Project Summary

The “Empowering Youth for a Peaceful, Prosperous, and Sustainable Future in Kosovo”, funded by the Secretary General’s Peacebuilding Fund, aims to provide a space for youth from all backgrounds in the selected localities in Kosovo to work together to address shared challenges and become more active changemakers that will catalyze peacebuilding efforts in Kosovo. The project is implemented jointly by UNDP-UNV, UNICEF and UN Women.

What we want to achieve

The project aims to decrease the influence of conflict narratives and prejudice through improved social cohesion resulting from local populations working together and with local institutions on contemporary issues of shared interest to jointly develop solutions for a common future.

The project directly engages young women and men from communities divided by conflict and the perpetuation of conflict dynamics to work together on issues of shared interest to become active changemakers catalyzing peace and trust-building efforts in Kosovo. Through this mechanism, the “habit” of cooperation will be established and consolidated, providing empirical challenge to divisive narratives.

Results to date

§ 2,145 young men and women benefited from workshops on critical thinking, problem-solving, media literacy, and advocacy;

§ 24 youth-led peacebuilding campaigns designed and implemented promoting inter-ethnic dialogue, environmental behavior, art and sports for tolerance, civic engagement, and gender equality;

§ 132 youth (54% women and 28% non-majority communities) benefited from skills development and employment measures;

§ 23 UN Community Volunteers (75% young women and 50% from non-majority communities) work in public institutions and community-based organizations and assist in the delivery of public service to their peers;

§ 7 young women (mentees) enrolled in a mentorship program for professional and personal growth;

§ 60 young women provided input into the development of the 2019-2021 Strategy and Action Plan of the parliamentary Women’s Caucus as part of a special parliamentary session;

§ 170 women (23% non-majority communities) received training on meaningful youth engagement in post-conflict setting;

§ Partnership was established between Association of Journalists of Kosovo and Association of Journalists of Serbia in Kosovo to develop a guideline on the role of media as an instrument for conflict prevention and gender-responsive reporting;

§ Over 700 people participated in “FemArt” festival that focused on young women’s role in peacebuilding.