building youth clubs in central serbia

Timeline: September 2004 – September 2005
Donor: Slovak Aid (Bratislava – Belgrade Fund)
Sectoral Priorities: Youth, Social Animation, Civil Society, Cross-Sectoral Cooperation

The goal of this project was to activate the youth as a vulnerable social group in Central Serbia and engage them in community-based activities. Through establishing two Youth Club pilot projects in both rural and urban areas, the Pontis Foundation intended to create a replicable model of engaging youth in activities that can be later used for other towns in Central Serbia. It addressed key needs of both communities, identified as high unemployment, the integration of refugees and internally displaced persons, the building of cross-sectoral partnerships, and sustainability of local NGOs.

Youth form a vulnerable social group in any country in transition.  In Serbia, the current generation of youth grew up in an isolated conflict environment affected by wars, corruption and cultural degradation during the 1990s. Today, they are culturally disoriented, disappointed by slow economic development, and ignored by the political establishment. Given the current political instability on the national level, the best strategy is to start with new programs on the local level.

The basic approach was developed after numerous discussions with Serb NGOs, donors and young people in general. The Pontis Foundation chose to start in two towns which differ in size and social environment. One of them is more urban (Smederevo), whereas the other is more rural (S. Palanka). One of the outcomes of this project was to test the response of youth in two different social environments.

The Pontis Foundation prepared the project proposal in cooperation with two local organizations, Božur (Smederevska Palanka) and CEDI (Smederevo). Both organizations have extensive experience in their particular fields of expertise and their ideas and input were crucial for focusing the project’s goals and activities. In addition, Pontis and its local partners were able to secure the support of both local governments, which expressed willingness to donate premises to each Youth Club in one of the municipal buildings, and cover their rent and energy expenses. An important part of the project proposal was devoted to the institutionalization of various Youth Club capacities. Pontis also provided continuous capacity-building training for its local partners, including study visits to Slovakia, facilitation of their exposure to Slovak know-how in NGO management and fund-raising