On June 30, 20 young people completed an intensive ten-month course in Leadership Development and Youth Work, organized by Urban In (Novi Pazar) and the Center for Youth Work (Novi Sad) with support from BTD and the British Embassy in Belgrade.

New graduates were trained to work with youth and to facilitate their active participation in decision-making processes and their local communities. The graduates completed six training modules; organized two public events to raise the awareness of local stakeholders on the importance of investing in young people; and designed and implemented 10 small-scale projects in their communities, engaging 200 young people. Graduates received a certificate from the Swedish Jönköping University. Participants cooperated with local youth offices in Novi Pazar, Sijenica, and Prijepolje.

Young people in the ethnically-mixed Sandzak region of Serbia confront challenges including high unemployment, political and ethnic tensions, and despite a large youth demographic, a lack of opportunities for active youth participation. This initiative, now in its third year, aims to strengthen the capacity of a new generation of community activists to be agents of positive change, and thereby to enable the social and economic integration, political participation and development of young people in the region.