards to the local governments

Croatian Youth Network announces training for established youth advisory boards to the regional and local governments with the goal of empowerment of young people in advisory and decision-making processes. Training is a part of the project on strengthening the mechanisms for the involvement of young people and encourage their participation in advisory and decision-making processes that Croatian Youth Network has conducted since June, 2009 with the financial support of The World Bank.

Training will be held in Zagreb on 22 and 23 January. The deadline for applications is January 19th.

Invitation letter

Application form

National Committee for the development of volunteerism

Ministry of Family, Weterans' Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity has appointed members of the National Committee for the development of volunteering (NN br.152/09.) based on decision of the Governemnt of the Republic of Croatia dated on December 10th, 2009.

Appointed member of the National Committee for the development of volunteerism on behalf of the Croatian Youth Network is Anamarija Sočo.

The fifth session of the Council for Youth

On Tuesday, 22 December 2009 The Council for Youth held a session. Session was chaired by Vice president of the Governmentof the RoC, Đurđa Adlešic. Main debate was led on the workplan proposals for 2010. In addition to monitoring implementation of the National Program for Youth, prioritiy of the Council's work will be prevention of violence among and towards youth.

News in Informing

The Croatian Youth Network is opening a new mailing list: info@mmh.lista.hr.

The list will serve to disseminate diverse information on civil society, youth sector and opportunities for education.

Should you wish to recieve information via the Info list, please contact us so we could subscribe you.

Research on NGO participation in legislative processes

On December 16 European House Zagreb hosted presentation of a relevant research conducted by NGO "ODRAZ-Sustainable community development" and Institute for International Relations. Research focused on practices of NGO inclusion in processes of law making and drafting of other legal acts. Research gave practical recommendations for NGOs and public administration on how to make NGO participation in this process more effective.

Croatian Youth Network was one of 35 NGOs which participated in this research on a national level.
 

Training on the Act on Youth Advisory Boards

Training on the Act on Youth Advisory Boards was held for representatives of advisory boards, youth organizations and representatives of city/municipality administration from Ozalj, Žakanje, Duga Resa and Kamanj on December 15. Training took place in Žakanj and resulted with action plans aiming to improve functioning of existing youth advisory boards and to give guidelines on how to establish  youth advisory boards in those municipalities that at the moment do not have them as a part of their institutional framework.

Info and Networking Days in Serbia

From 10 to 13 December Info and Networking Days took place in Sremski Karlovci, Serbia. This event was organized by the European Youth Forum (YFJ) and its aim was to facilitate establishment of National Youth Council of Serbia. To meet that end, number of representatives coming from NYCs which are already members of YFJ were called to present their experiences in establishing youth council, defining its mission and vision. Also, some aspects of everyday functioning of NYC were presented and action plan of following actions that should lead to establishment of Serbian NYC was drafted.

CYN was represented on Info and Networking Days by Nikola Bukovic, Programme Assistant.

22nd Meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society

On Friday, the 11th December a session of the Council for the Development of Civil Society took place in the Government of the RoC. Discussion was led about a proposal of the the Rules of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Electoral Commission with respect to elections for the new Council members planned for next year.
Consultation on the draft proposal of the Act on public benefit organizations was announced. Discussion was led also about the progress of implementation of the Operational Plan of the National Strategy for the creation of enabling environment for civil  society development.
It was announced that the NGO Days will be organized in late April next year.

Panel discussion 'Solidarity of Excluded' at the opening of the Human Rights House

On Thursday, the 10th December, on International Human Rights Day, in Zagreb was opened the Human Rights House as a project which included some of the most active non-governmental organizations involved in the promotion and protection of human rights in Croatia. On this occasion, within the Human Rights Film Festival, a panel discussion on "solidarity of excluded" was organized. It is also the solidarity of marginalized and excluded social groups, and (mutual) solidarity among the excluded. Emphasizing this second aspect of solidarity, we suggest there are multiple mechanisms of social exclusion and to someone who is excluded from social life based on certain criteria, indeed can exclude the other by some other basis. Lines of demarcation there are unstable and fragile alliances in the opposition and mostly temporary. With Tin Gazivoda from the Center for Human Rights moderating, on the topic discussed: Emina Bužinkić (Croatian Youth Network), Stipe Ćurković (Independent Student Initiative), Zoran Pusić (Citizens' Committee for Human Rights) and Sanja Sarnavka (B.a.B.e.).

Before the discussion a documentary movie "Meeting" made by Igor Bezinović was shown. Movie shows students from the Faculty of Philosophy supporting Peasant protests in front of the Ministry of Agriculture. Despite the fact that this event was present in all media, this movie is the only video record of the unusual one-day meeting of students and peasants.
 

Ice Hall Jedinstvo

Meeting the new year and creation of city budget, and considering the current problems over the use of space, the event in the Ice Hall Jedinstvo with the professional tour of Santa Claus wa held yesterday on Dec 9th. Conversation about the future of space of former factory Jedinstvo and development of the Zagreb center for independent culture and youth took place. With a glass of cooked wine, a raffle with many valuable prizes was played. Croatian Youth Network won a hot water bottle and hot water bottle + in red and blue colour, and as one of the premium prizes usage of the Crystal Hall with THE HEATING.

Changes at the Croatian Youth Network

From December 3rd to 5th, in Hostel Karlovac in Selce Ordinary Thematic and Electoral Assembly of Croatian Youth Network was held. Assembly gathered some 50 delegates of member organizations of CYN. The Assembly was organized in cooperation with the Association of Youth Selce with financial support of City of Crikvenica and Primorsko-Goranska County. Assembly was officially opened by: Žarko Stilin, coordinator of the Association of Youth Selce, Emina Bužinkić, former president of the Croatian Youth Network, Senko Smoljan, Deputy Mayor of the City of Crikvenica, Nada Turina Đuric, deputy mayor of Primorsko-Goranska County, and Martina Štabi, Head of the Department of Children and Youth in the Ministry of Family, War Veterans and Intergenerational Solidarity.

Given the nature of the electoral assembly, the newly elected president of the MMH is Nikola Pandurić, president of the youth association K.V.A.R.K. from Križevci. A new member of the Managing Board is Vedrana Vitković-Biličić from the association MOST Split.

The full membership this year received the following organizations: Moslavina Media Service from Kutina, Association of Croatian students from Split, Independent youth association Ivanska from Ivanska, Iuvenis - Trogir Youth Initiative from Trogir and JEF (Young European Federalists) from Zagreb.

The candidate membership have received these organizations: Delta from Rijeka, the Association of Youth Selce from Selce, VUK from Varaždin, TABU from Vukovar, Croatian debating society from Zagreb, the Youth Voice Križevci from Križevci.

In addition, the Steering Committee and members of the Croatian Youth Network brought a series of guidelines for the next period in the areas of: the non-formal education, accessibility of higher education, sexual and reproductive rights of young people, the financing of youth organizations, employment and employability of young people, dealing with the past and the freedom of organizing of youth organizations.

In the Assembly a round table on 'National program for youth 2009-2013 - Steps for the future development of public policy for youth' was held. Speakers at the round table were: Martina Štabi, Head of the Department of Children and Youth in the Ministry of Family, War Veterans and Intergenerational solidarity, Tine Radinje, president of the European Youth Forum, Bojan Smode, member of the Council for Youth to the Government and Emina Bužinkić, CYN former president and member of the Council for Youth to the Government.

3rd National consultation with youth organizations on dealing with the past held in Selce

Within the frame of the ordinary Assembly of the Croatian Youth Network the 3rd National consultation with youth organizations on dealing with past were held. Consultation was organized in collaboration of the Croatian Youth Network and the Documenta - Center for Dealing with the past. Participants of the consultations were: Eugen Jakovčić, media coordinator for REKOM from Documenta and Ivan Novosel from Legalis Association, and some 40 representatives of member associations of the Croatian Youth Network, other youth organizations and a few young individuals interested in the process of dealing with the past.

The consultation was aimed at stimulating discussion on the role of youth and youth organizations in fostering the process of telling the truth and learning the facts about the past, joint planning of youth organizations and youth themselves on the steps of action in the direction of seeking fairness and accountability in the process of dealing with the past.

Overview of the entire consultation process (http://www.korekom.org/webpage/108) and the most interesting moments in the development of the initiative can be read on website www.korekom.org.

'No borders' conference in Slovenia

Center for Information, Participation and NGO Development and the Association GONG organized the international conference of Slovenian and Croatian NGOs entitled "No-limits". The purpose of the conference was to exchange experiences and views on the economic crisis from the perspective of development opportunities of NGOs. The main emphasis of the conference was to define development opportunities in each country.

Through interesting panel discussions on topics such as civil dialogue, economic activities and social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, and the parallel thematic discussions on the topic of environment protection, human rights, volunteering and inter-generational solidarity, youth work and humanitarian assistance, the participants attempted to define specific recommendations as outcomes from each discussion. The representative of Croatian Youth Network Teo Petricevic participated at the thematic debate on youth and presented current information on the state of youth sector in Croatia, looking particularly at issues of inconsistent financing of youth organizations.

The working group agreed to recommend the following:

1. It is necessary to design education and employment programs that will solve the problem of recognition of non-formal education, the problem of part-time employment, volunteering internships, the problem of the education system that produces university-educated young people without the competence to work, etc.
2. It is necessary to systematically invest in the education of youth organizations in the areas of organizational management and development, inter-sectoral cooperation and the creation of partnerships, the EU funds, etc.
3. It is necessary to create a program to encourage young self-initiative - the lack or non-enforcement of certain laws has resulted in a lack of proactive youth, which is currently reflected in social transfers (for example: many young people continue to live with their parents for a long time, etc.).
 

Training for representatives of students'councils from Zagreb area

On November 28./29. Croatian Youth Network and National School Students' Council of Republic of Croatia organized training for members of school students' councils from City of Zagreb. Training was counducted by Martina Horvat from CYN's member organization Ambidekster (also a member of the CYN's Managing Board) and Milica Bojic, member  of the Union of secondary school students of Serbia's Managing Board.

Participants were introduced with topics important for their future work, such as principles of school students' organizational structures in Croatia, number of European countries and on the European level. However, participants were also trained in number of useful skills such as: communication, team work, facilitation and etc. Final session of this training was reserved for action planing leading to draft plan of facilitation and strenghtening of Coordination of Students' Councils of Zagreb City. The Coordination will be an informal entity which will hopefully foster better communication and cooperation among students' councils form Zagreb area.

National consultation with youth organizations on dealing with the past

We would like to invite you to the consultation process on dealing with the past and transitional justice related initiative for the establishment of a Regional Commission for establishing the facts about war crimes and other serious violations of human rights in the former Yugoslavia (REKOM) which will be held on Thursday, the 3rd December 2009, in Selce near Crikvenica, starting at 15.00h. Consultations will be held in the hostel premises Karlovac, Emil Antić Street 69, as a part of an Assembly of the Croatian Youth Network.

Consultation speakers will be Eugen Jakovčić, media coordinator for REKOM from Documenta and Ivan Novosel from Legalis, members association of the Croatian Youth Working Group for Initiative for REKOM. Consultation will be moderated by Emina Bužinkić, president of CYN.

The aim of consultation is to stimulate discussion about the role of youth and youth organizations in fostering the process of  telling the truth and learning the facts about the past as well as a joint planning among youth organizations and youth themselves on the steps of action in the direction of seeking justice and accountability in the process of dealing with the past in their local communities.

Consultation are organized by the Croatian Youth Network, Documenta - Center for Dealing with the past, and the Croatian Youth Working Group for Initiative for REKOM.

Overview of the entire consultation process (http://www.korekom.org/webpage/108) and the most interesting moments in the development of the initiative are available at website www.korekom.org.

Please confirm your participation at info@mmh.hr or 01/4573 937 no later than Tuesday, the December 1st at 12 o'clock.

Invitation letter and programme

Initiative History

Why REKOM?

Info Week in Zagreb

Info Week of the Croatian Youth Network took place in Zagreb, in period 16.-20. November. Number of acitivities organized together with its partners was an attempt made by CYN to inform youth organizations and general public form Northern Croatia and Zagreb on its acitivities.

The first day was reserved for press conference in which representatives of the CYN presented new position paper on addiction and adequate ways of prevention. Position paprer strongly advocates inclusion of youth organizations in cooperation with public authorities, mainly trough educational and awareness rasing activities.

On the second day of Info Week round table (together with NGOs Academy for Political Development and B.a.B.e.) was organized. I t was entitled: "Fast track to EU-Youth Falling Behind?". Increasingly europsceptic attitudes  among young population are reason for considerable concerns, especially considering the fact that date of Croatian accession to the EU is coming ever so closer.

Presentation of the book: "Youth and Peace-building-Analysis of the activities of peace builiding within youth organizations and organizations working with youth" was held on the third day of Info Week. Book came about as a result of project conducted by the Center for Peace Studies  in partnership with the CYN.

On the fourth day Managing board of the CYN held meetings with representatives of member organizations from Zagreb and Northern Croatia and with representatives of youth organizations form the same area. Further steps in better coordination of jont efforts were discussed on the meeting with member organizations. Also, number of representatives of organizations that have not yet joint CYN expressed and explicit commitment to do so.

The last day of Info Week was reserved for consultation with representatives of local and regional governments on the Act on Youth Advisory Boards. These were the last in the cycle of similar consultations, already held in other major Croatian cities (Rijeka, Split and Osijek). Following activitiy in that field is National conference of Youth Advisory Boards, which will take place also in Zagreb, on 22/23 of January 2010. The conference will be the end of consultative process which will have its final result in CYN's proposals of amendments of the Act on Youth Advisory Boards.
 

COMEM of the YFJ

Council of Members (COMEM) of the European Youth Forum took place in Torino, on 13-14 November 2009. The event gathered more than 150 delegates from the 99 Member Organisations of the European Youth Forum. The event was co-organised by the European Youth Forum and FNG-Forum Nazionale Giovani in cooperation with the City of Torino, European Youth Capital of 2010, and Regione Piemonte. COMEM was attended by E.Bužinkić, president of the Croatian Youth Network.

Workshop for multipliers of Youth in Action

Agency for Mobility and EU programmes organized the first workshop for multipliers of the Youth in Action programme in Croatia. The workshop was held in Zagreb on 11 November. Based on this year's competition, 13 persons from all over the country were selected as multipliers. They are all active in youth organizations, youth info-centers, youth clubs, etc., and they will have the task to inform and promote the Youth in Action programme to potential users (institutions and individuals).

The participants were, among other things, presented with the Action of the Programme which will be available to Croatian users in 2010. You can learn more here.

Sex education for youth

Public discussion on sex education of young people was organized on 10 October 2009 by Croatian Youth Network and the Center for Culture "Trešnjevka". Guests of this forum were: Nataša Bijelić (CESI), Dubravko Lepušić (gynecologist), Hrvoje Jurić (Faculty of Philosophy), Biserka Šavora (teacher - pedagogue) and Vesna Štefančić (CESI Youth Initiative).

The guests talked about the characteristics of successful sexuality education programs, examples of good practice of countries which have such forms of education, for example the Netherlands and Sweden.

Croatia has no sexual education in schools, but has many dedicated individuals who personally care for these issues, examplified by projects such as "Healthy Living" and "Knowledge is Pleasure". Young people are not passive in the entire process - a representative of the CESI Youth Initiative presented the action of young people seeking to open counseling centres about sexuality and reproductive health.

The main message is that it is important and necessary to introduce sex education in schools. This was once more stressed out by students from High School 9 from Zagreb who said that had not heard anything about sex in school except for sparse information about male and female sexual organs in biology classes. The Ministry maintains that it is not necessary to introduce sex education in schools because these topics are already covered in the school curriculum.

MIRamiDA Youth - 3rd training for local youth from Slavonia and Baranja

The Center for Peace Studies and the Croatian Youth Network held the 3rd Local training young MIRamiDA, training of peace-building and youth participation in the development of local youth policy. Training was held from November 4th to 8th. The training brought together 11 young people from Slavonia and Baranja. Training was focused on the following topics: teamwork, communication and shared decision making, local youth policies, public advocacy and activism of youth in the community. Topics are covered through the
participatory, experiential learning models.

Local training is part of a three-year program MIRamiDA Youth within which are held 3 national training of peace-building and 3 local trainings. Trainings have so far included about 90 young people from all over Croatia. Within this project, recommendations for the development of peace curricula were made.

Visit of the members of the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors

For the first time, members of the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors visited Croatia as a part of a three country trip to the Europe and Central Asia Region. The objective of the visit was to gain first hand experience about Croatia's economic and social challenges, see project activities financed by the World Bank and the IFC, and hear the views of senior officials on the country's economic priorities and plans, and their assesment of the collaboration with the World Bank Group. On this occasion, the World Bank held a reception on Oct 27th. E.Buzinkic, CYN President and leader of the project "Strengthening mechanisms for including youth in advisory and decision making processes at local and regional levels" through training and promotion of youth advisory boards supported by the World Bank, attended the reception.

Good practices and policies on sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people

Centre for Education, Counselling and Research organized conference "Good practices and policies on sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people" which took place on 27 October in Zagreb. What are the good practices and policies and how and who cares for the reproductive and sexual health and rights of young people? Participants had the opportunity to hear on these topics from experts from Europe and the United States, from representative of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children and the Institute for Public Health, and, of course, from young people themselves.

Conference was attended by over 80 representatives of Family Centers, Ministries, the Institute of Public Health, high schools, students' homes and civil society organizations.

Conclusions of the conference strongly indicate the need for continuous and systematic education of young people about sexual and reproductive health and rights, education which is adapted for young people and appropriate responses to their challenges. In addition, it is important to provide young people with access to clinics and counseling centers that are based on youth-friendly approach and confidentiality.

In 2008 and 2009 the Croatian Youth Network, in cooperation with CESI, implemented educational and advocacy project "Sex na ex" which aimed to encourage the establishment of youth clinics and counseling services. Based on these joint efforts the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare undertook initial steps to achieve this goal.

Meeting for Youth from Baska on participation in Baska Youth Advisory Board

Meeting of Youth from Baska Municipality was held on Friday 6 of November 2009 to discuss establishing the Youth Advisory Board of Baska Municipality. Following the Head of municipality Toni Juran's initiative, 20 young persons gathered and participated in the meeting. Denis Sgagliardi, President of the Supervisory board of the Croatian Youth Network, also participated in the meeting and gave an analysis of the  Law on Youth Advisory Boards with examples of good practice. Participants gave their suggestions and questions to the Head of municipality Toni Juran. At the end, the participants expressed their will to work with the Youth Advisory Board.
 

Training for members of the Youth Advisory Board of City of Karlovac

CYN trainers Nikola Panduric and Nikola Bukovic held a training for members of the Youth Advisory Board of City of Karlovac. This training took place in the facilities of member organization Domachi, on Friday, November 6.
Participants were empowered with basic knowledges on national and local youth policy. Trainers also presented institutional framework of local youth policy advocated by the CYN. Finally, participants with help of thier trainers drafted an action plan for the following 6 months period.

Training for School Students

Croatian Youth Network, together with National School Students' Council is organizing training for members of newly established Zagreb City Students' Coordination on  28/29 November in Human Rights Center in Zagreb.
Training will encompass basic information about national youth policy and vital role which students' organizations play within its scheme, networking skills (which will make participants more effective in creating strong student networks) and different models of students' organizational structures. Training will be conducted by Martina Horvat, member of the CYN's Managing Board and by Milica Bojic of the Union of the secondary school students of Serbia.

CYN Info Days in Osijek

Third Info Days of the Croatian Youth Network took place in Osijek, on Thursday and Friday 29/30 October. They were organized in cooperation with member organization Volonteers' Center Osijek.
The first activity were consultations with members of local and regional governments from Eastern Croatia on implementation of the Act on Youth Advisory Boards. Consultations were held in National and University Library Osijek. Introduction was given by Emina Buzinkic, president of the CYN, Zdenka Radić from member organization PRONI and Stjepan Čuraj, Vice President of the Regional Assembly.

Emina Buzinkić presented the proccess of drafting the Act and explained its aims and purposes. She referred to problems in its implementations.  Overview of European practices and experience was introduced by Ante Martić, former political adviser to the European Youth Forum. Martina Štabi from the Ministry of War Veterans, Family and Inter generational Solidarity explained the role of the Ministry in monitoring the implementation of this Act and informed the participants that Ministry will assemble a working group that will draft proposals of the amendments to the Act.

Second activity was a public debate on topic : " Focus: Youth-active participation of youth as a key step in addiction prevention."

Friday was a day intended for consultation with member organizations from Eastern Croatia at which representatives of the CYN presented the latest activities of the network and proposed plans for potential cooperation. Also, consultations were held with representatives of local youth organizations and organizations working with youth.

Following activity from this campaign will be INFO WEEK in Zagreb, 16-22 October. Soon you will find more information on www.mmh.hr.

Creative workshop for Knin youth

The 3rd workshops for youth - the future users and creators of the Multifunctional Youth Centre was held in Knin from 23 to 25 October. The workshop was organized by the Croatian Youth Network in order to raise the capacity of young people in Knin in the joint project of the Croatian Youth Network and the city of Knin.

The workshop provided the opportunity for high-schoolers to try to create woolen jewelry and bags and other usable items out of recycled plastic bags. The aim of the workshop was to initiate and encourage potential future self-financing practices and activities of the Youth Centre.

The workshop was led by Marica Modrić (Knin) and Maša Žarnić (Zagreb), and brought together 15 high school students who are interested in involvement in the Youth centre.

The project "Multifunctional Youth Centre in Knin" was supported by the National Foundation for Civil Society.

Info Days of the CYN in Split

Second Info Days of the Croatian Youth Network took place in Split, on Thursday and Friday 22/23 October. They were organized in cooperation with member organization MOST and with Youth Information Center Split-INFO ZONE.

Number of activities, such as consultations with members of local and regional governments on better implementation of the Act on Youth Advisory Boards, consultations with local member organizations and consultations with potential new members form Southern parts of Croatia occurred on Thursday. Info Days ended on Friday with public debate on topic: "Focus: Youth - Active participation of youth as a key step in addiction prevention", which turned out to be a very good platform for discussion on youth participation as an element of quality prevention policy, approaches within NGO sector that aim to tackle that menace and ways on how to facilitate and coordinate efforts undertaken both by NGOs and public entities.

Next Info Days of the CYN will take place in Osijek on 29/30 October.

Be an advisor

The meeting Towards the elections for Youth Advisory Board took place in Rijeka, on Thursday 15th of October 2009. The meeting was organized by the City of Rijeka and the GONG's regional office, where Denis Sgagliardi participated as the representative of the Croatian Youth Network. Sgagliardi opened the meeting with the presentation about opportunities and challenges for Youth in Youth Adviser, he explained what does the Act on Youth Advisory Boards mean for youth in Croatia and how it should be implemented by local governments. Verena Lelas Turak (the Secretary of Youth Advisory Board to the City of Rijeka) explained to the youth what is necessary to candidate and what are the public tender propositions. The last person who spoke on the meeting was Vojko Braut (the President of the Youth Advisory Board to the City of Rijeka) who explained what did the Youth Advisory Board to the City of Rijeka do in the past two years and what should the next assembly of the Youth Advisory Board make. In the end, youth raised questions to the speakers.

Civil socitey representatives informed about Croatia 2009 Progress Report

Today at 11:00 Office for Cooperation with NGOs of  Croatian Government hosted a meeting between representatives of the civil society and Mr. David Hudson,  Chargé d´Affaires, a.i. of the Delegation of European Commission in Croatia and Mr. David Lange, Head of Office in the DG Enlargement of European Commission.

This meeting dealt with Commission's Croatia Progress Report for 2009. Mr. Hudson and Mr. Lange emphasized that general tone of the report is positive, despite several serious "black spots" (such as cooperation with ICTY, corruption/organized crime and administrative capacity). Representatives of civil society gave their view of the report and Croatian reality, warning that Croatian reform process still has too many "howevers". Special attention was given to the "FoE Croatia case" in which above mentioned NGO has been charged  for illegal waste disposal by Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction. Representatives of the European Commission have been called upon to investigate that case which a number of meeting participants considered to be a very dangerous case of influencing independent work of NGOs.

CYN Info Days in Split and Osijek

The Croatian Youth Network, in cooperation with associations Most and Volunteer Centre Osijek invites you to the Info Days of the Croatian Youth Network. It is our great pleasure to invite you to visit us and participate in our activities.

The Info Days will be held in Split on 22 and 23 October and in Osijek on 29 and 30 October 2009. We will organize consultations with member organizations and other youth organizations in southern and eastern Croatia and a public debate on the topic "Focus: Youth - Active participation of youth as a key step in addiction prevention". in addition, we will organize consultations with representatives of local and regional self-governments on the implementation of the Act on Youth Advisory Boards.

Detailed information can be found on the website of the Croatian Youth Network on the links:
Rijeka
Split
Osijek

Another workshop for Knin youth

The Croatian Youth Network organized another workshop for young people - future programme creators and users of the Multifunctional Youth Centre in Knin. The workshop was held from 9 to 11 October in the Knin Red Cross premises.

The drama workshop was based on the Augusto Boal theater methodology or the so called Theater of the Oppressed.

Young participants, mostly high school students, set out to work on the problem of violence and bullying in school. Through a number of scenes, they played out typical scenes of conflict which they are exposed to in real life. Their inteventions in the framework of the Boal theater offered new and constructive solutions to problems.

The workshop was led by experienced drama teacher and dramatist Maja Sviben, and was supported by the National Foundation for the Development of Civil Society in the framework of the project "Multifunctional Centre for Youth in Knin".

Training for Youth Council of Istrian county

Training for establishing Youth Council of Istrian county was held from October 8th to 11th in Rabac, Istria. Organized by association ZUM and supported by trainers from the Croatian Youth Network, interactive training-seminar was held on youth policy, team work and
cooperation, decision-making and networking. Participants came from youth associations, associations for youth, youth branches of political parties, pupils councils and city youth councils.

Coalition for establishing Istrian youth council was founded by Manifesto on mutual acting that will be publicly presented at the beginning of November. CYN will support coalition further more, primary through education on public advocacy. After education, founding assembly will be organized. Project coordinator is Ana Žužić who works at ZUM, trainers are Emina Bužinkić and Nikola Pandurić, and technical support is given by Denis Sgagliardi, ZUM's president.

Sign up for the new Young MIRamiDA training

The Centre for Peace Studies and the Young MIRamiDA, in cooperation with CYN, are pleased to announce the 3rd local Young MIRamiDA Training, which will be held in Osijek from 4 to 8 November 2009.

If you're active or you would like to be, if you are interested in society and social issues, if you're itching to make positive change, if you'd like to re-examine your skills and the ways of action and, together with others, to contribute to making changes and to learn new and improve your existing skills - sign up to this training!

This training will provide the right space to share knowledge and experiences, considerations and deliberations and will be perfect ground for creating and socializing.

Invitation I Application Form

Fast track to EU - New answers to old questions

The association B.A.B.E. and the Croatian Youth Network are implementing project "Fast track to EU - New answers to old questions" aimed at increasing the level of awareness among high school students in Zagreb on issues related to the European Union.

Recent research shows that it is precisely the young people in Croatia who are the most Eurosceptic, a fact that is predominantly caused by the lack of information.

In the week from 28 September to 2nd October, 3 workshops were held for high school students with the following themes: History of the European Union, Institutions of the European Union, European youth policy, Gender equality in the European Union and European Union programmes aimed at young people.

Workshops were held in Zagreb in the Fifth and the Tenth Gymnasium. More than 100 juniors and seniors participated.

Training on Public Adocacy Tools

Zadar hosted the last training of the educational program on youth policy from September 30 until October 3. First two trainings, held in Rijeka and Višnjica near Slatina dealt with local and national youth policy and youth policy at the European level. This training aimed at strengthening participants in tools of public advocacy. Thus, knowledges and skills acquired in first two trainings will be applicable for them in every day life of their communities.

Moreover, participants got to hear about some of the more famous public advocacy initiatives that emerged from Croatian civil society, such as public advocacy of National Youth Action Plan, Act on Youth Advisory Boards, Act  on Same-sex communities, campaign: "Referendum for NATO Accession"  and many others. Finally, participants wrote another position paper, this time on tools of public advocacy as an element of achieving higher standards in local youth policy.

Educational cycle will be completed with presentation of the publication: "Youth Policy-Croatia and European Standards" in November.

Reaction of the Croatian Youth Network to the law suit filed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction of the Republic of Croatia against our member organization Zelena akcija / Friends of the Earth Croatia

We seek your help regarding a troubling matter that has raised considerable concerns within Croatian youth and NGO sector in general. This matter is, as mentioned in the title, law suit which Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction  (hereafter: the Ministry), filed against Zelena akcija / Friends of the Earth Croatia (hereafter: FoE), oldest and most esteemed Croatian NGO in the field of environmental policy, also a full member of Croatian Youth Network (hereafter: CYN).

On 12 March 2009 FoE organized a public action in front of the Ministry building, attempting to raise public awareness about the fact that specific types of dangerous waste (empty packages of paint and polish) cannot be adequately disposed of within recycling plants in Zagreb. To meet that end, FoE activists formed a massive question mark made of empty packages in front of the Ministry building. After only 7 hours activists removed the packages, following the adequate procedure. They called a private company that was the only one equipped to dispose that type of waste, and paid the bill for the service.

The unexpected turn of events occurred when the Ministry filed a report against FoE charging them for illegal waste disposal. The penalty foreseen for this type of violation, according to the law, ranges from 300.000 HRK to 700.000 HRK for responsible legal entity and from 50.000 to 100.000 HRK for responsible private entity (1 euro=about 7,3 HRK). Respectively, these reports target both FoE and its’ president Tomislav Tomašević.

CYN Info Days held in Rijeka

The Croatian Youth Network organized Info Days in cooperation with youth association Step Ahead on 24 and 25 September in Rijeka.

In cooperation with the City of Rijeka and the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, in accordance with the adopted National Program for Youth and the City of Rijeka program for the youth and the EU guidelines, as a step establishing cooperation of youth organizations and local authorities, consultations on the implementation of the Act on Youth Councils were held with units of regional and local self-government. Representatives of municipalities, cities and counties got together in order to achieve better and more comprehensive implementation of the Act on Youth Councils and a wider involvement and more effective cooperation between local and regional authorities, institutions, organizations and youth in general.

Representatives of Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Istria, Rijeka City and several towns and municipalities, as well as representatives of youth  and student councils participated at the panel. Introduction were given by Branka Renko-Silov, Head of Department for Training and Education of the City of Rijeka, Zoran Stevanović, executive director of the Regional info-center for youth and Emina Bužinkić, president of the Croatian Youth Network. Participants expressed a need for changes in legislation, financial decentralization and constant work in local communities on education and support to young people about the models of action and activism in society.

In the framework of the info days two meetings were held with members of the Croatian Youth Network and a large number of youth organizations and youth from Istria, Primorje, Kvarner, Gorski Kotar and Lika. In addition, public debate on active participation of youth as a key step in addiction prevention was held. Speakers at the debate included Ilinka Serdarević, president of the association Terra, Ante Martic, former political adviser to the European Youth Forum and Iva Sišul from the Governmental Office for Human Rights which financially supported the campaign "Infect yourself with activism'. Participants pointed out that prevention happens when quality and continuous work with young people takes place, in which a young person is in the focus and is perceived as a resource.

CYN Info Days will be held in the next few weeks in Split, Osijek and Zagreb. You can find more information on www.mmh.hr.

Meeting of the Croatian Network for Cooperation on Euro-Mediterranean

The second meeting of the Croatian Network for Cooperation in Euro-Mediterranean was held in hotel Dubrovnik, in Zagreb. Some of the topics discussed here were: future development of the network and projects planned in immediate future, instruments on how to strenghten cooperation with other national networks, results of the call for proposals for the Anna Lindh Foundation, announced in August and September. Also, participants offerd their experiences and suggestions on how to overcome some difficulties that have encountred during the process.
The following meeting is planned  for October this year.

Info Days on Croatian Youth Network

Rijeka, September 24th-25th, 2009.

Croatian Youth Network and  youth association Korak ispred invite you to visit Info days on CYN that will take place in Rijeka on September 24th-25th through public events listed below. It would be our pleasure to have you with us.

Thursday, September 24th, 11.00am, Info-center for Youth, Rijeka
Meeting of CYN with youth organizations (non-members) from Istria, Primorje, Kvarner, Lika and Gorski Kotar

Thursday, September 24th, 01.00pm, Info-center for Youth, Rijeka
Meeting of CYN Managing Board and member organizations from Primorsko-goranska and Istarska county (closed meeting)

Thursday, September 24th, 06.00pm, Info-center for Youth, Rijeka
 Public discussion ’’Focus:Youth – active youth participation as a prevention of addictive behaviour’’

Friday, September 25th, 11.00am, Venue "Josefina" and "Lujzijana", Hotel Bonavia, Dolac 4, Rijeka
Consultations of CYN and representatives of local governments on implementation of Youth Advisory Board Act

Democracy and Political Tolerance

Martina Horvat, Board member of the Croatian Youth Network, participated on September 15 at the round table "DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL TOLERANCE" in Croatian Parliament at the occasion of International Day of Democracy. Ms Horvat emphasized the importance of formal education on democracy and active citizenship. Participants of the round table were members of the Parliament, non-governmental organizations, media and members of the scientific community.

CYN at training on participative democracy

Board member Martina Horvat participated in the training for trainers "PARTICIPATIVE DEMOCRACY". The training was organized by the association B.a.B.e. in cooperation with AEP – Association for European Partnership. The programme comprised the development of communication skills and non-violent communication, basic principles of democracy, active citizenship, EU institutions, advocacy on national and EU level. The trainers were Suzana Kunac, Gordan Bosanac and Sandra Pernar.

Workshop 'Challenges and Perspectives of Citizenship Education in Central and South Eastern Europe'

Last weekend from September 11 to 13, the european workshop on citizenship education was held in hotel Palace in Zagreb. The workshop was organized by NECE - Networking European Citizenship in Education. Participants were experts, teachers and NGO representatives.

Representative of Croatian Youth Network, E. Bužinkić participated in workshop 'Citizenship Education and History Learning'. Baseline were following questions: What is specific relevance of history education and history textbooks for citizenship education in South-Eastern and Central Europe?, What is the specific role of history education for the building of new identities and communities in this region?, How to deal with nationalism myths and promote rational public debate on these issues?, How can national, regional and European perspective be reconciled? and What should be the role of external actors, donors and foundations?

Conference gathered relevant experiences and recommendation which will be reported and published on www.nece.eu.

A new conference on civic education was announced during the workshop. The conference 'The Impact of Cultural and Citizenship
Education on Social Cohesion' will take place on 3rd-5th December in Vilnius, Lithuania.
 

Youth Event celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Council of Europe

In Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia in the period of 3 - 4 September, a Youth Event celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Council of Europe was held, organized by the European Youth Forum (YFJ), the Office for Youth of the Republic of Slovenia and the National Youth Council of Slovenia. This event gathered young people from countries of the Council of Europe, representatives of the Council of Europe, experts in the field of youth rights, as well as representatives of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia. Croatian Youth Network was represented by vice-president Katarina Pavić.

'On public space'

On August 22nd a round table on public spaces was held in Belgrade, in cultural centre 'The City'. As there were many examples of struggle for public spaces led by youth organizations in the region, participants of this round table were: Husein Oručević from youth cultural center Abrašević from Mostar, Emina Bužinkić from the Croatian Youth Network from Zagreb, Višnja Šiljačić representing youth cultural center CK13 from Novi Sad, Nemanja Petrović, assistent to the President of the Savski Venac municipality, and Tijana Morača representating belgrade organization Civic Initiative. Newly established blog on http://www.javniprostori.org/ was presented at the round table. It was organized by youth program of the Civic Initiative organization supported by USAID funds coordinated by Institute for sustainable communities.

Apology to our "Youth Info" users

The Croatian Youth Network extends apologies to users of its "Youth Info" service for the inconveniences arising from the use of the info item on the conference organized by the Inter Welfare Organisation which was posted on "Youth Info" on 11 August.

Subsequently it was discovered that this is an internet fraud (Advence-fee fraud), in which participants are pursuaded to pay in advance registration fee for a non-existent conference.

We wish to notify our users that the said info item was removed from our website as soon as the fraud was discovered.

We also wish to emphasize that since its beginnings the Croatian Youth Network has been regularly providing information relevant to the youth sector and civil society to its members, other organizations and citizens. In the seven-year period, prior to this incident,  we have never published harmful information to the detriment of our users. We make efforts to ensure the reliability of domestic and international sources and accuracy of the information transmitted. However, we can not fully guarantee their authenticity and we accept no liability for any damages resulting from their use.

The Croatian Youth Network will increase its efforts to ensure relevant and credible information for our users. We also invite users to continuously educate themselves on the topic of internet hazards in order to avoid these and similar inconveniences. 

Politics concerns us all - young people in this country deserve a better today!

Croatian Youth Network is a non-profit organization independent of all partisan interests and does not support any political option nor represents the interests of any political party in Croatia. Croatian Youth Network focuses its work on politics because we believe that politics concerns each and every citizen of this country. Being active for the good of the community is politics. Politics can and must engage all citizens without necessarily being involved in political parties.

Croatian Youth Network (CYN) is an alliance of 60 non-governmental youth associations that work on national or local levels. Entire Network provides services and programs to approximately 200,000 young people. Croatia has a population of 900,000 young people aged 15 to 29. Many CYN members carry out significant cultural and artistic events, run popular youth clubs and educational, mobility and tourism programs which reach a large number of young users.

Croatian Youth Network is the national youth council and a member of the European Youth Forum, Pan-European network of youth organizations with more than 100 members.

On Wednesday, 12 August 2009, Croatian Youth Network organized in Zagreb a civil action called "How much for an ounce of knowledge?" pointing out that the accessible higher education is a prerequisite of sustainable societies. Analyzing the social context and the information taken from various trusted sources (such as the Institute for Public Finance, whose representatives are members of the Economic Advisory Council to the Croatian Government and the Institute for the Development of Education), we drew attention to a general lack of interest for young people and government's youth-oriented policies, which cannot be measured only by financial resources and mere promises.

Croatian Youth Network was founded in 2002 and since than has been the initiator of numerous activities directed at youth empowerment and betterment of youth rights and status. Our guiding principles are inclusiveness, democracy and honesty. Values for which we advocate in society, such as justice and equality, are integrated into our work. We are young people who live in this country and we are not prepared to turn a blind eye to numerous issues and problems which we face daily. Politics concerns us; it is our business. We are interested in social change and it is our only goal which we want to achieve by fair and just means.

Young people of this country need and deserve more. We support the struggle for a BETTER TODAY. Taking to the streets is only a small part of that process. Protest and criticism are constructive parts of the democratic process which should be heard.

International Youth Day 2009

How much for an ounce of knowledge? – Accessible higher education as a prerequisite for sustainable societies

Accessible higher education has never been a more important issue in Croatia. Mass student demonstrations with huge public and civil society support point to the poor education standards and lack of respect for youth rights.

Accessible higher education is a burning issue on the world-wide scale which requires a strategy resting on sustainability and social responsibility. It must be endorsed not only by all segments of society but also by responsible government institutions which are currently facing justifiable expectations. Making higher education accessible testifies to government's willingness to support student population, to let it be known that knowledge is appreciated, that young people are a valuable resource and that sustainability of every society lies in their hands.

Accessible higher education comprises equal access to institutions of higher education and their programmes, access to student housing and information on student rights and opportunities. A large number of students in Croatia does not have basic information about their rights and opportunities, and access to study programmes and student housing is often limited by unclear criteria and unjust allocation. Moreover, studying in the Republic of Croatia is expensive.

While economically and socially developed countries invest significant resources in raising higher education standards, the Republic of Croatia is notorious for costly tuitions and a low level of investment in education at all levels. For example, higher education is free in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Norway. Tuition is still paid in some countries: Hungary up to 300 euros, Lithuania 320 euros, Portugal between 465 and 850 euros. In Croatia tuition fees range from 750 to 1270 euros. While some countries invest in higher education as much as 2% of GDP, Croatia is at the bottom of the scale with 0.87% of GDP. 23 of 27 EU Member States allocate more.

A disturbing trend is reflected the increased number of students who pay for their studies but also in the steady increase of tuition fees. It is unacceptable that, in times when knowledge is a prerequisite for development and when the Republic of Croatia has set a strategic goal of becoming a "knowledge society", a large number of young people is not able to start or continue their higher education due to financial reasons. We also denounce social relations whereby education becomes a privilege of the rich, and education is no longer accessible to everyone according to their abilities. Such conditions will necessarily deepen socio-economic gap between the Croatian citizens, but also add to low level of competitiveness of Croatian workforce on the European labor market.

The Croatian Youth Network calls upon the Croatian Government to initiate legislative process to make higher education in the Republic of Croatia completely free for all and to start investing more in quality education, according to European examples of good practice.

The Croatian Youth Network demands that higher education should become a matter of public funding and not be a privilege of those who can afford it. Accessible higher education is a human right whose realization testifies to democracy, social inclusion and social responsibility.

We wish to once again express our public support to students in their fight for human rights, the fight for education of all people, the fight for bigger investment in youth as a resource of social development. We support every struggle for social justice and equality.

And we will continue to strongly support the voices of young people against the commercialization of education because we want to see Croatia focus its development towards becoming a true knowledge society. We want to see all citizens who wish to study have an opportunity to do so regardless of their financial status and are able to contribute to a more equitable and sustainable society.

How much for an ounce of knowledge? – International Youth Day 2009

The Croatian Youth Network (CYN) will celebrate the Internationyl Youth Day, one of the most important occasions for raising awareness on youth issues, on Wednesday, 12 August, in Zagreb.

The UN General Assembly on 17 December 1999 in its resolution 54/120, endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Lisbon, 8-12 August 1998) that 12 August be declared International Youth Day (IYD).
The Assembly recommended that public information activities be organized to support the Day as a way to promote better awareness of the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond, adopted by the General Assembly in 1995 (resolution 50/81).

The topic of this year's IYD is sustainability. CYN decided to focus on the topic of accessible higher education as a prerequisite for sustainable societies. Taking into consideration that free and accessible education has been one of the burning issues in the Croatian public and the media and that it reflects directly on youth status and rights in Croatia, we will organize a public action which will provide citizens with an opportunity to get involved and constructively debate and offer  quality solutions.

The second training of the educational cycle

In Višnjica, near Slatina in the period 09-11/07/2009 second training of the educational cycle: "Youth policy-step forward" was held. This training was entitled: "Youth policy and European Standards-European challenges for Republic of Croatia" and was conducted by Ante Martić, policy officer of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) and Aleksandar Jovanović, member of the Advisory Council  within the Directorate of Youth and Sports of the Council of Europe.
Participants gained new insight in the  work and influence of key actors in the field of youth policy at the European level. Trainers provided information on Directorate General for Education and Culture of the EU, Directorate of Youth and Sports of the Council of Europe (and more particulary, information on Jont Council, Programming Committee and CDEJ). Also, the work of the European Youth Forum was presented in detail, as well as a number of key documents that define position of the youth at the European level. Finally, number of examples of national youth policies that are considered good practice were emphasized, as well as situation within the region in the respected field.
On the last day participants were given a chance to link newly acquired knowledge on the European youth policy with its potential to achieve positive social changes in their local and national communities. With that goal in mind, they had to draft an analyses on how to use each of the more significant European actors for more successful public advocacy at the local and national level.
The following (and also the last) training of this educational cycle will take place in Zadar, 01-03/10/2009.

Students' housing-continuation of the initiative

13.07.2009.

Croatian Youth Network, Croatian Students' Union and Plenum of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University in Zagreb requested a formal clarification from the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports regarding a particular point within the criteria for students' housing. According to the criteria in question, senior students are not even allowed to participate in the competition for public students' housing.
This activity is a continuation of the CYN's initiative that started this June. We hope that the Ministry will provide adequate explanations or amend this controversial decision.

Meeting between representatives of the CYN and National Pupil Council

Ministry of Education, Science and Sports hosted a meeting between representatives of the CYN and the National Pupil Council of Republic of Croatia. The Council is an advisory committee with the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports on the issues of pupils' rights, standard and etc. It consists of 1 pupils' representative from each of the 21 Croatian region.  CYN was represented by Emina Bužinkić, President, Martina Horvat, member of the Managing Board and Nikola Buković, Programme Assistant. Representatives of the Council were Domagoj Babić, President and Benjamin Tkalčec,  Vice President.

After they have presented the work of their organizations, participants of the meeting detected few of the key linking points between the youth sector and pupil sector, thus setting the ground for the future cooperation and jonit  projects planed for this autumn.

Session of the Council for Youth

03.07.2009.


On 01 June third session of the Council for Youth of the Croatian Government was held. Rules of Procedure and Work Programme for 2009 were adopted. The most important decision of this session was support (although, not unanimous) that members of the Council gave to the National Youth Action Plan, which was eventually adopted on the 89th Government session.
The following session of the National Council for Youth is scheduled for 12 August, on International Youth Day.

Co-management: How does it work?

Association of High-School Students of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AsuBIH), Croatian Youth Network (CYN), Forum Monte Negro (FMN) and All different-all equal from Serbia organized an international conference which took place in Palic, Serbia in the period between 20-26 June. Topic of this conference was: "Co-management: How does it work?"
Participants came from all the countries of the region and number of them were form EU countries as well. Lecturers and facilitators gave a general overview of theoretical knowledges on co-management but also have offered a number of good practice examples. Most importantly, participants themselves detected main challenges and problems that might arise during co-management process and attempted to find ways how to overcome them while working in smaller groups. Conclusions from this conference will be used in drafting a publication on co-management method and its public advocacy, which is planed as a follow-up to this conference.
Emina Bužinkić, President of the CYN and Nikola Buković, Programme Assistant participated both as organizers and lecturers and Nikola Pandurić, member of the Managing Board contributed as a participant.

Round table on combating corruption

Katarina Pavic, Vice President of the Croatian Youth Network and Nikola Bukovic, Programme Assistant participated in the round table on the implementation of  Action Plan for Combating Corruption, which is a part of  Strategy for Combating Corruption. This round table was held in the Croatain Parliament on 29 June.
Number of well known and respected public figures attended this discussion, such as: Ivan Šimonovic, Minister of Judiciary, Željko Jovanovic, President of the National Council for Monitoring Implementation of the Strategy for Combating Corruption, as well as representatives of all relevant NGOs in the field in question. General conclusion was that progress has been made, but lack of policy evaluation tools and political will to tackle corruption in sectors such as judiciary and public administration result in very high perception of corruption as it is percived by Croatian citizens. Also, stronger and more quality cooperation between civil and public sector has been emphasized as a key to successful implementation of the Action Plan.  

Conclusions on dialogue on youth mobility, tourism and travel

In cooperation with OIA - Omladinska Informativna Agencija from Sarajevo, B&H and South East European Youth Network, the Croatian Youth Network has organized a Dialogue on Youth Mobility, Tourism and Travel. Dialogue was held in Zagreb in April this year. Dialogues were organized in Sarajevo and Belgrade too as a part of the regional advocacy initiative for establishing the European Fund for Youth Mobility. The Council of Europe held a conference on youth mobility in Belgrade on May 8th.

In attachments you can find notes from a dialogue held in Zagreb and joint conclusions from dialogues in Zagreb, Sarajevo and Belgrade.

Study visit to Budapest

On Thursday, June 11th a group of ten students and professors, representing a variety of organizations and schools in Croatia, spent three days in Budapest, Hungary with the mission of learning from both governmental and non-governmental organizations in the city. The trip was symbolic of a vision for greater unity, understanding and collaboration among the European community.  Four meetings were arranged with organizations doing work around issues of intercultural collaboration, education, youth policy and youth empowerment: The Artemisszio Foundation, the Croatian kindergarten, primary and high school, the Council of Europe’s Youth Sector, and Mobilitas. In sum, the trip was educational in nature and provided participants with an opportunity for networking across national borders.

Further activities for the Youth Centre in Knin

The third workshop in the framework of "Multifunctional Youth Centre in Knin" was held in Knin from 29 and 31 May. The goal of the workshop was also to present the project in the wider community and attract new young people who wish to get involved in the Centre. t
The young people decided to use the occasion of the Days of Knin celebrations and came up with several workshops open for public. The photo workshop "Knin through the lense of the youth" attracted interested youth who, through the photo medium, showed the things they like in Knin but also the challenges they face. The best photos selected by the participants were exhibited on the main town square. At the same time, another workshop was organized for the youngest children in Knin who decorated the square with their drawings. The third event was a dance workshop "Let's dance together" which invited citizens to dance in the same square.
The workshops/interventions were extremely successful and attracted attention of a large number of citizens, and youth in particular, who expressed their wish to join upcoming trainings in the framework of the project.

The project is supported by the National Foundation for Civil Society Development and the Knin Municipality.

Youth Event on Future EU Youth Policy, 2009

“Youth Event on Future EU Youth Policy”, held in Prague, Czech Republic, from 2nd to 5th June 2009, was an event organized by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic in co-operation with the Czech Council of Children and Youth, due to the Czech Presidency of the European Union. The Czech Youth Event was an international conference of young people from all Member states, candidate and EFTA countries as well as international non-governmental youth organizations. Each country was represented by National Youth Council delegates, whom from Croatian Youth Network were Marija Hrebac, vice-president and Matija Polančec, Board member. 

During 3 days specific workshops, with the goal of discussing and improving strategic document concerning youth in Europe “EU Youth Strategy”, were held: Volunteering and Education; Social Inclusion and well being of youth; Participation, Outreach and information; Employability, Entrepreneurship and fostering talents; Evidence – based policy making.
General conclusion of the Czech Youth Event is building the network cooperation between non-governmental organizations and European Union’s bodies on constitution of mutual tactics which can empower development of youth sector in all the Member states. Director for Youth, Sport and Citizenship, Pierre Mairesse, said that in the following years there will be discussion about youth unemployment and that solving this problem will remain the priority.

Youth and Past - why would I be interested?

The Center for Peace Studies, Legalis, Youth Iniative for Human Rights, Center for dealing with the past - Documenta and the Croatian Youth Network would like to invite you to public discussions on youth and dealing with the past that will be held in:

Vukovar - Info Youth Center, 204. Vukovarske brigade 86, June 16th, Tuesday, 17.00pm

Rijeka – Faculty of Philosophy, Omladinska Street 14, Thursday, June 18th, 16.00pm

Zagreb – Zagreb Center for Independent Culture and Youth, , Mislavova Street 11, Saturday,  June 20th, 10.00am

For all information, contact Sara Lalić at mladi.rekom@gmail.com or +385918983510.

Criteria for student housing

June 11, 2009.

Croatian Youth Network has reacted to what we consider to be an unjust and arbitrary criteria for allocating vacant accomodation in public dorms. These criteria bluntly discriminate senior students depriving them of chance to compete for accomodation in dorms, despite the fact they might have obtained the same academic status as thier colleagues this time last year. Not only that such practice undermines the very essence of the rule of law, situation is even worse because of the fact that students in question were unaware of the potential changes in housing criteria and for that matter unable to prepare themselves for possible consequences.

CYN considers this decision to be another impact on already poor student standard in Croatia and therefore   addresses two most important demands. Firstly, we ask Ministry of Education, Science and Sports to amend the criteria thus allowing senior students to compete for dorm housing under the same conditions that were applied last year. Secondly, we call upon Ministry, Government, local and regional municipalities and administrations of all the Croatian universities to encourage faster construction of student campuses with housing capabilities in all the university cities. That question is vital for the improvement of student standard in Croatia.

Cooperation between public and civil sector in the field of development of regional and local youth policies

The Croatian Youth Network presented at today's press conference its position paper on the cooperation between public and civil sector in the field of development of regional and local youth policies.

We believe that fulfilling the needs of the youth and their active participation in the socio-political life of their communities is a crucial prerequisite in the personal growth of a young person but also in the sustainable development of municipalities, cities and counties. Their prosperity is unimaginable without engaged, interested young citizens who see themselves developing their life perspectives and potentials in their own communities.

We wish to encourage a more vibrant cooperation between youth and newly elected local and regional governments, particularly with directly elected mayors and governonrs. Our aim is to encourage fostering a dedicated and long-lasting mechanisms of youth participation in their communities, as well as pinning youth needs as priorities in their municipality, city or regional development programmes.

"Good advice for good health" meets Ministry of Health

Representatives of the Croatian Youth Network, CESI and the group of Zagreb high-school students active in the "Good advice for good health" campaign met Dr. Dunja Skoko-Poljak of the Ministry of Health and Dr. Marina Kuzman of the Croatian Institute for Public Health. The meeting was initiated by the Ministry as a follow-up of the successful action "Sex on Ex" whereby high-school students handed in more than 4000 signed postcards to State Secretary for Health Mr Ante Zvonimir Golem along with their demand for youth-friendly sexual and repruductive health clinics and services.

Dr. Kuzman briefed the guests on the current state of youth and sexual and reproductive health and voiced her concern about the lack of funding possibilities for such services for youth. Dr. Skoko-Poljak said the Ministry is willing to take first steps in systematic dealing with this issue and is therefore to form an expert working group which will work out basic guidelines for founding youth-friendly services. The expert group is to inform regularly young people and civil society organizations of their proceedings. However, this time, unlike the first meeting, there was no mention of including youth and civil society organizations representatives in the group. This will definitely be insisted upon.

CYN at the 5th Regional Forum on Transitional Justice

The 5th Regional Forum on Transitional Justice in post-Yugoslav countries was held in Budva, Montenegro from May 28th to 30th. The event was organized by the Center for Civic Education and Action for Human Rights from Montenegro on behalf of the Coalition composed of more than 200 NGOs and individuals from post-Yugoslav region. Aim of the event was to continue consulting process on founding a Regional Commission for investigating and disclosing the facts about war crimes and other serious human rights violations (RECOM) on the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

Some 400 individuals and NGO representatives participated in the event. During the Forum, the Coalition Assembly was held and the Coalition Statutes was adopted. Prior to the Forum the Croatian Youth Network has become a coalition member and continued its’ engagement in the regional working youth group with the aim of the truth and reconciliation.

CYN organized workshop for Youth Centre in Knin

The Croatian Youth Network organized a workshop for leaders of the Youth Centre in Knin from 29 till 31 May. The workshop is one of the activities of the project "Multifunctional Youth Centre in Knin" which is being implemented in cooperation with the Knin Municipality, the Knin Red Cross and the HUK association.
The aim of the workshop was to identify concrete eduacational needs for young people who will be involved in running the Centre and its activities. In addition, young people planned the first activites of the Centre. Their goal is to raise visibility of the Centre in Knin and to attract more young people to join the initiative.

The project is supported by the National Foundation for the Development of Civil Society and the Knin Municipality.

Croatian Youth Network participated in the consultations of the European Commission Delegation with representatives of civil society organizations

On May 27th, 2009 EC Delegation in Croatia, organized consultations with the representatives of civil society organizations active in the field of political criteria, connected to the preparation of report on progress of Croatia in the process of accession to the EU in 2009. Consultations, gathered approximately 30 representatives of civil society organizations from Croatia, including the representative of CYN, vice-president Katarina Pavić.

During the panel discussion, participants discussed about the progress of Croatia in the process of EU accession regarding political criteria (democracy and the rule of law, and human rights and protection of minorities). The European Commission organized this meeting with the aim of consulting representatives of civil society organizations that monitor the key reforms included in the regular annual report by the European Commission on the progress of Croatia in the process of EU accession. Croatian Youth Network marks this type of consultations as extremely useful in monitoring the progress of Croatia in the process of accession to the EU.

4th conference "Local Authorities and Youth in BIH"

The conference was organized by the Youth Information Agency (OIA) and it took place in Sarajevo, from 24 to 26 May. Relevant issues regarding local youth policies were discussed, such as: youth unemployment, resources of the youth sector, EU funds and programs, etc. Nikola Buković of the CYN on the second day presented most important trends in the development of local youth policies in Croatia as well as CYN’s work in that particular field.
As a part of the conference, 2nd Youth Activism Days of BIH occured, gathering few hundred young people from BIH and region, as well as distinguished politicians and members of the media.

European Youth Forum Council of Members (COMEM) meeting held in Bruxelles

Croatian Youth Network participated in the European Youth Forum Council of Members (COMEM) which took part in Bruxelles on the 8th and 9th of May.

The most important part of COMEM was the election of the new Secretary General of the European Youth Forum for whom Giuseppe Percaro, up to now United Nations & Global Youth Issues Coordinator within the Secretariat, was elected and will replace Diogo Pinto who is leaving the post.





















Report of Chair of the CoE Advisory Council on Youth was presented, as well as the work of the Bureau and Secretariat over the past six months.  Financial Control Commission report on finances, several resolutions and position papers with amendments were adopted.

Next Council of Members was announced to be in November.

World Bank award grant for CYN project

Croatian Youth Network together with eight other Croatian non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) received today grants in the amount of US$ 45,000 from the World Bank 2009 Civil Society Fund program (CSF). The grants will help the NGOs implement nine civic engagement projects supporting activities that empower and enable civic society groups to take initiatives and influence development outcomes.  The activities also strengthen mechanisms for inclusion, accountability, participation and partnerships with the public sector and other civil society organizations.  The Program is also focused on empowerment of marginalized and vulnerable groups in the society. 

Igor Roginek, CYN Board Member, attended the official Grant Signing Ceremony with Head of the WB Croatia Office Mr. Andras Horvai.
After carefully reviewing 109 project proposals from NGOs across Croatia, the selection committee, consisting of Croatia Office staff and representatives of the donor community, selected nine projects and NGOs. This year’s winning projects cover a wide range of civic engagement activities such as: empowering youth and marginalized group, social inclusion of disabled people and supporting rural development.

Among the others there is a project "Strengthening mechanisms for including youth in advisory and decision making processes at local and regional levels through training and promotion of youth advisory boards."  During the implementation CYN will train 120 representatives of youth councils in Croatia in advisory and decision making processes, as well as 120 employees of local and regional authorities responsible for supporting the work of youth councils at the level of towns, municipalities and counties. World Bank supported this project with 6.000 USD.

Croatian youth presented the demands for opening sexual and reproductive counseling centers to the Croatian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare

A group of high school students delivered 4 000 postcards to the Secretary of Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Ante Zvonimir Golem with signatures of young people who required opening of youth counseling centers on sexual and reproductive health.

Signatures were collected during the campaign, "Good advice for good health" that was focused on the protection of sexual and reproductive health. The campaign was launched by CESI and Croatian Youth Network (CYN). The campaign commenced with the SEX on EX action in December 2008 when collecting signatures on postcards, and distribution of promotional campaign materials in front of one of Zagreb’s high schools started. Postcards contained demands for opening of counseling centers and clinics, specialized for the needs of young people, with focus on sexual and reproductive health. A group of high school students was involved in campaign design that aimed to warn the institutions as well as public about the fact that young people need information and advice about sexuality, as well as "youth friendly" clinics and counseling centers.

Several Croatian national documents, such as National Action Plan for the Rights and Interests of Children 2006-2012, National Policy for Advancement of Gender Equality 2006-2010, as well as the National population policy include measures in which the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is committed to establish and organize counseling centers for family planning and reproductive health, as well to encourage the development of health education programs in the field of protection of reproductive health of children and youth. These measures were supposed to be realized in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

During the meeting with the Secretary of Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, that took place after the action of presenting postcards, signed by 4 000 young people, establishment of expert work group within the Ministry of Health and Welfare was announced. This group will create guidelines for future education programs, designed with special focus on youth regarding sexual and reproductive health, which will be implemented trough the system of public health.  The establishment of work group is to be expected in the recent period, and the Secretary announced that the guidelines developed by the work group would be based on scientific grounds, without any religious and ideological implications.

10th Assembly of Young Croatian Liberals

10th Assembly of Young Croatian Liberals was held in Zagreb on Saturday, May 9th. The president of the Croatian Youth Network, Emina Bužinkić has visited Assembly and together with the presidents of political parties' youth wings held a speech. The re-elected president of YCL is Dario Hrebak. Before the Assembly Political Academy of Croatian Liberal Party was held where professor Žarko Puhovski held the lecture Youth, Ethics and Politics.

Youth and independent culture - 4 years after elections

The May 6th public debate on 'Independent culture and youth in development of Zagreb - four years later' was held in Zagreb Journalists' House. Introduction presenters Emina Višnić from the Alliance for Independent Culture and Youth and Emina Bužinkić from the Croatian Youth Network critically observed 4 years of the City Office for Education, Culture and Sports unefficient and lacking work in the field of cultural and youth policies. Duško Ljuština, a member of the City Hall was asked to comments huge issues proposed from the representatives of the independent culture and youth sector.

Emina Bužinkić, president of the Croatian Youth Network  expressed unsatisfaction with the city government and its nontransparent and information lacking work for the youth sector. The City of Zagreb has not invested relevant resources in the life quality for young people and has not invested in city infrastructure for youth usage which makes no relevant steps forward in everyday life of youth of Zagreb.

Patience is the key

Public disussion: Independent culture and youth in development of Zagreb - 4 years later
Wednesday, March 6th 2009, 12 am, Novinarski dom, Perkovčeva 2

Pre-local election time in 2005. was used by youth and independent culture organizations to open up discussion on conditions of development of youth and independent culture in Zagreb. Based on led discussions, politicians including ruling ones signed the document called 'Independent culture and youth in development of Zagreb'. Declaration was introduction in the long period of intensive civic organizing, political promises, long conflict and very few steps forward. In regard to coming elections we would like to analyze what has been done for youth and independent culture in the past period.

The disussion will be moderated by Agata Juniku. We invite you to join us.

Presenters at the discussion will be: Emina Višnić (Zagreb Independent Culture and Youth Center),  Emina Bužinkić (Croatian Youth Network) and Duško Ljuština (City of Zagreb)

Declaration 'The role of youth in peace-building process'

The Croatian Youth Network has been cooperating with the Center for Peace Studies through implementation of the project 'Youth and peace building'. At the end of March the conference on the role of youth in peace building process took place. It was supported by the President of the Republic of Croatia and the European Commission. Main topics of the conference were conflict transformation, dealing with the past and peace building. The conference gathered 50 youth activists from EU, Euro-Mediterranean and Western Balkan states.

Conference participants from Germany, France, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Palestine, Jordan, Israel, Greece, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia brought mutual declaration named 'The role of youth in peace-building process' . The declaration will be used as a position paper to advocate institutional and legislature changes at national and European levels.

Meeting of Croatian and Finnish youth organizations

The Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes, in cooperation with the Finnish National Agency (CIMO), organized a meeting of Croatian and Finnish youth organizations within the short study visit in Croatia. The objective of the visit is to provide space for Croatian and Finnish youth organizations to meet and to establish contacts for future cooperation, especially within the framework of the Youth in Action programme.

The meeting took place in Zagreb on 27 April. It gathered representatives of youth organizations from Zagreb and nearby towns and their Finnish colleagues. A number of representatives of youth departments of several Finnish cities and of the Agency were also present.

In the formal part of the meeting, Croatian organizations presented their work and experiences and potentials for international cooperation. The Finnish guests were very interested in finding out in more detail about the reality of young people in Croatia and youth organizations in particular. The participants exchanged contacts and some preliminary agreements for cooperation were established.

NGO Days

This year NGO Days were held in Osijek from April 23rd to 25th. The event was organized by Governmental Office for Cooperation with NGOs, Council for Civil Society Development, National Foundation for Civil Society Development, National Volunteering Development Committee, City of Osijek and Regional NGO Forum of Slavonia.

The president of the Croatian Youth Network E.Bužinkić participated in round tables: CSOs and pre-acession/structural EU funds in Osijek and Social role of youth in culture in Vukovar where member organization PRONI participated too.

On April 24th a meeting of the Council for Civil Society Development took place under presence of the Vice-president of the Government. On April 25th the conference on Involving citizens and CSOs in decision-making was held with the main guest speaker Carolyn Lukensmeyer, the founder of AmerikaSpeaks.

Dialogue on youth mobility, travel and tourism

The Croatian Youth Network and Croatian Hostel Union held working meeting on youth mobility, travel and tourism in Croatia on Thursday, April 23rd in net club mama. The meeting was organized in cooperation with Youth Information Agency from Bosnia and Herzegovina and South East European Youth Network.

Participants of the meeting were representatives of national and local government (ministries, agencies, offices), travel agencies, tourist offices, institutes for tourism and social research, youth institutions, youth organizations, donors and media.

The meeting was held prior to the European conference on youth mobility of the Council of Europe that is taking place in Belgrade May 8-9th and. The conference is supported by the Serbian Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Youth mobility, travel and tourism meeting participants expressed following recommendations to be done:

• researches on mobility in the areas of education, tourism, youth culture and leisure time and employment
• capital investments of state and local governmental institutions into infrastructure needed for youth tourism
• financial benefits and stimulating discounts for youth travels and mobility in the country

The first dialogue on mobility, travels and youth tourism

Croatian Youth Network (CYN), together with the Youth Information Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (OIA), Croatian Youth Hostels Association (CYHA) and South Eastern Europe Youth Network (SEEYN) is organizing first discussion on mobility, travels and youth tourism in Croatia so far. Discussion will take place on April 24th, from 13:00-15:00 at mama net club, Preradovićeva 18, Zagreb and we would like to invite all intersted stake-holders and individuals as well to attend.

This discussion aims at distinguishing the best ways on how to enhance youth mobility in Croatia, putting special emphasis on youth participation in such programmes, support of the authorised public bodies and perhaps most importantly, detecting key actors, challenges and obstacles that young people involved in the mobility processes may encounter.

If you wish to attend this meeting, please confirm your participation by calling 00385 99 6655446 or via e-mail: info(a)mmh.hr. Deadline for applications is Wednesday, April 22nd at 12:00.

Governmental Coucil for Youth-3rd session

On Friday, April 17th, third session of the Governmetal Council for Youth was held. Although being one of the first points of the agenda, rules of the procedure were not voted out, due to fact that quorum was not established. New infomation was given on the subject of National Strategy for Youth final draft, which should be a topic of the upcoming session. Also, it was annouced that report on the implementation of the previous National Youth Strategy for the period 2006-2008 will be discussed on the 78th session of the Croatian Government. Moreover, information about tenders for youth associations and clubs are expected after May 1st.
Governmetal Council for Youth was constituted in July 2008.

International conference on co-management

The Croatian Youth Network in partnership with All different, all equal from Serbia, Association of Secondary School Students from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Forum Montenegro within the support of the Council of Europe, organizes international conference on CO-MANAGEMENT - How does it work that will take place in Serbia at Palić from June 20th to 26th.

We open call to all interested representatives of youth organizations as well as the public institutions. Please submit your applications to conference@youthserbia.org by May 4th, 2 p.m.

Call for participants
Application form

First module on educational cycle 'Youth Policy - Step forward'

From April 9th to 11th, CYN held first training module on educational cycle 'Youth Policy - Step forward' named Development of national and local youth policies. The training was held in Rijeka with the support of the Croatian Hostel Union.

Training introduced participants with the youth policy context, institutional arena and relevance of the youth policies. During the training, the position paper on cooperation among youth sector and authorities was created. The position paper will be released and publicly presented soon.

The training was lead by Emina Bužinkić, president and Nikola Buković, programme assistant. This training is a part of larger education-research-advocacy project 'Youth Policy - Step forward'. The project is financially supported by the National Foundation for Civil Society Development.

Participants of the whole project are 15 young leaders from all around Croatia representing variety of youth organizations such as youth associations, associations for youth, youth wings of political parties, student organizations etc.

Youth Club of Istrian Democratic Parliament and CYN signed Partnership Agreement

The Youth Club of the Istrian Democratic Parliament and the Croatian Youth Network have signed the Partnership Agreement in the political party headquarters in Pula, at Wednesday April 8th. The Partnership Agreement was signed by presidents Marin Grgeta (IDP Youth Club) and Emina Bužinkić (CYN).

Based on the Agreement, Youth Club of IDP takes responsibility of promoting rights and interests of youth, active participation in advocating national and local youth policies implementation together with the CYN and all the other youth wings of parliamentary political parties cooperating through mutual Coordination of CYN and youth wings of political parties active on national level.
The Partnership Agreement emphasizes principles of mutual communication and partnership.

The Croatian Youth Network and the Alliance for the Centre for Independent Culture and Youth invite you to the street action "YOUTH IS BUILDING THE CENTRE"

It has been more than 100 days since the foundation of the Zagreb Centre for Independent Culture and Youth. However, the Centre has not been given any space for its programmes. This street action is aimed at highlighting the absurd situation whereby we have the first and only Centre in Europe without space.

We invite YOU to join us at Trg Petra Preradovića on Saturday, April 4. We will build and open the Centre without space.

The Programme:
10.00 - 12.00 Building the Centre
12.00 - 16.00 Opening the Centre

* INFO CENTRE open air
* MONUMENT TO THE FALLEN PEGS (exhibition, Otompotom)
* EVIL DRUMMERS
* TEST
* ZAGREB COMPLAINTS CHOIR
* JUGGLING WORKSHOP AND PERFORMANCE
* ŠKRIPZIKL HOUSE THEATRE
* HIP HOP, A NE DOP

Round table on pre-accession negotiations between the EU and Republic of Croatia

Round table entitled: “Importance of the informing and inclusion of the general public in  process of Croatian accession to the EU“ took place on 2009-03-25 in the European House Zagreb. Some of the more distinctive issues such as: secrecy of the negotiation postions and for that matter unability of the general public and interested citizens to gain informations about the accession process, role of the civil sector within the process, (non)efficincy of the reforms implemented so far and current Slovenian blocade; were delt through the lectures and the debate that followed. All the participants concluded that new approaches in informing citizens and strenghtening cooperation with civil sector and other relevant social and political stake holders are required in order to overcome problems and obstacles which tackle, both the reforms and accession process.

CESI launches 'equality campaign'

Feminist organization CESI has been conducting media campaign 'Equality' that aims to contribute to better position of women at the labour market. Labour rights are one the main challenges in achieving gender equality. CESI aims to improve position of women at the labour market through its projects and activities.

One of campaign activities is a TV clip on equality presented through words of 4 activists. One of them is the President of CYN Emina Bužinkić. All the video clips can be found here.

Signed Agreement on Partnership with the CPP youth wing

Today in Zagreb, the meeting of the Coordination of the Croatian Youth Network and the youth wings of the parliamentary political parties was held. Youth Wings of the CPP, IDP, CLP, SDP and CSLP attended the meeting. Organizations exchanged information on their activities and talked over preparations for local elections.

Today, University Organization of the Croatians Peasants Party entered officially the Coordination by signing The Agreement on Partnership. We expect Youth Club of the Istrian Democratic Parliament enter the Coordination at the next meeting.

Education of youth advisory boards in Primorsko goranska county

Croatian Youth Network has conducted educational training on national and local youth policy, Youth Advisory Board Act and its'implementation to the youth advisory boards in the County of Primorsko goranska. Education was held on March 7th and 8th in the Town of Crikvenica. It was organized by County Youth Advisory Board to the Primorsko goranska County. Some 30 members of youth advisory boards participated in the training. Training was conducted by Nikola Pandurić and Emina Bužinkić.

Educational training was held during the 2nd forum of youth advisory boards of the County of Primorsko goranska. Mutual session of all the youth advisory boards' presidents was held in addition to the program. Forum was opened by Duško Milovanović, the President of the Youth Advisory Board to the County of Primorsko goranska, mayor of the Town of Crikvenica Božidar Tomašek and County President Zlatko Komadina.

Conference on School Student Councils

Vrnjačka Banja in Serbia, in the period from 1 to 4 March, hosted participants from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Bulgaria who delt with issues such as current status of the processes of student school organising in those countries, main obstacles that prevent its faster development and its growth in influence and significance. Participants were not only representatives of school student counclis, but also members of youth NGOs interested in further strenghtening of school student organizations in their countries and on the international level.
CYN’ s postions on current situation regarding this issue in Croatia, challenges that will be inevitable in the future and possible strategies in tackling them, have been presented by Nikola Buković during the second day of the conference. The conference itself has lead to intriguing and stimulating conclusions and has occured in the environment of tolerance and mutual learning and understanding between all of the participants.

Open call for educational cycle on youth policy

Croatian Youth Network invites you to apply for and participate in educational cycle „Youth Policy“. If you are young, active and interesed in social development be sure to apply for this programme.

Programme consists of three moduls: „Development of local and national youth policies“, „Youth policies and European standards-European challenges for RC“ and „Participation and youth networking-tools for public advocacy and development of youth policy“.

All trainings will be delivered by the CYN, Council of Europe and European Youth Forum trainers. Application deadline is March 29. Applications and questions regarding this programme should be sent to e-mail:nikolab@mmh.hr.

CYN submits comments on National Education Curriculum

At a meeting that took place on February 19., in the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, representatives of CYN submitted their comments on draft proposal of National Education Curriculum to Ms. Dijana Vican, State Secretary of the Ministry mentioned above. This document should be a crucial mile-stone of educational development in the future and this was an opportunity for CYN to influence its shape and content but also to position itself as a relevant stake holder in the field of education. Moreover, Ms. Vican encouraged further CYN involvementnot not only in drafting supporting documents to this Curriciulum, but also in shaping education policy in general.

Youth clubs meet representative of European Confederacy of Youth Clubs

The Croatian Youth Network organized a meeting of representatives of several Croatian youth clubs and Annina Hirvonen, General Secretary of the European Confederation of Youth Clubs, in Zagreb on Wednesday, 18 February. ECYC is is a European network of youth work and youth club organisations that practice and promote Open Youth Work and Non-formal Learning. Today, ECYC has 28 member organisations in 27 European countries and its member organisations reach more than 2, 2 million young people in Europe.
One of ECYC's priorities in the upcoming period is to develop cooperation in South-East European countries which do not have ECYC member organizations. The goal of the meeting was to acquaint Croatian youth clubs with the work of ECYC and to present an overview of the youth club sector in Croatia to the ECYC representative with the purpose of developing potential cooperation in the future. Representatives of youth clubs emphasized the importance of national cooperation with a perspective of forming a national structure. Annina Hirvonen expressed the commitment of ECYC to support Croatian youth clubs through the transfer of knowledge and information and the support in finding European partners.
The Croatian Youth Network wishes to encourage and support to cooperation and networking of youth clubs in the country and announces a meeting of all interested parties in near future. The exact time and location of the meeting will be announced at a later time.

New issue of Youth Opinion

A new issue of Youth Opinion, the European Youth Forum electronic newsletter, is out. You can read news on current activities of the Forum and find out more about the new leadership elected at the GA in November.

Presentation of the European Comission programme „Europe for Citizens“

On the January 28 the Delegation of the European Comission in the Republic of Croatia hosted Info Day on the „Europe for citizens programme“, administrated by the European Comission via its Executive Agency for Audiovisual, Cultural and Education Policy. The programme gives financial support to all the projects of legal non-govermental entities which reflect basic values and principles of the Union: active citizenship, social cohesion, inter-regional and intercultural cooperation and dialogue, multilinuaism and etc.

Participants had an opportunity to get to know some of the more specific features of the Programme and also to participate in a workshop conducted by the officials of  the Office for the cooperation with NGOs which should have enabled them to write quality and competitive project proposals, compatible with the demands of this Programme.                        

Public discussion on educational reform

On January 19 public discussion on numerous aspects of educational reform in Croatia and rest of   the world took place in  the hall of the Nature and Mathematic Faculty. It was organized by student representatives from the Biology section of the Faculty and moderated by distinguished experts from fields of education, human resources and economy: Andro Bajo of the Institute for Public Finances, Vedrana Spajić – Vrkaš and Vlasta Vizek – Vidović, both professors at the Faculty of Philosophy from Zagreb.
Key features of Bologna process was discussed emphasizing the inflow of neo-liberal ideology in the  field of education. Also, two dominant concepts of educational reform in the world were presented and elaborated: first, that advocates market-orientated approach in order to achieve excellence in educational system on one hand, and second that stresses out social dimension of education as a key instrument of a merit based democratic society. In this perspective education should be considered as public good and should be made available to as many citizens as possible. Most of the participants opted for the second concept, however noting the importance of harmonizing education with broader economic, cultural and social context.

Call for research on social entrepreneurship in non-profit youth organizations in Zagreb

Croatian Youth Network is conducting a research on social entrepreneurship in non-profit youth organizations in Zagreb. We would like you to participate in the research. Methods of questionnaire and focus group will be used to collect data for the research. Focus group is going to take place on Friday, January 16 2009, at Green Action, Frankopanska street 1. Besides participating in the research, participants will have an opportunity to attend a short introduction on social entrepreneurship. We kindly like to ask you to attend and contribute to understanding and further development in social entrepreneurship in non-profit youth organizations. It’s important to emphasize that each organization can be represented by one member only. We would kindly ask you to confirm your attending by January 13 2009 via email to marija@mmh.hr or by cell phone on 099 66 55 447.

Happy and prosperous new year

The Managing Board of the Croatian Youth Network wishes to all partners happy and prosperous new year filled with business success and organizational development. We wish to all young people personal success and development.

The Croatian Youth Network elects a new leadership

The Croatian Youth Network General Assembly took place in Velika Gorica on 17 December, hosted by the Town of Velika Gorica. The Assembly was held within the framework of the conference "Active youth participation - development of information resources for youth".

The Assembly was opened by Emina Bužinkić, President of CYN, and Tonino Picula, Mayor of Velika Gorica. A number of guests addressed the Assembly: Zdenko Žunić, Director of the Directorate for Family in the Ministry of Family, Veterans' Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity; Goran Beus Richembergh and Marija Lugarić, Members of Parliament; Maja Bukša, representative of the Governmental Office for Human Rights; and Helena Miladić, Head of the Zagreb City Youth Department. The Assembly was also addressed by several representatives of youth wings of political parties: Davor Bernardić (Forum mladih SDP-a), Sven Šipoš (Mladi hrvatski liberali), Valentina Jarnjak (Klub mladih DC-a), Margareta Mađerić (HDZ), Sandro Salopek (Mladi HNS-a) and Ivan Karlović (Klub mladih HSP-a). Representatives of CYN partners also took the opportunity to greet the Assembly: Dunja Potočnik from the Institute for Social Research and Nevena Crljenko from the Academy for Political Development. Besides congratulations for the membership in the European Youth Forum, the guests brought forward their view of CYN as a strong national youth platform in the Republic of Croatia.

The Assembly elected new members of the Management and Supervisory Committees.
Members of the Management Committee:
Emina Bužinkić, Centar za mirovne studije (Zagreb)
Marija Hrebac, Domaći (Karlovac)
Katarina Pavić, Savez udruga Klubtura (Zagreb)
Igor Roginek, Kulturni centar mladih (Kutina)
Nikola Pandurić, KVARK (Križevci)
Martina Horvat, Ambidekster klub (Zagreb)
Matija Polančec, Hrvatski ferijalni i hostelski savez (Zagreb)

Members of the Supervisory Committee: Tomislav Tomašević (Zelena akcija), Denis Sgagliardi (ZUM), Hrvoje Kovač (NUM), Tomislav Domes (MI2), Davor Dokleja (CeZaM).

The Assembly welcomed three new full members: Krijanca, IGRA, MOZAIK and Volonterski centar Osijek. Seven new candidate members also joined the ranks of CYN: Savez studenata Hrvatske, Udruga za promicanje kultura Kulturtreger, Kulturna udruga Krlja ustvari, Young European Federalists Hrvatska, Moslavina media servis, Legalis and Nezavisna udruga mladih Ivanska.

Conference 'Active youth participation - development of information resources for youth'

The Croatian Youth Network and the Alliance for the Centre for non-formal culture and youth invite you to participate at the conference 'Active youth participation - development of information resources for youth' which will take place in Zagreb from 18 to 20 December.
We invite all interested young people to participate and send their application forms no later than 12 December.

Application form

Programme
18/12/2008 ACTIVE YOUTH PARTICIPATION

10:00 - 13:00
Panel Discussion: focus:youth - Encouraging youth participation – mechanisms and practices - moderator: Anka Kekez

14:30 - 16:30 Active youth participation (parallel discussions)

1. Young people in decision-making processes - moderator: Cvijeta Senta, president of the Zagreb Youth Council

2. Perception of youth in media/public - moderator: Bojana Klepač Pogrmilović, journalist

3. Volunteering and youth activism - moderator: Anja Gvozdanović, Institute for Social Research


19.12. DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION RESOURCES FOR YOUTH

10:00 - 11:30 Introductory lecture: Development of information systems for encouraging active youth participation (in English language), lecturer: Johan Bertels, ERYICA (European Youth Informing and Counselling Agency)

12:00 – 13:30 Panel: Youth informing and development of informing models, moderator: Anamarija Sočo, CYN

14:30 – 18:00 Training: Development of youth informing resources and tools - Jan Zlatan Kulenović, OIA (Omladinska informativna agencija), BiH


20.12. DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION RESOURCES FOR YOUTH - ACTIVE YOUTH PARTICIPATION (parallel programmes)

09:30 – 13:00 Training: How to start an info-centre? - Matjaž Medvešek, MISSS (Mladinsko informativno svetovalno središće Slovenije), Slovenija
Presentation of examples of good practices, Johan Bertels, ERYICA (European Youth Informing and Counselling Agency)

09:30 – 13:00 Training: Public advocating - idea to action - Suzana Kunac, B.a.B.e.

CYN will cover accommodation and food expenses. We cannot cover travel expenses.

General Assembly of the Croatian Youth Network

The General Assembly of the Croatian Youth Network will be held on December 17th at Velika Gorica under support of the Town of Velika Gorica.
The elections of the new Managing and Supervising Board will be organized over the course of the Assembly. The non-formal gathering with the youth and youth organizations from Velika Gorica is planned at the evening.
The General Assembly of the CYN will gather some seventy delegates and guests from Croatia and abroad.

Regional conference on youth policy and youth participation

The regional conference on youth policy and youth participation in society was held in Sarajevo from November 12th to November 13th and was organized by the Forum Syd Balkan Programme and the Coordinating Commission on Youth Issues of the Council of Ministers of the Bosnia and Herzegovina, sponsored by the Office of the Special Representative of the European Commission and supported by the Swedish Agency for International Development. The conference gathered representatives of governmental institutions, local and national organisations, youth wings of political parties, international organisations, youth councils, students and media from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia.

Aim of the conference was to create awareness on the youth and state role in the accession process of the SEE countries to the EU. Special attention was brought to active participation of youth in society and the participants were searching for different concepts and models of civic participation in SEE region on youth participation challenges. Some best practice models from Sweden and Slovenia were presented and models of ensuring preconditions for active participation through informing and education were introduced. The discussion on possible regional initiatives was opened as well.

Croatian Youth Network was represented by Marija Hrebac who held the presentation on youth policy development in Croatia.

Young people are not priority in Croatia

The Journalist of the Splitski Portal had a conversation with the President of the Croatian Youth Network Emina Bužinkić on youth in Croatia, protest of the CYN during the IV. National Youth Conference at Bjelolasica, attitude of the CYN towards youth sector development...

Q: Do you think young people are priority in Croatia?
A: I am far away from that opinion. Young people are not priority in Croatia due to specific practices and their consequences in the country. On 5th of November we had a protest against commercializing educational system. One large population of young people - student population, is not satisfied with quality of studying and living in general. On the other hand there are young people living in remote, poor and excluded parts of the country or the areas under special state protection. Additionally, there are young people like those in Zagreb with access to certain resources, but sometimes those are limited. There is a problem on information access in general. What is more, we witness this large issue on having access to information and resources for active social participation but often we find different barriers coming from the system.

Entire interview

'Pyou Life' for young people: Torino designated European Youth Capital 2010

Chosen amongst 15 other candidate cities, Torino was awarded last Saturday the title of European Youth Capital 2010 (EYC 2010) by Bettina Schwarzmayr, President of the European Jury and President of the European Youth Forum. You can read more here.

'Hello, future of Europe!' - The European Youth Forum elects a new leadership

The European Youth Forum (YFJ) General Assembly (GA) took place in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) on 13-15 November 2008, hosted by YOUR WORLD – Rotterdam European Youth Capital 2009.  Elections were held to elect new leadership for the 2009-10 mandate and adopt policies on youth matters. You can read more here.

CYN member of YFJ - Press release

On Saturday, 15 November 2008, the Croatian Youth Network became the 97th member of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) – the pan-European youth platform which gathers  national youth councils and international youth organisations and which is the most significant partner to the European Commission and the Council of Europe in youth policy development. By an unanimous vote and with a great public support, CYN joined JFY and thereby gained Europe-wide recognition as the National Youth Council in Croatia. CYN became a member of JFY at the General Assembly which took place in Rotterdam from 11 to 15 October.

CYN was founded in 2002 by some 20 youth organizations. Currently it counts 52 member organizations and more are expected to join by the end of the year. As a direct consequence of youth organizing in CYN and its influence on public policies, Croatia has seen the passing of National Programme of Action for Youth, Law on Youth Advisory Boards, new National Programme for Youth (pending), as well as numerous strategic documents (for example, youth employment) and activities like National Conference on Volunteering in 2005 or National Youth Conference in 2007 (MOBMS). More than 500 000 young people took part in CYN's activities, some 20 young leaders were educated and empowered for work in their local communities, 7 county youth councils were founded and CYN was led by more than 20 young persons.

However, CYN is still not accepted as a serious partner by the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the Ministry responsible for youth. Membership in CYN is yet another proof of recognition of quality work and structure of CYN. With regards to the clear mission of CYN, its motivation and results of its work, we are calling upon the Croatian Government to build a dialogue with the youth sector in the development of youth policy. We hope the Government will recognize the progress in the youth sector and the advancements in the affirmation of the Croatian youth sector in European circles, and start building with us more lasting partnership relations based on the principles of transparency, openness and inclusiveness.

The process of accession to the YFJ lasted for over a year and the process of preparations and working toward meeting the standards and criteria for membership started from the very beginning of our work. According to the report of the Consultative Board on Membership Affairs (CBMA) CYN fulfilled all relevant criteria for membership and its works is based on principles of inclusiveness and transparency. The report is also confirming of CYN's open and independent structure, cooperation with various youth organization (for example with youth wings of political parties) and the results of advocacy actions for youth policy changes. The report was based on a detailed analysis of the youth sector in Croatia, JFY study visits, results of JFY meetings with member and other organizations and a thorough review of the documentation of CYN development. The report concludes that, having taken into consideration its structure, values and principles, CYN can be an example to other youth structures in Europe and beyond.

We would like to use this opportunity to thank everybody who supported our work over the years, especially to Mladinski svet Slovenije, French National Youth Council, Service Civil International, Coordination of CYN and youth wings of political parties, and of course, to its members, volunteers and individuals who gave their contribution to the development of CYN over the years.

We firmly believe that, with CYN's membership in YFJ, youth sector in Croatia received recognition for its work, expertise and results in European circles as a relevant stakeholder in youth policy development.

Research on youth employment

MojPosao implemented a research on youth employment whose aim was to explore experiences and needs of job seekers in the process of job seeking and carrer development. The research was conducted in October 2008 on 2000 informants. The Croatian Youth Network was a partner in the project and we would like to thank everyone who took some time and participated in the research.

The results of the research can be found here.

CYN member of YFJ

The Croatian Youth Network became the 97th member organization of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) at the General Assembly in Rotterdam on 15 November.

YFJ is a pan-European platform of national youth councils and international youth organizations. Its activities are aimed at empowering young people for active participation in societies and advocating interests of youth with EU, Council of Europe, UN and other youth policy stakeholders.

Membership in the YFJ is a recognition of the Croatian Youth Network and its members for their work in youth policy development in Croatia in the last 5 years.

Croatian Youth Network supports students' rally for free higher education

Croatian Youth Network strongly supports Croatian students' rally for free higher education on the occasion of 5 November, the International Day of Action against the Commercialization of Education. We firmly believe that free education is of an utmost importance for all citizens of the Republic of Croatia.
 
We are concerned about the ever-growing trend of the number of students who pay for their education and about the constant growth of tuitions. It is inadmissible that, in a time when knowledge is a pre-condition of development and the Croatian Government has a strategic goal of creating a „knowledge society“, a great number of students is forced to discontinue education due to financial reasons.
We strongly condemn a society where education is a privilege of the rich and no longer available to everyone under equal conditions. This will most definitely lead to an even larger socio-economic gap between Croatian citizens and cause a situation where Croatian work-force will not be able to compete on a European labour market.
 
Croatian Youth Network joins in the students' efforts and their demands that the Croatian Government guarantees by law free higher education for all and continually invests more resources into the education system following examples of good European practices.

We also want to compliment students' efforts and encourage them for an even bigger engagement in the fight for better student conditions, as well as a more just and equal society.

Information and Networking Days on South East Europe

The Europski Youth Forum organized "Information and Networking Days on South East Europe" this year as well. The region of South-East Europe has been high on the agenda for the Forum in the work plan period from 2007 to 2009. Therfore, the Forum has organized similar events for the past couple oh years in different countries of the region in orger to encourage the development of youth policy and youth work.
This year the event took place on 18 and 19 October in Budva, Montenegro. Anamarija Sočo, a representative of the Croatian Youth Network, was one of the participants.
"Information and Networking Days on South East Europe" gathered representatives of national youth councils and other youth structures from the region and beyond, with a special emphasis on National Youth Council from Russia which was a partner to the organizers.
In the two working days the participants continued building a road map for future activities in the region according to strategic approach to the development of youth work and cooperation with future members and partners of the European Youth Forum.

Civil society connecting EU and neighbouring countries

European Citizen Action Service jointly with the National Foundation for Civil Society Development and Impact – European Centre for Cross-Sector Partnership held an international conference in Zadar, Croatia, which focused on the development of civil society organisations in the Western Balkans (WB) and Eastern European countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy.

The conference gathered more then 100 civil society representatives from EU and neighbouring countries, donors active in the region as well as officials from national governments. Croatian Youth Network was represented by Mr. Igor Roginek, vice-president.

The outcome of the conference is a document entitled “Implementing the Ljubljana Declaration: Guidelines for National Action”. Its ambition is to provide a comprehensive toolbox for national actions aiming at implementing the conclusion from the Ljubljana conference held in April this year.

This document gives recommendations to all three actors responsible for the establishment of sustainable and coordinated civil society in the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe: The EU, National governments and CSOs. Moreover, it calls for the integration of the conclusions of the ECAS’ publication “Towards a sustainable Europe-wide Civil society”, composed of national reports on the implementation of the Ljubljana Declaration, in the national dialogues and action plans.

4. National Youth Conference

The 4. National Youth Conference organized by the Ministry of Family, War Veterans' Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity took place from 4 till 5 October in Bjelolasica.

The Conference was a platform for a public discussion on the new National Youth Action Plan. During the opening of the Conference the Croatian Youth Network organized and carried out a protest which had been previously announced. The protest called Croatian ministry for youth: "We have more important things to do" took place during the speech of the State Secretary Mr Stjepan Adanić.

CYN believes that the conditions for an adequate implementation of the national youth policy (implementation capacities, methodology for monitoring and evaluation) have not been created yet and wonders if the the implementation of the new National Youth Action Plan will be any different than the old one.

# protest (NOVA TV footage)
# poster and leaflet

The Croatian Youth Network is announcing new protests until the conditions for the implementation of the new National Youth Action Plan be met and is calling upon Croatian Government for cooperation and dialogue in the creation of more transparent relations between young people and the government in the implementation of youth policy.

Youth Policy Development in South East Europe

The second seminar on Youth Policy Development in South East Europe took place in Belgrade from September 22nd to 24th. The seminar was co-organized by Ministry of Youth and Sports, Council of Europe and Youth Partnership Program of the Council of Europe and the European Commission. It was opened by Snežana Samardžić Marković, the minister for youth and sports and Hanjo Schild, director of the Youth Partnership program.

South East European countries - Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Turkey presented practices of youth policy development on institutional, research and civil society level. The representative of the European Youth Forum Ante Martić presented work of  the European Youth Forum and the practices of youth policy development in Europe. Croatian Youth Network was represented by Emina Bužinkić who showed institutional and civic contributions to youth policy development in Croatia. Additionally, international organization working in the region elaborated their work.

The seminar was relevant opportunity for exchanging best practice models of youth policy development and connecting stakeholders from the region. During the event concrete partnerships were established as well as the ideas of mutual projects were discussed. Croatian Youth Network, Youth Informing Agency (BiH) and association Citizens' initiatives established longterm cooperation on developing youth policy in the region according to the european standards. 

Zagreb Youth Advisory Board finally convenes

Zagreb Youth Advisory Board is an advisory body to the city assembly. It was founded in March 2008 but had its first meeting on 3 September.
The meeting was opened by the city mayor and a number of city oficials also attended.
Loredana Benčić was elected president and her new deputy is Dominik Šepak.
The members of the Board are:
1. Renco Majdak, Zagrebačka zajednica tehničke kulture,
2. Dominik Šepak, Leo Klub Zagreb,
3. Marijana Žitnik, Plavi telefon,
4. Loredana Benčić, Udruga za rehabilitaciju osoba s posebnim potrebama "Izazov dobrote",
5. Jakov Ivković, Hrvatska akademska zajednica,
6. Maja Vukmanić, Ženska soba – Centar za seksualna prava,
7. Cvijeta Senta, Centar za mirovne studije,
8. Vedran Ferčec, Dobrovoljno vatrogasno društvo Šestine,
9. Hrvoje Šamija, Studentski zbor Sveučilišta u Zagrebu,
10. Marija Iveković, AGRAM – Atletski klub za osobe s invaliditetom,
11. Martina Katalenić, e-ALUMNI,
12. Ana Marija Meniss, Udruga Javna Alternativna Društvena Domena (Udruga mladih za mlade),
13. Ino Hosni, Centar za kreativni rad – Sineki,
14. Bruna Kostelac, Put do uspjeha – neprofitna udruga mladih poduzetnika i lidera, te
15. Tomislav Šagud, Udruga Vijeće mladih Zagreba.
Among the members of the Board are two organizations which are members of the Zagreb Youth Council, Cvijeta Senta and Ana Marija Meniss.

International Youth Day

UN General Assembly adopted in 1999 the resolution proclaiming August 12 the International Youth Day. The day is celebrated world-wide each year and this year's theme is "Youth and climate change".
The Croatian Youth Network and the Zagreb Youth Council will team up for this occasion and organize an exhibition and distribute leaflets and cloth bags to interested citizens.
The goal of the event is to raise public awareness on climate change and encourage individual contribution to the fight against climate change.