OSCE establishes Youth Advisory Group in Bosnia and Herzegovina

SARAJEVO, 4 July 2014 - Eight young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina have been selected as members of the newly-established Youth Advisory Group at the OSCE Mission to the country, and today held their first meeting with Mission staff in Sarajevo.

The Youth Advisory Group will provide input into the implementation of the Mission’s current programmes, with the aim of the strengthening its youth perspective.

“The OSCE recognizes that young people play a vital role in shaping the future of their country,” said Nina Suomalainen, the Acting Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH. “In order to empower youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina in this regard, we brought together motivated young people to partner with us in the development and implementation of our work.”

“The goal is to stimulate innovation within the Mission through a constructive and critical evaluation of our work, while giving youth a voice in that process. We want to ensure that our programmes are as relevant and effective as possible in promoting positive change in BiH in line with our mandate and resources. This means reaching out and engaging a wider audience of all ages.”

Under the Swiss Chairmanship, the OSCE foresees the development of a Youth Action Plan which will be presented to the 57 foreign ministers of the OSCE participating States in December 2014.

The seven members of the BiH Youth Advisory Group were selected from more than 90 applicants. Their short biographies, along with the OSCE BiH Youth Ambassador’s biography, can be found here: 
www.oscebih.org/documents/osce_bih_doc_2014070413383307eng.pdf